Republican Runs Street People on Green Ticket

As if the Bush/Cheney years weren't cynical enough; the following are excerpts from an article that Marc Lacey published in yesterday's edition of the New York Times. Click the article link for the full story with photos.

“Did I recruit candidates? Yes,” said Mr. May, who is himself a candidate for the State Legislature, on the Republican ticket. “Are they fake candidates? No way.”

Gathered around was a motley crew of people who were down on their luck, including a one-armed pregnant woman named Roxie whom Mr. May befriended sometime back and who introduced him to the rest.

Mr. Pearcy and other drifters and homeless people were recruited onto the Green Party ballot by a Republican political operative... and the Green Party has urged its supporters to steer clear of the rogue candidates.

The Democratic Party is fuming over Mr. May’s tactics and those of at least two other Republicans who helped recruit candidates to the Green Party, which does not have the resources to put candidates on ballots around the state and thus creates the opportunity for write-in contenders like the Mill Rats to easily win primaries and get their names on the ballot for November. Complaints about spurious candidates have cropped up often before, though never involving an entire roster of candidates drawn from a group of street people.

Mr. May, who served as a Republican legislator from 1998 to 2002, said, “Even if I wanted to control these guys, they’re uncontrollable.”