BREAKING: GOP's CA Electoral College Initiative/Scam Dead, Says LA Times

[BradBlog]

Source: BRAD BLOG, LA Times

BREAKING: GOP's CA Electoral College Initiative/Scam Dead, Says LA Times

LA Times is reporting tonight that the good guys may have won one for a change...

<b>BREAKING NEWS: Electoral initiative backers give up</b>

Plagued by a lack of money, supporters of a statewide initiative drive to change the way California's 55 electoral votes are apportioned, first revealed here by Top of the Ticket in July, are pulling the plug on that effort.

In an exclusive report to appear on this website late tonight and in Friday's print editions, The Times' Dan Morain reports that the proposal to change the winner-take-all electoral vote allocation to one by congressional district is virtually dead with the resignation of key supporters, internal disputes and a lack of funds.

URL: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5110

Read more: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5110

[silverweb]

1. Good!

It was just another sneaky, underhanded, nefarious, reTHUG scheme to begin with and deserved an early death!

[Kikosexy2]

57. Yeeaaahhh baby!...

We may have Paris, Lindsey, Britney and Jessica the 4 dumb blondes in L.A., CA but we're smart enough to know a scam when we see one...Kick those Repigs to the curb in 2008!...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. What great news!

On Tuesday night I went to my local Dem Club meeting where I got information about becoming a "Fraud Buster."

I'll still keep an eye out for these jokers, but I am most relieved to see this news...

K&R

[WileEcoyote]

51. It didn't have much chance of passing.

People aren't that stupid here. Now had they tried Texas they'd be more dangerous.

[xxqqqzme]

60. then you will be surprised to learn that

Democratic pollsters found a 49% approval for the measure.

[byronius]

68. That is a freaking scary number.

California -- WTF?

[DUlover2909]

85. How would trying Texas be more dangerous? I don't get it.

I'd love for Texas to divide electoral votes by district. Then the Idiots (R) wouldn't win all the votes.

[loudsue]

62. "Fraud Busters"? Those are still badly needed!!

So many repukes, so much fraud! They could keep you guys busy for decades. :hi:

Keep up the good work!

[diva77]

3. Great news! I wish the LA Times would refer to the voting machines and

central tabulators with words like "scam" as well

[Triana]

4. EXCELLENT!!

:woohoo:

[Old and In the Way]

5. Gee, Californians didn't want to give Republicans a chance to steal

the election in 2008? Big surprise. Wonder how many signatures and money they collected?

[cyclezealot]

10. Readings I saw stated the money came from the Swiftboat people.

[dickbearton]

77. The Swiftboat people need to be widely exposed...

Do you have any names?

[rpannier]

25. Hundreds...probably thousands...maybe more

It dependson how many of their signature collectors lived near cemetaries.

I'm sure if you look, you may find my deceased grandfather's name on the petition.

[caligirl]

6. thanks, ggreat news, thoought i was going to have to sign my new name

to the petition, Ivanna Moorenmoar.

[pnwmom]

7. Let's not count our chickens till they're hatched. n/t

[still_one]

8. I hope so, but until I see that it is not on the ballot, I will believe it

It would be nice if they linked the LA times story. Brad's blog is not always accurate

[BradBlog]

82. Um, Really?

"It would be nice if they linked the LA times story. Brad's blog is not always accurate"

For a start, the link to LA Times is in my story (see the link at the bottom of the summary OP above).

Secondly, we're "not always accurate"? Do you have any examples of an inaccuracy? When/if we learn of them, they are corrected (and noted as such) immediately. Even if that's very rare.

So if you have any such examples, please let me know, rather than make such unevidenced charges if you'd be so kind.

[still_one]

86. I found the link later to the LA times, I messed up, no question about it

It is a fair point that if I make an accusation regarding accuracy I should be able to state an example. I can't provide any specific examples of innaccuracies, so not only do I appology, but your point is well taken.

[BradBlog]

87. Thanks, stil_one

That's a rare admission around here (or anywhere). It's very much appreciated.

[still_one]

89. No thank you. That is what critical thinking is all about,, and I wasn't doing it

I was just blowing smoke in the air.

