Electoral plan's backlash (CA)

[AlCzervik]

suck it wing nuts

Dems flog GOP initiative to split state's votes

By Kevin Yamamura - Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, October 7, 2007

A Republican-backed initiative to divvy up California's 55 electoral votes has fallen on hard times.

Leading local organizers recently abandoned the proposal amid questions over a mysterious six-figure donation from a backer of Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.

Efforts to gather 433,971 signatures by Nov. 29 are on hold, and political consultants say the measure is unlikely to qualify for the June ballot.

But that hasn't stopped Democrats from stepping up attacks on the flagging initiative. They see the proposal as an opportunity to invigorate their base by accusing Republicans of pursuing questionable efforts to influence the outcome of the 2008 presidential election.

The initiative, launched by a Sacramento GOP lawyer who has since abandoned the effort, would assign electoral votes based on congressional district results rather than give all of the state's votes to the overall presidential winner in California.

That could help Republicans collect 20 or more electoral votes in a state where they might otherwise earn none.

In an effort to squelch the initiative and criticize Republicans, Democrats have been quick to respond to any hint of movement by proponents. When rumors circulated Thursday that GOP donors were trying to revive the initiative, Democratic consultant Chris Lehane immediately fired off an e-mail accusing the new players of an "Electoral College power grab."

Lehane, who worked in the Clinton White House and backs Hillary Clinton for president, helped file a complaint last week with the Federal Election Commission charging that Giuliani supporters violated campaign restrictions on disclosure and contribution limits.

Lehane's group, Californians for Fair Election Reform, has raised $216,000 and ran ads last month in San Francisco and Sacramento stating that voting for the initiative would prolong the war in Iraq by giving Republicans the presidency next year. The grass-roots Courage Campaign produced another spot in which former "West Wing" actor Bradley Whitford accuses Republicans of "dirty tricks."

The group also has enlisted Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, California Sen. Barbara Boxer and other Democrats to speak against the initiative. While the ads were designed to blunt the signature-gathering drive for the measure, they also served to mobilize Democrats for next year's presidential campaign.

"This was clearly an opportunity to defeat it on its own face but also to make sure Republicans have to wear this going forward," Lehane said. "If this is how Republicans are going to approach things, they will have the brand as the party looking for ways to steal the White House."


more at link
http://www.sacbee.com/111/v-print/story/418925.html

[Donnachaidh]

1. please continue to rub their noses in it -- and be LOUD about it!

These bastards need to be haunted with this *measure* beyond the election. :grr: