Persons unknown put together the time, money and effort to put the "Michigan Tea Party" on the ballot for 2010. Local tea partiers say they have no idea who these people are. Some have speculated that wealthy Democratic Party sympathizers put up the money, reputedly around $100,000, to obtain the 59,400 signatures required and pay for the legal work that the Michigan Board of Canvassers requires of independent groups seeking ballot access. The Democratic Party denies all this of course.
But as the old saying goes: Who benefits? Anybody pulling the Michigan Tea Party lever this fall would probably otherwise vote Republican and so every vote the MTP gets will be one less for the GOP. In a close race (like say Michigan's 7th congressional district) those "lost" GOP votes might be enough to give freshman U.S. Representative Mark Schauer another term. "Who benefits" indeed?