[Tom Joad]

9. been in the greatest page for a few hours already. thanks.

[Judi Lynn]

11. Love that last line in the L.A. Times article:

"We want to to make sure this is not the Freddy Krueger of initiatives," Lehane said today, "that comes back to life. We'll continue to monitor it."

Such good news, so happy to see it. Thank you.

[Newsjock]

12. Story from SF Chronicle here

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/27/BA72SG62P.DTL&tsp=1

San Francisco -- Days after a controversial organization began collecting voter signatures for a ballot measure to change California's winner-take-all primary, a founder of the GOP-backed group says its major players are resigning - and the group will fold - due to lack of funding and support.

"The levels of support just weren't there," said Marty Wilson, the Sacramento-based fundraiser, told the Chronicle in a telephone interview Thursday.

... Wilson said he has disassociated himself with the committee and he confirmed that Hiltachk, who has represented both Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state GOP, resigned from the committee Wednesday, as has spokesman Kevin Eckery.

Chris Lehane, a Democratic strategist, reacted with caution to the news, saying that Democrats, who have fought the effort aggressively from the start, intended to fully verify the committee's demise before they dropped protests and even possible legal action against the organization.

[Judi Lynn]

14. A good additional article on the people involved also appeared in the Chronicle:

Mystery man's key role in move to change Electoral College rules
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

Thursday, September 27, 2007

(09-26) 17:38 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Until this week, Missouri attorney Charles "Chep" Hurth III was best known for a headline-grabbing incident a decade ago in which he bit a young female law student on the butt in a bar.

Now Hurth, the city attorney for New Haven, Mo. (population 1,800), is the agent for a deep-pocketed group that donated $175,000 to fund a Republican-backed effort that would reshape the landscape of presidential politics in California.

Hurth has emerged as an unlikely lead player in connection with the ballot measure that seeks to change the way California allocates its Electoral College votes in the presidential election. His actions on behalf of the group Take Initiative America are being examined by the state's Fair Political Practices Commission after accusations from Democrats that the group is hiding the source of its money.

It's not the first time Hurth has been part of an effort that Democrats say has been aimed at changing the outcome of a presidential election. In 2004, he was the legal agent behind a GOP-funded group called Choices for America, which solicited donations from Republicans for another controversial signature drive - to help independent candidate Ralph Nader get on the presidential election ballot in key states, documents show.

More:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/27/BA72SG62P.DTL&tsp=1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reporting on $175K donation, LA Times did not mention that GOP is behind CA electoral-vote initiative

A September 26 Los Angeles Times article reported that a "newly created Missouri company has made the first public donation to date -- $175,000 -- to a proposed California initiative that would alter how the state allocates its electoral votes," referring to a controversial proposal to award California's electoral votes by congressional district. The article continued: "The donation arrived Sept. 11, one day after Missouri attorney Charles Hurth III created the company, TIA Take Initiative America." However, the Times did not note that the initiative was proposed by a lawyer with ties to the California Republican Party and was endorsed by the party's state convention. Nor did the article report that Hurth has donated to the campaign of GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. Indeed, the word "Republican" appears nowhere in the article.

By contrast, a September 25 Sacramento Bee article on Hurth's donation noted that the ballot measure was "written by prominent Sacramento GOP attorney Tom Hiltachk." The Bee also reported that "Hurth is not a major political donor but gave Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani $2,000 in March." Indeed, this information is publicly available.
(snip)

Hiltachk has played a role in several Republican campaigns to pass ballot initiatives that would benefit that party. He served as counsel to Ted Costa, the former chairman of the Sacramento County Republican Central Committee who filed the petition seeking the 2003 recall of Gov. Gray Davis (D). Hiltachk also represented and served as a spokesman for Rescue California, a ballot-measure committee that spent $3.6 million promoting the recall initiative. The Bee reported in a July 1, 2004, article that Rescue California "gathered 1.3 million of the signatures that got the measure on the October 2003 ballot." On October 7, 2003, Davis was recalled from office and replaced by Schwarzenegger. Hiltachk also served as treasurer of Governor Schwarzenegger's California Recovery Team, a ballot-initiative committee that supported measures to mandate judicial redistricting of California's congressional districts and require employee consent for the use of union dues for political purposes.
(snip/...)

http://mediamatters.org/items/200709260008?f=i_latest

[tanyev]

31. Well of course he's a Republican.

"bit a young female law student on the butt in a bar" Jeez.

