In his work “Politics and the English Language,” George Orwell explains that “In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible.” If so, the news this week took a truly Orwellian turn as Democrats rationalized or even praised the effort in Alaska to put a decoy “Dan Sullivan” on the ballot to confuse Alaskans and cause mistaken votes. Other Democratic politicians are entirely silent on the allegation that the campaign of Democratic candidate Mary Peltola engineered this grossly unethical tactic. The very same people running on “saving Democracy” are, once again, defending ballot manipulation designed to negate the votes of citizens. It is the ultimate expression of rage politics, excusing any act needed to achieve power.
On NewsNation Now, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) went beyond many of his colleagues in saying that the Alaskan scandal shows precisely where all states, including Virginia, should go. When asked about the scandal, Subramanyam insisted that it showed how all states should embrace the widely criticized ranked-choice voting system. (Alaskans may finally reject the system this year). While asked about the use of a decoy candidate, Subramanyam bizarrely spun the question as third-party candidates — a bizarre claim since the fake Dan Sullivan has not campaigned, has never run for office, and is obviously on the ballot solely to confuse voters.
Nevertheless, Subramanyam insisted, while he would not run a decoy, “I also don’t have a ranked-choice voting system in Virginia. I wish I did, honestly. But, in Alaska, they have ranked-choice voting, and third-party candidates are very relevant. And so, if you recruited a third-party candidate who can take votes away from your opponent, that’s part of the process, and that’s just how it works in Alaska.” Previously, Subramanyam also supported the most radical gerrymandering effort in the nation (which was later struck down as unlawful).
Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) seemed to disassemble as he tried to rationalize the move. He first attempted to blame it on one woman who was a “disgruntled former employee.” When CNN host Kaitlan Collins noted that The New York Times was relying on a large number of sources in the Peltola campaign, Murphy said it wouldn’t bother him at all to have decoys on his ballot because no one would be confused when voting. Of course, the entire reason you put another Dan Sullivan on the ballot is to confuse voters and cause citizens to throw away their votes on the wrong man. In a close election, that can easily make the difference in the outcome of the election. Murphy also praised the Peltola campaign and said he “trusts” them, despite the New York Times saying they actively sought to cause such voting errors.
In 2025, Murphy appeared on any cable show that would have him declare that “those of us who believe that the threat to democracy is urgent” need to “act like it.”
Most Democratic leaders refused to say anything at all in the face of an open effort to nullify votes through candidate confusion.
Pundits and party officials have dismissed the scandal as brass-knuckles politics or even as humorous. The head of Alaska’s Democratic Party, Eric Croft, insisted that the sole consideration is whether it is a crime, not whether it is unethical: “I reread all of Alaska’s statutes. I’m kind of a recovering attorney up here. And there is nothing, there’s no legal issue to it. On your, you know, sort of dirty tricks thing, I think Alaskans have a different take there too.”
When pressed whether it is a good thing to try to confuse Alaskan voters and nullify their votes, Croft responded “No, I think it’s funny.”
That knee-slapper involves a politician and campaign that allegedly lied to the public about their involvement. It involves a decoy who is also accused of lying when he said he had no interaction with third parties and did not enter the race to confuse voters. (Notably, the decoy, when asked by the Division of Elections how his name should appear on the ballot, reportedly asked to use “S” as a middle initial (like the senator) as opposed to his own initial of “J.” ).
One would think that this would be an easy question for candidates who insist that they are defenders of democracy. However, in 2024, Democrats moved to remove Trump and other Republicans from ballots while claiming to be protecting voters by denying them the choice of candidates. The fact that the voters gave Trump the popular vote and swept every swing state only magnified the hypocrisy of these Democratic leaders. Yet, some of the same figures are back at it again with efforts to manipulate balloting to confuse or nullify votes in the name of protecting democracy.
Some of the same figures, such as Marc Elias, have reappeared in yet another election scandal. The Elias Law Group was named by the New York Times as involved in the controversy. Elias was a central figure in the Russian hoax as the campaign lawyer for Hillary Clinton. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) fined the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign for violating election rules in hiding the funding for the infamous Steele dossier. Before the election, Clinton officials denied any such involvement.
