Now that. Is a line. It’s summer now. Time for. The sunglasses
of justice.
** SUNDAY NIGHT UPDATE. I am told that the California Republican Party’s chief operating officer, discussed below, has resigned. Interestingly enough, I have received nothing official from the party on this — and let me tell you that I get plenty of press releases from that operation, on all sorts of topics — but I am told by several sources that it is accurate. Intriguingly, the only statement to the press of which I am currently aware was from California Republican Chairman Ron Nehring to the very conservative New York Sun newspaper. The New York Sun, as you know, is not a California media outlet.
** WRONG TURN FOR THE RIGHT TURN REPUBLICANS. Speaking of lines … You’ll recall I was more bemused than outraged by a San Francisco Chronicle front page story week before last on the California Republican Party hiring a Canadian citizen as its deputy political director. Since I don’t actually know who has the equivalent post with the Democrats, it seemed small beer, barely a blog item, much less a front page story in one of the largest daily newspapers in America. Besides, my view is that leaders should be free to appoint whomever they like to various posts, so long as they are qualified. It’s not my role to micromanage someone else’s political party.
While Nehring has described the individual as by far the best choice for the key staff job of running the state Republican Party, his resume, according to the article, is quite thin in this decade. I never heard of him before, nor of the deputy political director who according to Nehring played a key role in Schwarzenegger’s 2003 election. He reportedly worked at some clerk jobs and was an aspiring actor, although the Internet Movie DataBase reveals no Hollywood credits of any sort. Most recently, he was in the real estate business in the Caribbean, but his boss describes him as a poor employee. But in the 1990s, he worked along with Nehring for the very controversial, longtime Washington right-wing leader Grover Norquist.
When Nehring became California’s Republican Party chairman earlier this year, I asked him if he was still working for Norquist. He told me he is not, that he now has his own consulting firm. Subsequent to that, I learned that Norquist is one of Nehring’s clients.
Now sources tell me that the California Republican Party has a $3 million note coming due, and is struggling to pay it.
Norquist’s election, replacing moderate Republican Duf Sundheim, a Silicon Valley lawyer, was part of a general right-ward movement amongst the Republican Party apparatus that also saw the election of Contra Costa County Republican Chairman Tom Del Beccaro — who disastrously sought through a lawsuit to prevent the election of former Governor Jerry Brown as California’s new attorney general — as state party vice chairman and of conservative activist and Flash Report publisher Jon Fleischman as Southern California party vice chairman.
I wrote about the party’s rightward lurch in the wake of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s highly successful centrist re-election campaign in a long feature for the LA Weekly, pointing out that they are far out of step with not only the California mainstream on key economic and environmental issues, but also with most Republicans in the state. The folks I’ve mentioned didn’t like that much, to say the least.
Now they have some key questions about the management of the party apparatus to address.
** BIG DAY FOR JOHN EDWARDS IN NEVADA. Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, tied with Barack Obama for a distant second in the second-in-the-nation contest behind Hillary Clinton, had a big day yesterday in Nevada. After wife Elizabeth Edwards christened the campaign’s state headquarters with a rally there in Las Vegas, Edwards himself held a town hall meeting with 1500 people at a high school in Reno, the state’s second largest city hundreds of miles to the north.
There he spoke of his familiar “Two Americas” theme, focusing on the very rich and everyone else, talked up his plans for universal health care and withdrawal from Iraq, and addressed the immigration controversy. He called for pathway to legalization for illegal immigrants now in the country, but said they should pay fines and should be required to learn English, drawing a huge round of applause.
Nevada has large Latino and labor constituencies, and both are of several minds on the immigration question.
** ARNOLD TO AUSTRIA. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who meets with new French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday at the Elysee Palace and his friend British Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, visits his hometown of Graz in Austria today. This is only his second visit to his home country since his election as governor of California in the dramatic recall election of October 2003.
Schwarzenegger, who is very proud of his Austrian heritage, retains dual citizenship as both an American and an Austrian.
Yesterday, he wowed the US Conference of Mayors convention in Los Angeles with his call for American cities to become more involved in the movement to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum.
Read 
| Comments (46) |
Are those Republicans crazy?!
Is there a Grover Norquist neocon cult at the California Republican Party? And why am I not suprised that Jonny Flashman knows “nothing, absolutely nothing” about what is going on?
He’s the Corporal klink of state politics. I know nothing, I see nothing. lol
Let’s keep it cool. They’ve got enough trouble as it is.
