In another twist on the Democrats' attempts to push Nader off the Michigan ballot, the AP reports that they have hired an outfit to vet the petition signatures that has outsourced the work to India:

Republicans said Mark Grebner, of Practical Political Consulting in East Lansing, has sent digital copies of Nader's petitions to a data entry firm in India. Grebner declined to comment on the allegation.

But Greg McNeilly, executive director of the state GOP, called the move hypocritical. "Michigan Democrats are so intolerant of minority perspectives at the ballot box that they'll outsource Michigan jobs in order to protect a two-party duopoly," he said in a statement. "They are paying a firm in India for work that could be done by Michiganders."

Hypocritical? You bet. The Democrats have been inveighing against outsourcing as the evil of the new economy and part of a Bush conspiracy to dismantle American labor, using that rhetoric to induce Nader to leave the race -- or at least attract his supporters to Kerry. However, when the Democrats need a job done cheap, it appears that they are reluctant to turn to Michigan's union workforce. Why?

State Democratic Executive Chairman Mark Brewer has said the party is checking every signature, and it turned to Grebner to help meet Thursday's deadline.

Grebner said he has used foreign workers in the past in countries such as Bangladesh for work that can't be done by his U.S. staff of about 15 full-time workers. That includes work for Republicans as well as for Democrats, he added.

"This really is work that you can't do in the (United States) because it just doesn't make economic sense," Grebner said of the work he sends overseas. "I can't hire people to do some things here."

Hmmm. You mean that there are valid economic reasons for outsourcing? Color me surprised. Of course, Republicans have been noting this all along.

Remind me again which party lies to the electorate ...

UPDATE: Fred Schoeneman has some thoughts on the Democratic platform plank on outsourcing, too.

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