Republicans engage in fraud to make case about voter fraud

Wisconsin Republicans are determined to make "voter fraud" an issue in next year's campaign -- even if they have to resort to fraud to keep the issue alive.

The Wisconsin Republican Party, gov wannabe Rep. Mark Green, State Rep. Jeff Stone, and assorted conservative blogs who toe the party line all jumped on a story this week about a "report" from the American Center for Voting Rights, a group which says Milwaukee is the second worst place in the nation for voter fraud.

Trouble is, the group (we'll call them ACVR) is nothing more than a Republican front group, as anyone could learn if they know how to use the Google search engine.

Mark Green's campaign newsletter and website said the rating is, "Not the Kind of Hot Spot We Were Hoping For," and pushed photo ID cards for voters again.

The Republican party chimed in with a release, and Stone's release said the report highlights the need for election reform. (By the way, there was nothing new in the "report.")

Right wing bloggers jumped on it, with posts on Lakeshore Laments and BrainPost. The Lakeshore Laments post also made it to the Badger Blog Alliance.

The phony report did not make the mainstream media, as far as I can tell.

Brewtown Politico was the first to blow the whistle on the scam, and
Folkbum soon followed. And Badger Blues offered a broader perspective on the voting rights/fraud issue.

Here's the story:

Both of ACVR's main players are tied to the upper echelons of the GOP and are longtime Republican partisan operatives. Executive Director Mark F. "Thor" Hearne, has been a backroom player for years in the Missouri and national GOP parties and was most recently the National General Counsel for Bush/Cheney '04 Inc.

Press Spokesman Jim Dyke was the RNC Communications Director during the 2004 election, responsible for arranging to have operatives dress up in "Flipper" costumes at John Kerry election events. Dyke also worked as spokesman for Commerce Secretary Don Evans and as a lobbyist for Ed Gillespie's firm.

Here's a good clip on the group and the efforts of one blog to expose them. Iconoclast-Texas

And here is a rundown on the group, done by BradBlog,which actually interviewed Hearne and Dyke.

Finally, there is this:

Here now -- for the first time on the Internets -- is an Exclusive BRAD BLOG look at "8409 Pickwick Lane 299", the address for the Dallas, TX company who designed the website for the ACVR or -- perhaps even more likely -- the headquarters for the American Center for Voting Rights itself!...