Many of you know that Indiana's Secretary of State, Charlie White, is currently facing criminal charges serving on the council of a town in which he didn't live and for voting in the wrong precinct. But according to Jim Shella of Indianapolis' CBS affiliate, WISH-TV, there's a possibility that White's stupidity could put a major hurtin' on the Indiana Republican Party in 2012.
Consider this: a Democratic lawsuit challenges White’s status on the ballot last November because his voter registration was allegedly false (a contention backed up by grand jury indictments.) If a judge rules in the Democrats’ favor and White is disqualified, the Republicans would not receive the 10% of the vote in the Secretary of State race that is required to maintain major party status. Libertarians, however, would reach 10% after the White vote is removed. Major shift.
Sound familiar? Well, if you'll remember, the Colorado GOP nearly disemboweled itself in the gubernatorial election with Scott McInnis' plagarism and Dan Maes' embelishment of his resume--and as a result, came within 20,000 votes of being dropped to minor-party status.
Shella mentioned something else--if the Republicans get knocked down to minor-party status, it could potentially end Dick Lugar's career.
(T)he lack of major party status would make the 2012 Senate race a convention battle rather than a primary for the GOP. Richard Mourdock’s chances of upsetting Richard Lugar would be greatly enhanced in a convention.
Bob Benson at Swing State Project goes further--if the Senate nominee ends up being decided at the state convention, Lugar can't possibly win.
At least one conservative blogger claims this would "subvert the will of the people." Hmmm--wasn't it the Republicans who keep insisting on following election law to the letter?
Let's hope some Democrat has the guts to go after this--if only to give us a fighting chance of taking a Senate seat, or at the very least making the Repubs spend a ton of money in a state where they really can't afford it. Remember, to advertise statewide in Indiana, you'd have to put some money into Cincy, Louisville and Chicago.