Calif. electoral vote initiative is linked to Giuliani campaign

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

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.

... But Democrats said the effort is less about reform and more about changing the outcome of 2008. They suggested it's not hard to connect the dots between Hurth and conservative causes, including the presidential campaign of GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.

Hurth donated $2,000 last March to the Giuliani campaign - and his fundraising associate in Choices for America, Nevada-based conservative strategist Steve Wark, has been a major donor and fundraiser for Giuliani.

... But Jarrod Agen, a spokesman for Giuliani, strongly denied any connection to the California electoral ballot measure campaign.

Read more: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/26/MNNCSDUH6.DTL

[AZ Criminal JD]

1. If this initative passes we can forget the election.

It must be defeated at all costs.

[still_one]

3. I agree, and will work accordingly. The only way it even makes sense is if the whole country

does it

Which of course won't happen, because republicans would be defeated then

[Steve_in_California]

2. Schwarzenneger said "no way"

The electoral system in California will not change per the Governor's edict.

[still_one]

4. I am surprised. I didn't hear him say that. I know it is the republicans working for it

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Here's the link to a story that quotes him on this:

http://www.ocregister.com/news/electoral-state-california-1819946-votes-republican

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gave a chilly reception Thursday to a GOP-backed plan to change the way California awards electoral votes in presidential elections – a proposal critics say could tilt the outcome in favor of Republicans.

"In principle, I don't like to change the rules in the middle of the game," the Republican governor told reporters.

Schwarzenegger added he wasn't versed in details of the ballot proposal and stressed he wasn't taking a definitive position. But his uneasy response is likely to make it harder for supporters to build momentum and could chill fundraising.

The California Republican Party has not taken a position on the proposed ballot initiative.

[avrdream]

6. Doesn't sound like a "no way" from Arnold, does it?

How is this going to be stopped? Would it have to go up for a vote by the people? I have read most of the threads here on DU about this but haven't seen an analysis of how it would either 1) actually happen, or, 2) be stopped.

Any help?

[Steve_in_California]

7. In other interviews Arnold has been quoted as saying

He thinks changing the rules in the middle of the game is an admission of weakness. He won't support any plan to change the system. That's a "no way" in my book.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. Here's what the California Democratic Party is doing:

http://www.cadem.org/site/c.jrLZK2PyHmF/b.3375669/k.9828/Fraud_Busters.htm

I just signed up...

[formercia]

9. Plausible denial

The boys are really good at that.

Obviously, Hurth wants the electoral votes to go to Rudi.


Rudi is SMOM and the obvious shoe-in by the boys.