That said, the Norquist connection is very intriguing, especially since Nehring tried to downplay it with me.
It’s a little cabal of wingnuts.
That is an incredible embarassment. No adult supervision? It is perfectly obvious Schwarzenegger washed his hands of that little crew.
I’m told Schwarzenegger is going to help the party with the debt.
There is something decidedly “off” with the Republican Party in California. This is merely the latest symptom.
There is something decidedly “off” with the Republican Party in California. This is merely the latest symptom.
Ann’s “Hogan’s Heroes” reference is wrong.
There was no Corporal Klink. There was a Colonel Klink, who was commandant of the camp. It was Sergeant Shultz who had the famous line about knowing nothing.
That’s a Golden Oldie.
BTW, there’s a new Mason Dixon poll out on Nevada that has Edwards dropping to third among Dems behind Clinton and Obama and Thompson taking the lead among Republicans.
More tomorrow, since I’m really not going to work around the clock.
Sorry I misremembered Hogan’s Heroes. Same difference.
No conservatives to defend your California gong show?
I don’t think this is something the current party leadership is anxious to talk about.
Why? All the need is a good script writer and they would have a hit comedy show.
Yes. Always an important goal for a politcal party’s leadership to aspire to.
What else they got going for them? Bring some coin in, make folks smile and perhaps some will forget what truly scary folks they are.
Put the big red nose on Johnny Flashman, Tommy Delwhatever and the other wingnuts.
Imagine the nutroots taking over the Democratic Party, drop IQs by 10 and there we go. lol
Perfect…I can see the awards rolling in.
The California Republican Party hiring a Canadian citizen as its deputy political director?!
How did this happen? Did Rocky Delgadillo or his wife make the hire?
The California Republican Party hiring a Canadian citizen as its deputy political director?! What a disaster!
How did this happen? Did Rocky Delgadillo or his wife make the hire?
Vladimir,
No, the Delgadillo’s had staff make the hire. That’s after they finished their chores around the house, picked up the dry cleaning and dropped off the kids at day care.
Well said, Solon. Well said.
Why are there more comments here than the Flush Report?
That blog is so bogus. lol
Gospodin Bierko, should I get into the Rocky Delgadillo thing?
I’ve been laying off him since his primary campaign for California AG.
Incidentally, I have received exactly NOTHING from the California Republican Party today.
They regularly send me all kinds of guidance.
The latest Republican leadership are a pathetic joke. It’s annoying to think about them.
I’m talking California. The national, with Bush and Cheney and their fucking disaster in Iraq are much better.
Right. I’m on other stuff, like life. We’ll see what if anything the California Republicans have to say about all this.
The people around Governor Schwarzenegger are, well, let your imagination be your guide …
OK, the guy is out.
Not that the party has sent me any formal statement on it, mind you.
Montoya won his first Cup race today. Deftly, too. Margaritas, tri-tip and sunburn, it was a fine day.
Is there *any* possibility the sane and sober CA Reeps (I have it on good authority that quite a few do exist) might get their party back?
What a Komplete Klown Show.
The Norquist clone Nehring announces it to the neocon wingnut New York Sun.
Perfect. lol
Wilbur, the F1 rook wins when he’s not just driving around in a circle.
Sounds like you had a great time at Infineon. Reminds me of my great moment there. Uh, let’s change the subject.
You know, on the California Republicans, I don’t know what the frack these guys are doing.
The New York Sun, how pathetic and revealing is that about the new CALIFORNIA GOP leadership?
Well, I still don’t see any press release from the party.
Quiet disaster management. lol
Mister Bradley, Rocky has become an object lesson for all aspiring politicos. Despite whatever good he may have done, this triple-lindy of a fiasco will be what gets mentioned in any news story.
It’s a two-ton albatross around his neck.
As to writing about it, I think it would be fun because the story isn’t finished. We get to look forward to ethics complaints and investigations.
The “media weather” forecast is for a cat 5 crapstorm.
I’m sure you’re right.
“Norquist’s election, replacing moderate Republican Duf Sundheim”
Freudian slip, or merely a statement of the fact that Nehring is a drone for his Great Master?
Whoops, that is quite a slip!
Compassionate for the large recall, but I’m rattling enamored the new Zune, and outlook this, as asymptomatic as the fantabulous reviews many different people hit scripted, will better you terminate if it’s the compensate pick for you.
[...] Windows Hosting [...]…
[...] Choose the best Windows Hosting [...]…