Oh, no, Tom Barrett didn’t just screw up. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill political flub. This is next-level. This is, “Let’s time-travel and vote from the future,” kind of stupid. Barrett, running for Michigan’s 7th District, released a campaign ad that told people to vote… after Election Day. You heard me—AFTER. Like, “Hey, make sure you show up to the polls the day after they’ve already closed, and maybe you’ll cast your vote by carrier pigeon!” I mean, seriously, who does that? In what alternate universe does a grown man running for office—who presumably knows how calendars work—tell voters to vote on the wrong freaking day?
Now, you could say, “Oh, it’s just a mistake!” Right, sure, like mistaking your grandma’s birthday or accidentally calling your boss “Mom.” But no, no—this is worse! This ad didn’t just appear in any random paper. No, it showed up in a Black-owned newspaper, targeting Black voters! It’s like accidentally “forgetting” to invite your neighbors to the barbecue and then sending them the leftovers after the party. Yeah, real innocent.
The Michigan Legislative Black Caucus took one look at this nonsense and was like, “Oh, HELL no!” They’ve filed a complaint, and I don’t blame them. This isn’t some tiny typo that gets a “Whoopsie!” pass. This is straight-up either the most incompetent campaign ad ever or an insidious attempt at voter suppression. Which, let’s be real, is like finding out your toaster is actively trying to burn down your kitchen. Either way, not good!
But wait, Barrett’s campaign swoops in, all serious, saying, “Oh no, this was just an error. Nothing to see here.” An error? AN ERROR?! Sure, buddy, and my dog just happened to file my taxes. You don’t just “accidentally” tell people to vote after Election Day, especially when those people are part of a community that’s seen a century of voter suppression! This is like going to a birthday party and saying, “Happy Birthday!” a week after the cake’s gone stale. It’s either incompetence on a galactic scale or some real shady behavior.
Oh, but don’t worry, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office is on it. They’ve issued a cease-and-desist letter like Barrett just tried to build a time machine to sabotage democracy. This dude couldn’t have messed up worse if he tried. He’s standing there like, “What did I do?” while everyone else is looking at him like he’s holding a lit match in a fireworks factory.
You think it’s just a mistake? Well, let me tell you something: If you’ve got a history of stepping on Black communities with your policies, and then you tell them to vote on a day that doesn’t exist in the electoral calendar? You better be ready to answer some tough questions. Barrett’s political record is already a landfill of terrible decisions. He’s voted against workers, against affordable healthcare, and against just about anything that might help the people he’s now accidentally (or not) telling to vote after the polls close.
This guy is like a walking disaster zone of bad ideas, and now he’s trying to gaslight us into thinking this was just a minor oopsie. No! No, Tom Barrett! This isn’t a little screw-up! This is like telling people to celebrate Christmas on January 8th and acting surprised when they get mad about it.
So what happens now? Well, Barrett’s campaign is about as steady as a cardboard house in a hurricane. He’s up against Curtis Hertel Jr., who’s been watching this trainwreck with the same expression you get when you see someone trip into a fountain. Hertel’s been pointing out Barrett’s mistakes left and right, but Barrett decided, “Hey, why not add voter suppression—sorry, an error—to the list?”
Look, Barrett is either the most clueless candidate ever to walk the halls of Michigan politics, or he’s got a team of people so incompetent that they couldn’t find the word “election” in a dictionary. Either way, I’m betting the voters he just tried to mess with won’t let him forget it.
