Perata wades into mudslinging battle

MediaNews via CoCoTimes ^ | 4/7/8 | Steven Harmon

[SmithL]

SACRAMENTO -- Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata has seen it before: his name, side by side with the description, "arrogant, corrupt political boss."

The Oakland Democrat took the charge in the Proposition 93 ballot measure wars earlier this year, sharing the heat with Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, as symbols of power-hungry politicians in their effort to extend term limits.

The same political team that brought down Proposition 93 is again accusing Perata, forever linked to the FBI investigation that hovers over him, of yet another power grab. But this time, they may not be able to keep the focus on Perata. They're trying to beat back the recall of Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, who has his own weaknesses to worry about.

A new TV ad, unveiled last week by Perata's Dump Denham campaign, went right after the sleaze factor by calling attention to Denham's trips last year to Las Vegas and Sedona, Ariz. On the latter trip, he spent $295 in campaign cash at Enchantment Resort & Mii Amo, where you can get a 90-minute milk & honey bath for $205 or a "many hands" massage for $290.

"It's a struggle over who frames the debate," said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College. "Is it the allegations of Jeff Denham's conduct, or is it the outsider trying to muscle local people?"

So, the campaign, which has less than two months before the June 3 election, will be settled between the worst of two images: the Sacramento Advertisement politician with his own ethical challenges trying to dictate the politics of the sweeping Central Valley's 12th District by acting to remove a local politician with a yen for the lavish trip.

The accusations have put Republican political consultant Kevin Spillane, Denham's campaign spokesman, in the awkward position of defending the kind of behavior he condemned in attacking Perata and Nunez in the Proposition 93 campaign.

"The expenses they're attacking are limited, legal and legitimate," Spillane said. "They were for political and fundraising purposes."

Spillane said Denham was visiting Republican presidential candidate John McCain on his Arizona trip and holding fundraising meetings with potential donors in Las Vegas, where he charged one of his campaign committees $500 for a stay at the MGM Grand Hotel and $281 for a stay at Rio Suites.

When asked for details of his Enchantment & Mii Amo expenditure, Spillane said he would get back but didn't.

Denham's campaign accuses Perata of trying to pay back Denham for voting against last year's budget, which led to a 53-day stalemate. A successful recall would put Senate Democrats, who hold a 25-15 advantage, within one vote of holding a two-thirds majority ... enough to pass a budget and taxes without Republican support.

"It's fair to say that Don Perata is the issue in this recall," Spillane said. "This is the Perata recall, not the Denham recall."

The Dump Denham campaign said it would be foolish to try to redirect voters' attention to Perata with so much material against Denham hanging out there unanswered. Denham's decision to take pay increases after publicly announcing he wouldn't has been a central theme in the recall campaign.

"I haven't heard their answer for why he told people he wouldn't take pay raises and then turned around and took them when no one was looking," said Paul Hefner, spokesman for the Dump Denham campaign, which has taken $300,000 from Perata. "But you can't let that stand out there and not have an answer to it."

Denham's campaign rejoiced momentarily last week when Merced County Registrar of Voters Stephen Jones announced he would ask the attorney general's office to investigate whether the Dump Denham signature-gathering operation broke state law. The clerk said he has evidence that several paid circulators listed phony home addresses and were likely from out of state.

Spillane called it a part of Perata's "pattern of abuse" but acknowledged there's little chance of getting to the truth of the charges in time to stop the recall.

But he can throw it up on the wall with everything else and see if it sticks.

[SmithL]

BREAKOUT:

Video links to attack ads

The Dump Denham ad, labeled "Sleeper":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byAc00jKnYA

Denham YouTube spot:

http://www.joinwithjeff.com/

Denham radio ad:

http://www.joinwithjeff.com/media/PlainWrong.mp3

[SmithL]

PeRATa Ping!

[NormsRevenge]

what a two-faced weasel-pussed turdsac...

Let’s hope the Grand Jury sits soon and grants all of us a peRatagate perp walk photo op ..

[John Jorsett]

A successful recall would put Senate Democrats, who hold a 25-15 advantage, within one vote of holding a two-thirds majority ... enough to pass a budget and taxes without Republican support.

That assumes Denham is replaced by a Dem. Are there no Republicans running in the field of potential replacements?