Wisconsin Republicans must be getting sore knees and a sore back because they’ve been stooping so low for so long now.

But they’re stooping even lower, if that’s possible, by running phony Democrats in the recall campaigns so as to delay what looks like the inevitable: Their loss of the Wisconsin senate.

Six Republican senators are facing a recall on July 12. But if there is more than one Democratic candidate, then there will have to be a primary on July 12, and the recall election against the Republicans will be postponed till August 8.

The Democrats got their act together and made sure there would be only one candidate in each race. So the Republicans, fearful of being blown out on July 12 and desperate to stall for time, have now taken to begging fellow Republicans to leap into the Democratic race and force a primary.

In La Crosse, for instance, state senator Dan Kapanke is in deep trouble, so now James Smith, a hospital technician who has served on the executive committee of the La Crosse Republican Party, just decided to run against the Democratic candidate—in the Democratic primary.

The leading Republican in the state senate, Scott Fitzgerald, wholeheartedly endorses this tactic, even though it is of dubious legality. The Wisconsin statute on “prohibited election practices” says you can’t make a “false representation pertaining to a candidate.”

They’re making a joke of the electoral process, just as they're making a joke of the governing process.

If you liked this story by Matthew Rothschild, the editor of The Progressive magazine, check out his story "1,000 Protesters Kick Off Week of Action in Madison."

Follow Matthew Rothschild @mattrothschild on Twitter