Carly Fiorina: Win at all costs?
Posted on 05/09/2010 8:59:35 PM PDT by Syncro
Posted on 09 May 2010 by admin
Carly Fiorina: Win at all costs?
California Senate Race 2010: Carly Fiorina and the GOP Launch Last-Minute Back-door Attack on Chuck DeVore
By Jane Jamison, Copyright 2010, UNCOVERAGE.net
Apparently, the Republican party “establishment” in California has forgotten about Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican.” It was postulated by Reagan after he was viciously attacked in the primary for the California governor’s race in the 1960s. (Read his whole speech about it here.)
What is happening right now in the California Senate race is something that voters in the Golden State need to know. It is beyond “speaking ill” of another Republican. Carly Fiorina and certain factions of the GOP establishment nationally and in California are using their money and connections to smear conservative Republican candidate Chuck DeVore just before absentee ballots go out. It won’t matter later if Chuck’s name is cleared later. The damage will be done. This kind of tactic should offend most voters if they know about it.
Here is what is happening:
In the past few weeks, internet bloggers have begun posting stories that California GOP Senate candidate Chuck DeVore is “under investigation” by the Federal Election commission for allegedly “misusing public funds” by having two of his Senate campaign staff on his California state assemblyman state payroll.
An investigation by UNCOVERAGE.net this weekend shows that in the waning weeks before the June 8 primary race for California Senate, the big-money Carly Fiorina campaign and its “operatives” are trying to knock out her grassroots Tea Party competitor in the race, Chuck DeVore, with allegations that appear to be coming from an “independent” “citizens” group. There’s also a barrage of supportive “blogging” for Fiorina to advance the story, which is doubtfully “independent” in nature.
The most recent blog rumor, this one at Redcounty.com, offered no links to any documents. It was given a prominent position on the website, titled with a fore-boding “Sounds Like A Possible FEC Investigation Into DeVore.” The basis for the rumor is what purports to be an “insider” memo from the Fiorina campaign’s Martin Wilson dated April 22, 2010:
“An independent group, California Citizens for Ethics in Government, has called on the California Attorney General and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to investigate whether Chuck is using public dollars to subsidize his campaign. We’ll let the guardians of the public fisc do their job and not speculate about where this may lead.” (original underlining)
Another website which appears to be a dentist’s blog with Carly Fiorina advertising around the edge, picked up the story with this title:
“CA-Sen: Chuck DeVore Misused Public Funds? The answer may be yes if the facts in the below embedded complaint are indeed true.”
The blog then supposedly “linked” to what it called CA Attorney General Complaint Against Chuck Devore.
Click on that link and what is found are two letters, one to California attorney general Jerry Brown (who is a Democrat running for governor) and another to the Federal Election Commission. The letters request that an investigation be started into Chuck DeVore’s purported misuse of government funds by having his volunteer campaign staff on the payroll of his state assemblyman’s office.
But this is where the “independent citizens’ group” story unravels:
–First of all, these letters are REQUESTS that DeVore be investigated. There is nothing anywhere that confirms an investigation by the state attorney general or by the Federal Elections Commission is underway. The blog headlines which imply FEC or attorney general’s investigations are ongoing are false. They are proliferating anyway.
–The RedCounty.com blog, (which has been linked or posted on various other websites as a reference piece, has been disseminated widely in the past 24 hours) purports that the complaints against Chuck DeVore are from an “independent agency.” That is simply not true.
The “citizens” group which sent the letters demanding Republican candidate for Senate Chuck DeVore be investigated for a possible crime has ties to the Carly Fiorina Republican Senate campaign, and to the California Republican Party. It could be that this interconnection of the three may itself be improper or illegal under election laws. At the very least, this is a bullying tactic that California voters deserve to know about before they vote in this primary.
A simple Google search shows “California Citizens for Ethics in Government,” which wrote the letters, has no website. The letters demanding investigations are dated April 6, signed by “Bob Davis,” the president of the organization with an address listed in El Dorado Hills, California, a suburb of Sacramento.
A listing at Campaignmoney.com shows “California Citizens for Ethics in Government” is a 527 political organization set up in 2008 by Charles H. Bell, Jr. who gives an address of 455 Capitol Mall, Suite 801, Sacramento.
See California Citizens for Ethical Government at campaign money.com
Opensecrets.org defines “527” political committees:
“ 527 committees are tax-exempt groups established to raise unlimited money for general political activities, such as voter mobilization efforts. They are prohibited from directly supporting or opposing a specific candidate. Here’s what the most active 527 groups have brought in and spent this cycle.”
Prohibited from supporting or opposing a specific candidate?
The office address at 455 Capitol Mall, Suite 801 is actually for the law firm of Bell, McAndrews and Hiltachk, LLP, where Charles H. Bell, Jr., is senior partner. Again, Mr. Bell is listed as the contact for “California Citizens for Ethics in Government.” Who is Charles Bell?
Charles Bell’s bio at Republican National Lawyer’s Association says:
“Mr. Bell is the General Counsel to the California Republican Party, and has served in that role for 23 of the past 29 years. He has counseled many California candidates and officeholders, including current Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Governors Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian, Attorney General Dan Lungren, and many of the State Assembly and Senate Republican Leaders since 1980. Mr. Bell also has represented the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee on California matters, as well as a number of federal candidates and officeholders. Mr. Bell has served as counsel to numerous political action committees, lobbyists and lobbying firms, corporations and trade associations.”
Opensecrets.org’s records show Carly for California’s 527 committee is the 7th largest in the country right now, with $3.5 million dollars in donations and $830,000 in expenditures.
