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GOP electoral initiative back in play
Sacramento Bee ^ | 10/23/7 | Kevin Yamamura

Posted on 10/23/2007 8:00:04 AM PDT by SmithL

Two consultants revive measure, hoping Issa will help fund $2 million in signature-gathering costs.

Two Republican political consultants are trying to revive an initiative to change how California's electoral votes are tallied in next year's presidential election, seeking support from major GOP donors including Rep. Darrell Issa, who financed the 2003 gubernatorial recall.

Sacramento-based consultant Dave Gilliard, an Issa adviser, is spearheading a drive to collect at least 600,000 more signatures by mid-November for an initiative that would divvy up California's electoral college votes by congressional district. The June 2008 initiative could provide next year's Republican presidential candidate with an additional 20 or more electoral votes in Democratic-leaning California.

Qualifying the initiative at this late stage will cost at least $2 million to pay for signature gatherers. Neither Gilliard nor fundraiser Anne Dunsmore named their donors, but Gilliard confirmed they hope to get support from Issa. The Republican congressman was unavailable Monday because he was monitoring fires in his San Diego-area district, a spokesman said.

"He's one of the people being talked to, but I can't confirm that he's involved yet," Gilliard said.

In 2003, Issa spent $1.7 million to finance signature-gathering efforts that qualified the gubernatorial recall for the ballot. He had intended to run for the office himself but dropped out when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger entered the race.

Gilliard said he is confident the new campaign can raise enough money to gather the necessary signatures by Nov. 13, the secretary of state's suggested deadline to submit petitions for the June ballot

...If the campaign cannot gather enough signatures in time, Gilliard said it would attempt to place the initiative on the November 2008 ballot. He has been advised the initiative would still take effect in next year's presidential election if approved on the same ballot.

(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: elections; electoralcollege; hiltachk
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To: Hemorrhage; DoughtyOne; LexBaird; SierraWasp; Carry_Okie
This draws the nation closer to a popular election, and farther away from the state-based electoral election the founders had invisioned.

BUMP! I totally agree.

21 posted on 10/23/2007 5:00:23 PM PDT by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
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To: fifedom

I don’t think they ever got a website up and running as they were only in the early stages of gathering signatures before the just-established group, Californians for Equal Representation, was outed as being financially backed by Giuliani’s treasurer trying to hide his funding. The text of the initiative is available here:

http://ag.ca.gov/cms_pdfs/initiatives/2007-07-17_07-0032_Initiative.pdf


22 posted on 10/23/2007 5:15:47 PM PDT by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
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To: SmithL
California Republicans are not conservative, they are "populist."

The Mobocratic "recall and referendum" BS is one of the key reasons that CA is a laughingstock. Rule by the Sheeple indeed.

23 posted on 10/23/2007 5:17:45 PM PDT by Clemenza (Rudy Giuliani, like Pesto and Seattle, belongs in the scrap heap of '90s Culture)
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To: SmithL
The closer an election comes to representing the individual opinion of an elector, the closer our republic comes to mob rule.

Our system: We choose electors. They choose the winner. Any deviation and we are no longer a democratic republic.

Democracy, especially direct democracy, is the most abusive and shortest lived of all forms of governance.

24 posted on 10/23/2007 5:29:11 PM PDT by Amerigomag
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To: calcowgirl

I agree. There’s another point I’ve made on the forum with regard to this idea.

In general elections the vote results in most counties don’t change. We win or lose an additional three to five counties each election. It it’s districts, I appologize for not using the proper terminology.

Under the new plan there are 55 electoral votes that would be split up by these counties/districts each election. With the small fluctuation in area won or lost each time, the variance in win/lose electoral votes would probably range somewhere around 6 to 12 each election cycle.

Who in their right mind would come to California to spend the millions of bucks it would take to win 6 to 12 electoral votes?

IMO, we would never see another presidential politician campaign in the state again. They could go to a much smaller state and get all their electoral votes, easily gaining more than they would in California.

What we’d effectively do is disenfranchise California. It’s needs and views would never again matter.

The politicans would come here to raise money, then fly the coop never to return.

Seems like a lousey idea to me.


25 posted on 10/23/2007 6:04:28 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Old Chinese Proverb (well sorta) say dance with the one who brung ya. Yes we very much like Crinton.)
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To: DoughtyOne
I usually resent things that appear to game the system and are jammed into the process at the last minute. In this case, the entire presidential campaign would take place predominantly before knowing how electoral votes are counted. Put that together with the other gimmicks (rules change for primary delegates, earlier primary, etc.), and I tend to reject it. Just one more reason to not like this thing, IMO.
• Jul 17, 2007 Initiative filed with SOS/AG
• Feb 4, 2008  Deadline for signatures to be submitted to SOS
              (goes on June ballot, if successful)
• Feb 5, 2008  Election - Presidential primary 
• Jun 3, 2008  Election - non-presidential primary and Electoral Vote initiative
• Nov 7, 2008  Election - Using new electoral method.  



26 posted on 10/23/2007 9:35:11 PM PDT by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
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To: calcowgirl

I agree. I will admit that I wouldn’t like it even if it were to have been pushed through a couple of years before the general election though.


27 posted on 10/23/2007 10:51:32 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Hillary has PAY FEEVER. There she goes now. Ah hsu, ah hsu, ahhhaa hsu, ah hsu, ahhhhhh hsu...)
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