[wryter2000]

74. The local news coverage of this has been excellent

They had a long investigative piece on local ABC last night. They went into every aspect of the scam. Who supported it (out of state money), ties to Republicans, etc.

It's nice to see reporting like that. I wish we had something like that on the national level.

[dickbearton]

78. A link to the Republican Crook Schwarzenegger, what a surprise!

[BootinUp]

13. Don't go away mad, just go away. Weeeeeee@!

[Cobalt-60]

15. I love the smell of republican failure in the morning

It smells like victory.

[truthisfreedom]

17. Goppie don't surf.

[dickbearton]

79. Exactly!

[gateley]

16. A trend has begun beginning with the passing of Biden's amendment yesterday

More and more, the bad guys are going to be shot down.

This is such a relief to hear -- thank you for posting it!

Rec!

[Roland99]

18. HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tom_paine]

19. Could this be the first small step in turning back Bushie Tyranny?

I hope so.

[Tesla]

20. Yeah!!

I still think he will try to figure out a way to stay in POWER!!

[onehandle]

21. Not surprising. Even der Gropinator was against this. nt

[anniebelle]

22. Thanks for the small ones.

I truly thought somehow they would ram this through, what with the Ahnold and all having such supreme power. Good news!

[Hawaii Hiker]

23. Wow, Great F-ing News!!!!

When this story first broke in late July, I thought it basically would give the 2008 election to the Re-thugs if it passed....It absolutely had to be defeated...

And if this initiative is dead, well, I only have one thing to say:

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[Gman]

24. They just haven't approached Richard Melon Scaiffe for money yet

If they're out of money, Melon Scaiffe will be glad to fund it.

[rpannier]

26. He's probably busy buying all of the newest books by ann coulter,shill o'lielly, etal

I hear he bought a new house and needs insulation for his attic.

[bos1]

27. good guys winning would involve forward progress

not just holding back the onslaught. But thanks for the info

[calimary]

28. Even so, DON'T LET DOWN YOUR GUARD. Not for a nanosecond!!!

Until I see the corpse with a stake through its heart will I relax on this.

The story is good news, of course, but we MUST remain vigilant. These people never seem to go away. And BELIEVE ME, they still want California. rove started looking hungrily our way several years ago, and it fit perfectly with his over-arching battle plans of "attacking your opponents strengths."

As long as California remains a Democratic stronghold, they're going to be looking at us with The Hunger and trying to figure out ways to break us. Don't EVER assume they're just gonna give up and go away and lick their wounds. Maybe they will go away and lick their wounds - FOR AWHILE. But eventually, they'll always be back to try something else. I don't trust republi-CONS any farther than I can throw the UN building.

Remember what Mad-Eye Moody warned Harry Potter: "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!!"

[Auggie]

48. Absolutely Right!

[xxqqqzme]

61. so true. I heard @ Central Committee

that yet another parental consent measure will be on the ballot. That will be the THIRD in 6 years. There has to be some very serious money driving that anti-woman/choice measure.

[calimary]

83. These bastards just never give up. Even as we speak, I suspect,

a bunch of 'em are on a conference call or meeting at some bar or somebody's house or somebody's office after hours in some strategy session about how to revive this or bring another version of it to life. And ESPECIALLY, how to stealth it so nobody realizes what they've pulled off til it's too late - and a done deal.

THIS. IS. THEIR. PATTERN. Why so few of our operatives seem to get this is beyond me. They don't have enough evidence of that by now? It's like the vote on Iran. They don't have enough evidence of how he lied and misled and got it wrong again and again and again and again on Iraq, how everybody around him and "advising" him and making excuses to/for him got it wrong again and again and again and again on Iraq - and now they're going through the same motions with the same frickin' schtick on Iran. And they don't see it.

