Posted on 07/20/2004 7:35:55 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Republicans say Democratic contractor outsourced work on Nader petitions
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
The Associated Press
7/20/2004, 7:24 p.m. ET
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The state Republican Party on Tuesday said a contractor working for the Michigan Democratic Party is outsourcing work to India as he checks the validity of signatures putting presidential candidate Ralph Nader on the ballot.
The accusation came on the same day that Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry released new ads pledging his economic plan would begin by "putting an end to tax incentives that are encouraging American companies to ship jobs overseas."
In Tuesday's salvo, the state GOP said Mark Grebner of Practical Political Consulting in East Lansing has sent digital copies of the Nader petitions to a data entry firm in India. Grebner refused to confirm or deny the accusation, or to say where the work is being done on the Nader petitions.
Nonetheless, state GOP executive director Greg McNeilly strongly criticized the move, calling it "hypocrisy."
"Michigan Democrats are so intolerant of minority perspectives at the ballot box that they'll outsource Michigan jobs in order to protect a two-party duopoly," McNeilly said in a statement. "They are paying a firm in India for work that could be done by Michiganders."
Michigan Democrats say Republicans are the ones who should be criticized because they collected 43,000 of the 50,000 signatures that may enable Nader to get on the state ballot as an independent. They accuse the GOP of helping Nader so he can take votes away from Kerry in a state where polls show Kerry and Bush are running neck-and-neck.
Nader decided Monday not to withdraw from the ballot as an independent, although he still hopes to get nominated by the state Reform Party. At least 30,000 of the petition signatures must be valid for him to get on the ballot. Challenges to the signatures must be made by 4 p.m. Thursday.
State Democratic Executive Chairman Mark Brewer has said the party is looking at the validity of every signature.
It turned to Grebner to help get the job done by Thursday's deadline. The party did not respond by late Tuesday to a request for comment on the Republican accusations.
Grebner, for his part, said Republicans paid petition circulators to gather enough signatures to get Nader on the ballot. State GOP spokesman Matt Davis said he couldn't comment on whether that happened or how much the party spent if it did pay for signatures to be collected.
Grebner said he has used foreign workers in the past in countries such as Bangladesh for work that can't be done by his U.S. staff of about 15 full-time workers. That includes work for Republicans as well as for Democrats, he added.
"This really is work that you can't do in the U.S. because it just doesn't make economic sense," he said of the work he sends overseas. "I can't hire people to do some things here."
I think you probably heard of this guy.
Dear Dems;
Aww, when it rains, it pours.
ROFLMAO
What a bunch of hypocrites!
....egg on the face time?
Want to ensure Ralph Nader gets on the ballot in your state? Go to:
http://www.votenader.org/
Check out the upper left hand corner of the page.
Help them with their petition drive in your state if applicable. At the very least sign their petition. Really want to have some fun, circulate a petition around among friends and family.
Let’s support democracy. Get Ralph on the ballot in as many states as possible.
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