Looks like Michigan Democrats are so afraid of getting their clock cleaned in November that they might have resorted to some pretty desperate tactics:

With the July 14 filing of close to 60,000 signatures, the Tea Party is set to appear on ballots across Michigan this fall. But no so fast, say members of the Michigan Tea Party Alliance. They claim that those signatures were probably gathered under false pretenses. Jim Lefler, a member of the Southwest Michigan Tea Party Patriots, one of dozens of groups under the Michigan Tea Party Alliance said “we’re concerned that a number of the signatures were collected unwittingly from people that were not properly explained what this tea party really was. We consider it to be a sham organization.” Members of the Michigan Tea Party Alliance rallied on the Capitol Building’s steps before testifying at meeting of the Michigan Board of Canvassers. Their mission? Get rid of that party. “We beleive that they are trying to syphon away votes from candidates that we would like to support,” said Lefler.

It looks like the charges that this group is a “sham organization” might have some credibility, too:

Zarko Research has learned that a nefarious unknown group calling itself “The Tea Party” at PO Box 23 in Richville, MI 48757 (near Flint) is circulating a petition on a paid basis, at roughly $1 per signature to the circulator.  The group is so new that the Secretary of State has nothing on file as of this moment. The petition was mailed to known paid circulators in the metro Detroit area earlier this week and based on conclusions of proprietary knowledge to Zarko Research, the petition is being operated by a liberal-leaning petition management firm with ties to the Democratic Party.

For more on this story, head on over to Ricochet.