In an age of rage, consistency, like decency, is a stranger to politics. We are left again in that moment with lawyer Joseph Welch in the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954: “Have you no shame, sir, at long last? Have you no shame?” The answer today is clear: No, but I have the votes.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
How is the Dan Sullivan lie any different than these lies? I promise to close Guantanamo on Day One by Executive Order. I promise to never use Presidential Signing Statements. I promise to never bomb a nation, unless it is an immediate threat to America’s national security. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Obamacare will bring down health care costs. I oppose gay marriage. Illegal immigrants must be deported, for national security purposes. We should have a Patriot Act that does not wiretap with abandon.
BREAKING NEWS:
Trump drops pants in Daytona, craps on stage, and flings poop at audience.
Melania files for divorce.
LAME as usual from Anon!!
A million times in 2024, Democrats said that they were “defending our democracy”. Now we know that “our” was meant as a negative prefix.
I remember when then Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill wrote a piece in Politico bragging about how she spent $millions to manipulate the Republican primary to get Republican voters to nominate the candidate she believed would be the easiest for her to defeat in the general election.
How I Helped Todd Akin Win — So I Could Beat Him Later – POLITICO Magazine
The ONLY thing “democracy” sorts for is the ability to win elections. That’s it. It does not sort for “good governance”; optimal policy; virtue; honesty; or anything else.
ONLY how to win.
Now, sometimes promoting what you sincerely believe is “optimal policy” will win. But when your policies are unpopular and your party brand is in the toilet, then you have to crawl down in the sewer and engage in sleazy tactics to win.
Prof. Turley is on thin ice referring to a “fake Dan Sullivan”. The implied individual has always been 100% real Dan Sullivan.
Time to review Reese Witherspoon’s Election movie which might’ve been the inspiration for the butterfly ballot and hanging chads.
Eric Croft, insisted that the sole consideration is whether it is a crime, not whether it is unethical: “And there is nothing, there’s no legal issue to it…”
All’s fair in love and war. And it is war, do not doubt it.
“I reread all of Alaska’s statutes. I’m kind of a recovering attorney up here. And there is nothing, there’s no legal issue to it…”
I suspect there could easily be a legal issue to it. As we all saw in NY, perfectly legal actions taken during a federal election campaign, can lead to a conviction for multiple felonies. It would appear, that any minor criminal act, even misdemeanors related to bookkeeping (Alaska also has a law against the falsification of business record), when committed in connection with a federal election, assuming that these actions were a violation of federal campaign law, could become the predicate for felony charges.
It would be hard to believe that the fake Dan Sullivan did this without being compensated, or that the Peltola campaign didn’t pay the expenses of putting him on the ballot, or more likely, that Elias’s law firm didn’t pay the expenses (which would be another campaign finance violation), to set all of this into motion.
Can’t wait for X to offer up a hundred words recited from AI as to why this isn’t illegal, why Republicans once did this in 1880, why Turley should write about something he want written about and why he is almost an attorney.
Of course our resident juvenile delinquent will follow my comment with his very own calling me old, drunk and any other personal invective that is irrelevant.
“calling me old, drunk and any other personal invective that is irrelevant.” But its true Robert Howard.
Total Wine!
But you forget the sick and deranged comments you always attack everyone here with. Mass*hole huh?
If the sum of the “Dan” votes wins the election, the true Dan is the candidate who should be declared the true winner by the Senate.
Mega dittos, I thought the simple solution to this issue is giving all Sullivan votes to the real candidate. Decoy Dan even admits he is not a serious candidate! And now he’s in hiding
I do believe the Democratic Party would embrace the Flat Earth Society if they thought it would help win an election. The faux Dan Sullivan entered for humor or whatever betrays their belief in the motto of famed football coach Vince Lombardi, who said, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” Once again, Republicans need to play catch-up on postmodern morality.
Another fake vote scheme in the news James O’Keefe. Illegal or unethical?
Let us again save time by cutting to the chase in the deceitful Democrat Alaska obfuscation gambit: the fingerprints of Marc Elias and his minions being all over the gambit, this tells you all you need to know. Democrats are sinister and evil. They should never again be allowed near — as in 52 factorial cubed parsecs — of governmental office or authority. Ever.