UN FUCKING BELIEVABLE. :grr:

[bunkerbuster1]

29. Golf clap.

Yes, it's good news.

But:

1) It ain't over until the deadline passes; I don't put anything past these well-heeled scumbags

2) It speaks volumes about our political climate that the DNC would have to allocate Dime One to convincing Californians not to vote for an initiative that would serve to crap all over them.

[FreepFryer]

30. It's faking!!! We'd better keep an eye out for zombie initiatives.

This is too easy. Let's keep our eyes and ears open for 'Undead Son of CA Electoral Vote Sham 08'

[antiimperialist]

32. This is not what I read in the NY Daily News

In this morning's daily news print edition, a report which is not yet online, came out detailing how a wealthy Republican from Missouri might help Rudy by supporting this proposition.
Like other members have said, don't let your guard down.

[Felix Mala]

33. Cutting off their noses...

What the proponents fail to see is that we'd have maybe one election where they benefit from this and then the public in all the other states would demand the same thing and the elections would then go to the biggest vote getter. It also means the campaigns of the future would focus on urban areas and urban problems, which would give the edge to the Democrats in every presidential contest. The GOP must be really myopic to expend such effort on something that will have lots of unintended consequences for them down the road. I can hardly wait for the Bush v. Gore Supremes decision to start biting their butts.

[BearSquirrel2]

34. Good point ...

Good point ... And let the first state be Texas!

Honestly though I think medium size states that always vote one way would benefit from such proposals as they would effectively put the states "back in play" to some degree where you could be able to pick up a few electoral votes.

[Frances]

38. I would like to do away with the electoral college on the

national level.

BUT if only California and two other small states do away with the electoral college, then we may well have a Repub in the White House in 2008.

The Repub president could then appoint Supreme Court Justices and people to the Justice Department who would continue to undo our Constitutional protections so that fair elections would be impossible.

[Raine]

67. Short-sighted and

always wanting instant gratification that is basically what a rethug is all about. x(

[SharonRB]

35. Woo hoo

:woohoo:

Score one for our side, for a change!

[tlsmith1963]

36. Something Went Right For Once!

This story was really depressing me the other day. I am so tired of the Republicans constantly getting what they want. I am so happy that things didn't go the way they had planned.

[YvonneCa]

65. It's about time...

...high five!!! :7

[Frances]

37. OK, Nader supporters, did you read this:

"It's not the first time Hurth has been part of an effort that Democrats say has been aimed at changing the outcome of a presidential election. In 2004, he was the legal agent behind a GOP-funded group called Choices for America, which solicited donations from Republicans for another controversial signature drive - to help independent candidate Ralph Nader get on the presidential election ballot in key states, documents show."

[Tom Joad]

40. nothing is worse than being supported by Murdoch... except maybe

promoting murdoch's views of the world.
at least Nader's agenda is different than this guy.

[Frances]

44. Are you saying that you support Nader over Hillary?

Then what are you doing on Democratic Underground? Shouldn't you be on Nader/Democratic Spoiler Underground?

[Tom Joad]

49. I oppose the war. I oppose Hillary. Hillary and Murdoch have much in common.

I also know that i do not want guilliani to win.

Doesn't make Hillary any better, though.

[Frances]

55. I am also against the war

But I don't think it is possible to be against the war and for Nader.

Supporting Nader does nothing except help Republicans, who want to prolong the war.

That was the reason I posted that particular quote from the article.

Hillary is against the war and she will end it in a careful, methodical, rational way.

[Stephanie]

39. Lack of funds?

I can't say I find that credible. Since when do republicans give up on fixing elections for lack of FUNDS???

[DFW]

45. The Republican party couldn't be seen as directly financing this

So it had to be (on paper, anyway) from private funds.

