UPDATE: I inadvertently failed to mention that the final question of the survey asks respondents who they favor for president, followed by a list of candidates. That list includes Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat.
Maybe the most delusional Plan B in the history of Michigan politics is in the works if they both lose on Tuesday.
An online survey asking voters if they will support
former state representatives Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat in Tuesday’s special
election suggests that the ex-lawmakers were railroaded out of office despite
their status as among the “very best” conservatives in the 180-year history of the House.
Courser and Gamrat, who have managed little public
support and appear to be headed toward defeat in their efforts to win back
their seats, apparently have no official ties to the poll.
Among the first questions in this email-driven survey,
respondents are asked if they support Courser and Gamrat given that they had “among
thee (sic) very best most conservative records in state House in its history.”
The fact that the two tea party Republicans only served eight
months – at a time when the Legislature wasn’t particularly busy – is not
mentioned in the poll.
shove-you-to-the-floor poll. Push polls try to subjectively steer respondents
in a particular direction. This poll makes outrageous claims in the course of
asking questions.
Courser, who resigned under pressure from colleagues last month, is the author of
this written survey. The typos and bad grammar may give it away, as Courser is
widely known for demonstrating poor writing skills in lengthy Facebook
messages.
The poll is attributed to “conservativesurveys123” and
was apparently emailed widely across the state through the SurveyMonkey online
network. It is so over the top that it’s reminiscent of the infamous fake email
that Courser wrote during the attempted cover-up of his sexual affair with
Gamrat.
during the sex scandal had solid loyalties to the two lawmakers, the survey
says that the legislators’ ouster was a “political hit” orchestrated by these
aides.
The poll falsely claims that the aides refused to testify
during the September expulsion hearings in the House. It also alleges that the
aides engaged in “secret meetings” with House Speaker Kevin Cotter from the
beginning of the session, presumably in January.
And the poll continues to spread the canard that the
House investigative report turned up no evidence that Courser/Gamrat misused state tax
dollars. Beyond the report’s findings, in Gamrat’s apology letter to the House
she said:
misconduct, as well as of the misuse of state resources.”
playing out in Gamrat’s west Michigan district.
A mysterious campaign flyer sent throughout the district
says that one of Gamrat’s primary election opponents, Jim Storey, “acts like a
liberal” and took stimulus money from the Obama administration in 2009 as a local
official.
Just as the
email survey goes beyond the pale of polling, the mailer stretches the truth
beyond recognition.
Storey told
The Detroit News that the claim is based on a vote he took while serving on
Holland’s public works board to apply for a federal grant for testing
underground carbon sequestration at the city’s coal power plant.
“We didn’t get
the grant,” Storey said. “Not only did we not get stimulus money, we went the
other direction and did it on our own.”
not produced by the last remnants of Gamrat’s tea party supporters, it was put
out by two big-name, establishment Republicans. Richard McLellan, a key figure
in the Michigan GOP since the days of the Engler administration, initially
denied that he was linked to the group Michigan’s Voice, which financed the mailers
He later
admitted to the News that he formed the group, after reporter Chad Livengood
pointed out that the flyers were sent from the Okemos law office address of McLellan and Eric Doster. As for Doster, he’s
not just an attorney, he is the legal counsel for the Michigan Republican
Party.
