By Nick Smith
Staff Writer
Posted: July 26, 2019 2:45 PM

In an era where social media further fuels the fire of partisan politics, an increasingly common front in election cycles for taking a swipe at an opponent is the parody Twitter account.

This spring, some political observers may have noticed the emergence of a parody account taking potshots at U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township) as he has begun his campaign for a second term.

The account, which identifies Mr. Peters instead as "Larry Peters" (it was recently switched from "Jerry Peters"), is highlighted by references to the senator being a supposed unknown among constituents.

Such attacks on social media are, again, not uncommon. One could easily find parody accounts of state lawmakers, members of Congress, statewide elected officials and many taking aim at President Donald Trump.

Who runs the account is unclear, although a likely bet would be a conservative staffer for a state or national Republican group such as the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which has taken shots at Mr. Peters in digital ads in recent months using the moniker.

The attack has largely stemmed Morning Consult's quarterly polling of approval and disapproval ratings of members of the U.S. Senate. Mr. Peters in the rankings has had among the highest rate of people saying "I don't know" rather than expressing approval or disapproval of him, with 43 percent being undecided in the first quarter of this year and dropping to 40 percent more recently.

All of this has led to a string of knocks and jabs at Mr. Peters such as this scene moviegoers may remember from the film World War Z:

Constituents not knowing who I am #MIsen pic.twitter.com/nJtetmIFyv

— Senator Larry Peters (@SenJerryPeters) July 26, 2019

Of course, the campaign is still in its early stages and the calendar could flip to 2020 before the campaigns of either Mr. Peters or his Republican opponent John James open up on each other with information from opposition research.

For now, jabs such as this from conservative groups and jabs at Mr. James from progressives on his 2018 campaign comments strongly supporting Mr. Trump appear likely to serve as the opening salvos to rally their respective bases until campaign season ramps up in earnest.

By then, who knows? Perhaps there will be a John James parody account as well.