As any private initiative to get this scam through was bound
to be scrutinized, any Tom DeLay-style funding would have been
discovered right away, so they looked for real warm bodies to
do the financing. apparently, the T. Boone Pickens types that
fund this kind of crap are drying up. Perhaps they figured out
that if they tried this and a Democrat got elected president
anyway, that the IRS under the new Democratic Secretary of the
Treasury would have had their finances audited, and they figured
that pleasing Karl Rove and Dick Cheney wasn't worth going to jail.

[MaineDem]

41. Great news! n/t

[Kajsa]

42. Hurray! Here's a link to the Morain article,

From the LA Times website this morning.


http://tinyurl.com/334nt3

This is great news!

But as many have stated here, we can't let down our
guard. The GOP may try to revive this monster and
try again.

Thanks for the good news!

;-)

[lovuian]

43. woohoo

:woohoo: Now watch California will be punished for it

[Beetwasher]

46. We Now Have The Ability TO KILL THEIR NEFARIOUS SCHEMES!!!!

This is huge and you can thank the internet. Not too long ago a scheme like this would have been very hard for us to stop. But now, thanks to the internet, we can mobilize more dedicated people much, much quicker than they can and we can stop these things in their infancy. They have the internet too, but we have the numbers and now we're all connected. This is huge and shows how much we have progressed in a relatively little amount of time. It took the GOP 25-30 years to set up their machinery to carry out their schemes. We have developed the anti-dote via the internet in much, much less time. That's not to say we've won, or succeeded, but we now have the appropriate tools to do so.

[backscatter712]

47. WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! SUCK IT YOU NAZI FUCKS!!!

Sorry, I had to say it. I'd apologize for Godwining the thread too, but Bush killed Godwin's Law.

Let's just celebrate!

[cobalt1999]

50. Was it ever even alive?

That idea was stillborn to begin with.

[beltanefauve]

71. That's a good question

Even a failed initiative would have been a sand-in-the-gears tactic to drain OUR time/energy/resources.

[Le Taz Hot]

75. That's what we said about the recall.

And that was financed by the same people trying to finance this little debacle.

[tandot]

52. Great news. We have to be on guard for any other attempt to steal the election

Those Republicans would do anything to keep the WH in Republican hands.

[applegrove]

53. Excellent news!

[Aanya]

54. Another republican robbery averted!

Thank God! The Rethugs will rob you blind, and do it right in front of your face! There will be a special place in hell for this breed of republicans.

[goodgd_yall]

56. Good news 2 days in a row!

This and the inclusion of the Hate Crimes Act---am I dreaming?

[David Zephyr]

58. Here's hoping that our A.G. Jerry Brown will also look into this.

Together the California Secretary of State and our Attorney General Jerry Brown should pull out all stops and hunt this skunk all the way back to it origins.

[huskerlaw]

59. Way to go, California!!!

:D

:woohoo:

[Irishonly]

63. Whoo Hoo

Great news to read this morning. I wonder how many times they will try to get it on the ballot. They may have given up this election but rethugs are like bad pennies, they keep coming back.

[Hawaii Hiker]

64. Follow up on LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-initiative28sep28,1,4081923.story?coll=la-politics-campaign&ctrack=1&cset=true

[lonestarnot]

66. Yeah!

:applause:

[Froward69]

69. From the Colorado Democratic party

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[Initech]

70. Excellent!!!!

The GOP knows they cant win elections legally so they have to resort to dirty tricks like this to get their hands on those votes... thankfully that will not happen!

[Puckster]

72. Thank god!

Now, if we could get rid of hackable voting machines controlled by corporate cronies, we might actually have a fair election. What a concept!

[wryter2000]

73. Awesome!

I heard this on Rachel's show. Thank heaven. The way initiatives are packaged in this state, people would have no idea what the attrocity would actually do.

BTW, I'd already seen on anti-ad on TV, so we were pretty well organized for a fight.

[SoCalDemGrrl]

76. Hoping it's true, but you can't trust the GOP.

[krabigirl]

80. Wonderful news!

[defendandprotect]

81. Well, that's one less dirty-trick the GOP can use in 2008 -- !!!

[f the letter]

84. If every state in the country were operating that way then it might not be so bad

A lot closer to actual democracy that way

[samsingh]

88. why don't we launch initiatives like this in red states?