Is the GOP Backing the Texas Green Party to Upset Democrats?

Strange things seem to be happening as of late when it comes to political positioning around the country and how it may impact the Democrats. First in South Carolina, the nation was stunned when an unemployed, army vet with no noticeable political experience and who held no political rallies or functions won the Democratic nomination for US Senate in last weeks 'Super Tuesday' primaries.

Democratic leadership have been calling for an investigation into the miraculous ascend of Alvin Greene who is now being accused of being a 'plant' by the Republican Party.

He is also accused of being mentally challenged and is currently under investigation for showing porn to a minor. Greene has emphatically denied these allegations and in a recent interview with CNN's Don Lemon he repeatedly insisted that his lawyer be contacted to answer any and all questions about his 'legal' problems.

Here's a tape of the Greene CNN interview

While Dems are pondering over the Greene debacle in South Carolina, they are launching an investigation and lawsuit here in Texas against another Green, the Texas Green Party, who they accuse of being funded by GOP operatives who wish to tilt close races including the gubenatorial campaign between Governor Rick Perry and former Houston Mayor Bill White.

Here's an excerpt from a recent Dallas News article

AUSTIN – The Texas Democratic Party went to court Thursday to find out who funded a petition drive for the Green Party that could help Gov. Rick Perry and other Republicans win close races this fall.

The parties struck a deal under which the Green Party will delay submitting its list of candidates to the state until a court rules on the matter.

Chad Dunn, general counsel of the Texas Democratic Party, vowed to use the lawsuit to obtain documents and interview people "to get to the bottom of this scheme."

At issue is whether the party, in accepting the petitions from a nonprofit company as a campaign contribution, violates state law. An out-of-state Republican consultant arranged for the gathering of signatures, a deal first reported by The Dallas Morning News this week.

Dunn said the effort to collect 92,000 signatures to put the Green Party on the November ballot was a disguised attempt to help Perry. The Republican governor could benefit if the liberal Green Party candidate for governor draws votes from Democrat Bill White .

The governor's campaign has said it has no involvement in the petition drive.

But Democrats pointed to Perry's chief political strategist Dave Carney, who participated in a nearly identical signature-gathering effort in 2004 involving the same out-of-state operative who helped the Texas Green Party

One of the interesting aspects of this scenario is that Green Party members have long talked about the difficulty of getting names on the ballot in Texas. All sorts of hurdles need to be overcome including gathering large numbers of signatures in a prescribed time. According to Texas Green Party state co-ordinator Kat Swift, there's no way the Green's would've been able to get on the ballot without outside help.

The Dallas News article continues...

Green Party state coordinator Kat Swift said the party believes the petition drive was legal but is awaiting written assurance before moving forward to field candidates.

The Green Party intends to report the signatures as an in-kind contribution from a Missouri company, Take Initiative America. But the actual source of the funding – perhaps more than $200,000 – is a mystery.

Swift says she doesn't know who actually paid for the drive, and Mooney refuses to say.

Take Initiative America is headed by Charles Hurth III, the same Republican lawyer running Choices for America in 2004. Hurth did not return telephone calls for comment.

The motion for a restraining order was filed Thursday in district court in Austin. The Democratic Party was hoping for a delay so its lawyers could take depositions under oath to find out who bankrolled the effort.

As I was reading this I couldn't help but think of 08 Green Party vice presidential candidate Rosa Clemente who has remarked on several occassions including during her visit to Houston last summer about how Democrats were frequently going after the Green Party and challenging them or suing them to prevent them from getting on the ballot. She said that many of the accusations were without merit.

Is the lawsuit being filed another case of that happening or should the Dems in Texas be seriously concerned especially when you take into account as to what's going on in South Carolina?

Right now it appears that the Greene and Greens are giving the Democrats lots of headaches. It'll be a strange turn of events if the GOP is actually funding them. If such is the case, one would have to wonder if this is part of a much larger, more complicated Karl Rove type scheme. We would also have to note that in many ways it would be fair pay back considering that the Dems have been pushing to help 'over the top' Tea Party candidates. We just saw that play out in Nevada where Senate majority leader Harry Reid will square off against Sharron Angle who has called for the abolishment of the Department of Education.

We'll keep you posted as things unfold. In the meantime here's our 08 interview with Texas Green party co-ordinator Kat Swift who was in Chicago vying for Green Party presidential nominee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRpVbZtmDlk