Ind. Dem. quits in fake signature scandal

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Politico

An Indiana Democratic county chair accused of faking hundreds of signatures on petitions for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary resigned on Monday, according to reports.

St. Joseph County Democratic Party Chair Butch Morgan stepped down from his position in light of the scandal, but insisted he had “done nothing wrong,” the South Bend Tribune reported late Monday night. Morgan also resigned as Democratic chair for Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District.

He faces allegation he submitted hundreds of forged signatures - including that of a former governor - on petitions to get Clinton and Obama on the 2008 Indiana primary ballot.

“I regret having to resign and hope no one will misinterpret the reasons for my resignation,” Morgan said in a written statement. “I have done nothing wrong and I look forward to an investigation that will exonerate me of any wrongdoing.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66227.html

[Enrique]

1. to get Clinton and Obama on the 2008 ballot?

to get the two leading candidates on the ballot, they had to fake signatures? makes no sense.

[Freddie Stubbs]

5. Sloth is one of the Seven Deadly Sins

[Renew Deal]

8. He's probably a show off

That was also playing both sides.

[LiberalFighter]

13. Absolutely no sense. Especially in that district.

It only takes 500 signatures for each candidate in each congressional district to qualify. How difficult is that?

I'm thinking some dickhead other than this guy did it.

The other issue is that signatures have to be verified at each of the county election boards. In St Joe county they have Democratic and Republican that must sign off on the petitions for each of the signatures. Why didn't any of the Republicans at the office challenge it then? Of course, the Democrat should had too.

[Kingofalldems]

2. Search the internet, find bad things about Democrats

Post them. Repeat.

[Gormy Cuss]

11. "Source: Politico"

I'm sure it's fair and balanced.
:sarcasm:

[Freddie Stubbs]

16. The South Bend Tribune also has a story about this:

UPDATE: Butch Morgan, Democratic chairman, resigns his position

SOUTH BEND -- St. Joseph County Democratic Party Chairman Butch Morgan has resigned in reaction to reports that hundreds of signatures were faked on petitions that qualified Democratic presidential candidates for the 2008 Indiana primary.

Morgan, who also resigned as Democratic chairman for the state's 2nd Congressional District, said he has done nothing wrong but doesn't want to be a distraction to candidates running in upcoming local elections.

"I regret having to resign and hope no one will misinterpret the reasons for my resignation," he said in a written statement. "I have done nothing wrong and I look forward to an investigation that will exonerate me of any wrongdoing.

"It has been an honor for me to have served in these capacities," he continued. "I have worked hard to elect outstanding men and women to public office.

more: http://www.southbendtribune.com/sbt-st-joseph-county-democratic-chairman-butch-morgan-resigns-20111017,0,7856484,full.story

[Gormy Cuss]

20. Sorry, my point wasn't clear.

I'm not doubting that the story is true. It's the fact that Politico thought to feature it on a national site that is suspect. As others have pointed out, it's a minor story in the scheme of things election fraud since those candidates would have qualified anyway. It's only important to Politico because it wasn't a Republican who did it.

[24601]

22. Yeah, me too - I always resign after doing nothing wrong. n/t

[Igel]

23. Depends on the job.

A job in which your integrity and reputation matter is different from a job in which you produce something tangible.

If you're accused of stealing a valuable metal, they can put you someplace else while they investigate or make sure the stuff doesn't get into your hands. If your job relies on the perception of fairness and upholding the law and you're accused of something that destroys that perception, you resign because otherwise the job's not going to be done.

If you're a manager this is more likely to happen than if you're a relatively low-ranking employee. A manager might be able to destroy evidence or hamper the investigation--or be put in a position of compromising his own case by cooperating. Even if neither happens, there can be subtle innuendo that maybe the manager managed to do something illegal or unethical, yet completely unknown, to weaken the case against him.

I've had both sorts of jobs. I have one now. The way I behave when I have a job in which public reputation matters not a wit is quite different from the way I behave when I have a job that requires either no public profile or a positive public profile. It may not be fair; but it's how it is, and it's how I behave when I hear about allegations of public corruption or malfeasance.

[emilyg]

15. Why not? Are you afraid of truth?

[LanternWaste]

18. How much truth is born from Politico?

How much truth rather than innuendo and implication is born from Politico?

[emilyg]

21. Last night I read same thing

on another forum. Probably true. If we have bad apples I want them exposed.

[Freddie Stubbs]

24. Did you find anything untrue in this article?

[southernyankeebelle]

3. I hate these people that do these kind of things and I don't care what party they are with.

[jwirr]

10. Yes, but I would like to know that they have been found guilty of something

not just suspected.

[Turbineguy]

4. Maybe if he gets investigated

by republicans they will indeed find he's done nothing wrong.

[oldhippydude]

6. at that point

it would be quietly dropped ..leaving the person with a tarnished reputation.. rumors would continue, and the right wing meme of "where theres smoke" would do the rest..

[denverbill]

7. Whoop-de-do. This was for the Indiana primary. Obama had it wrapped up by then.

Plus he (or someone) forged them for both Obama AND Clinton.

Laziness, lack of planning, stupidity, but not exactly a major story of big-time election fraud.

[kestrel91316]

9. Send him over to the Repigs to become one of them. His character

is more in line with THEM.

[Downwinder]

12. Shows that election fraud is not voter fraud.

[cmd]

14. There will be more to this story.

It sounds too much like someone cut and pasted these charges. I'll just wait and see before condemning.

[a simple pattern]

17. One planted signature collector is all that would take

Get a bunch of your repuke friends to write a fake name on the petition. Presto, Democratic malfeasance!

[rayofreason]

19. He faked a former governor's (D) signature!

I can't believe that there are folks on this thread whose attitude is "hear no evil, see no evil..."

Someone broke the law, faked the signature of a former Democratic governor among others, and that person should be prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law. Here is a bit more info.

http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2011-10-08/news/30259654_1_ballot-petitions-signatures-primary-ballot
http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/specialreports/sbt-primary-forgery-20111008,0,3138948.special

Every Democrat should be outraged that our primary process was tampered with.