Dan Morain, The Los Angeles Times, September 28, 2007
SACRAMENTO –A proposed California initiative campaign that could have helped Republicans hold on to the White House in 2008 was a shambles Thursday night, as two of its key consultants quit.
Unable to raise sufficient money and angered over a lack of disclosure by its one large donor, veteran political law attorney Thomas Hiltachk, who drafted the measure, said he was resigning from the committee.
Hiltachk’s departure is a major blow to the operation because he organized other consultants who had set about trying to raise money and gather signatures for the initiative. Campaign spokesman Kevin Eckery said he was ending his role as well.
There remained a chance that the measure could be revived, but only if a major donor were to come forward to fund the petition drive. However, time is short to gather the hundreds of thousands of signatures needed by the end of November. And backers said Thursday that they believed the measure was all but dead, at least for the 2008 election.
” ‘Shambles’ is the wrong word,” said strategist Marty Wilson, who curtailed his fundraising efforts weeks ago. “The campaign never got off the ground.”
Intended for the June 2008 ballot, the proposed initiative sought to change California’s winner-take-all system to require that electoral votes be awarded based on how individual congressional districts vote.
[...] Layne wrote an interesting post today on GOPâ��s California Electoral Initiative Dealt Major BlowsHere’s a quick [...]
Pingback by Horsewhile.Com » GOP’s California Electoral Initiative Dealt Major Blows — September 28, 2007 @ 5:27 pm
Praise Jebus. Anytime those thugs fail, we win.
Comment by Evolver — September 28, 2007 @ 6:15 pm
That’s great news. Like Bart says the Repubs can never win in a fair fight. It is such a crazy concept to allocate the electoral votes unless you get all the states to do the same thing. Next they’ll be trying to get through is votes by county instead of the current system.
Comment by Chicago Jim — September 28, 2007 @ 6:29 pm
Congratulations Californians, this almost makes up for Ahnold the Republican.
Comment by greyhawk — September 29, 2007 @ 5:36 am