It is almost beyond belief that Rep. John Adler, a Democrat from southern New Jersey and his allies could successfully plant a fake Tea Party candidate on the ballot in order to draw votes from the Republican candidate Jon Runyan.
It is possible that Adler and operatives of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) violated a number of statutes and House Rules, but the more pressing priority is for Adler to fully explain his knowledge of these events. Moreover, DCCC Chairman Rep. Chris Van Hollen, at right, must fully explain any role he played, and the role of his staff. Any DCCC personnel involved should be immediately fired.
The civil rights of Tea Party protesters, and voters who identify with the movement, are being violated. Democratic Congressman made allegations of a racial incident on Capitol Hill that could not be substantiated. A Tea Party demonstrator had his finger bit off in California. Left-wing activists have boasted of plans to infiltrate Tea Party events for purposes of discrediting the movement. Dissent and participation in the political process are Constitution rights. They are under assault.
Ironically, it was just three days ago when Van Hollen condemned secret spending by shadowy third party groups on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews. He said:
It does scare me. Look, this is a moment of truth for the American voter. Are they going to demand – is the voter going to demand – that these third party groups that are dumping millions of dollars of secret money – we don’t know exactly where it comes from – into campaigns, are they going to come clean and tell us who is bankrolling them.
Whose interests are they serving?
Maybe it is the voters in Congressman Adler’s district who should be scared.