Only 527s such as the Obama-loving SEIU (Service Employees International Union) and the pro-abortion Emily’s List have more money than Carly’s group.
A check of Carly for California’s FEC filing shows it uses the same address as the “California Citizens for Ethics in Government”: 455 Capitol Mall, Suite 801, Sacramento.
When contacted by Saturday by telephone, Mr. Bell confirmed his law firm represents the California Republican Party, Carly Fiorina’s Senate campaign, the Meg Whitman for California governor campaign, and “many others.” He said he is “only” the “treasurer” of the “California Citizens for Ethics in Government” and that the group’s president, Mr. Davis would have to discuss the accusatory letters about Chuck DeVore written by the group to the state attorney general and FEC.
When asked if he thought it might be a conflict of interest for him or his law firm to be representing Carly Fiorina for Senate and the California Republican party, and to be listed as the contact for a “citizens” 527 group which was trying to initiate a criminal investigation against Carly’s opponent in the Senate race, Mr. Bell said he did “not appreciate being cross-examined.”
I probably also mentioned something about the ethics and advisability of the California Republican party “eating its own” before Mr. Bell hung up on me.
I have not spoken with “President” Bob Davis of the supposedly “independent” citizens’ committee which is attacking DeVore. I think we know what we need to know. The law firm which represents the well-oiled Carly Fiorina campaign, and the state Republican party, has also created this thinly-veiled “citizens” committee which is viciously attacking the other Republican candidate in the California Senate race, Chuck DeVore, one month before the primary. Lovely.
This is “astro-turf” against “grassroots” in California Republican politics. The establishment good ol’ boys have decided that Carly Fiorina should win this race and they are now pulling out all stops to see that it happens.
Here’s some of the background that California voters need to know:
The procession of endorsements from out of state carpet-baggers to campaign for Carly Fiorina is a RINO rhumba dance: John McCain (for whom Carly worked in 2008), Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, you get the picture.
This week, Sarah Palin burned her Tea Party bridges around the country by going full-in for Carly. Since Sarah feels she must be loyal to John McCain for pulling her out of Alaska and into the national klieg-lights, she apparently feels she must also support McCain’s aide, Carly. This seems odd since Carly dissed Sarah for “not being qualified” to run a big company during the presidential race. Fiorina was back-benched by McCain after the flub, and dubbed “Joe Biden-like” for her public speaking gaffes.
(Knowing that about Carly, the idea of the brain-foofing Fiorina debating the hormone-raging “Don’t Call Me Ma’am” Barbara Boxer for the U.S. Senate race in California is a really bad visual. Talk about “lose-lose” scenario for California.)
Very important background to know:
The good old boys at the National Republican Senatorial Committee believe they know best for every state in the country. After brilliantly driving the John McCain presidential “run/walk” off the cliff in 2008, they pushed Charlie Crist in the Senate race in Florida. A young new conservative, Marco Rubio, was already in and raising money, but suddenly, Rubio was going to have spend a lot more money. Rubio has, and he went from nowhere to 30 points ahead of Crist last month. Way to call it (again) John and Rob!
Crist, as the “anointed one,” pocketed loads of NRSC cash, but just switched parties to an independent/”traitor” after Rubio cleaned his clock in the polls. Now NRSC chairman, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, is whining they should get their money back. Duh.
The NRSC also began manipulating of the California Senate race to beat incumbent Barbara Boxer began last year. Chuck DeVore was running for the Senate all by himself, a Ronald Reagan conservative. He’s a state assemblyman, not a millionaire.
The “geniuses” at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, are Sen. Cornyn and his disastrous former Texas staffer, Rob Jesmer, who was “peter-principled” up to the NRSC when Cornyn eked into the chairmanship. (more on Rob Jesmer.)
After messing with the Florida Senate race, Jesmer and Cornyn got it into their well-coiffed heads that there needs to be a “moderate” vagina GOP candidate to run against Boxer in California. DeVore was the “out man” from that point on and the race became much more expensive for him.
Eventually getting the “coronation” from the NRSC was Hewlett Packard’s fired CEO, Carly Fiorina. She has a $21 million dollar “parachute” from HP burning a hole in her Prada ® bag, apparently. From a Cornyn/Jesmer perspective, it’s always better to have a candidate who will “self-fund” with her own millions so the national committee doesn’t have to, right? Invoking Joe Biden again, Fiorina gave them all a headache by holding back her own cash for awhile. She did eventually pony up.
In the meantime, Chuck DeVore scrounged $1.8 million the “hard way.” That’s more than has been raised by the supposed “front-runner” Republican, Tom Campbell.
See latest campaign reports here.
The NRSC’s guidelines are such that it is not supposed to “play favorites” in contested races. So it was a little embarrassing that Carly Fiorina (uh oh, Joe Biden again) bragged publicly last October that she was “recruited” by the NRSC to run for Boxer’s seat. DeVore had a big “I told you so.” The NRSC even had to “help out” a hopeless candidate in the CA-SEN race after Fiorina’s “gaffe” by offering an embarassing fig leaf to the what’s-his-name by letting him use a Sacramento office for a news conference….to show how objective and nice they are. Chuck has understandably declined to meet with NRSC. He probably feels they will just run back to Carly with the oppo and rightly so.
The OC Register blog’s “WatchDog” discussed the allegations of “misuse” of government funds with the DeVore campaign last month when the “citizen’s” group letter first came out. The allegations stem from two employees of the DeVore campaign who are volunteering their time on the campaign, yet are paid staff in his state assemblyman’s office. You can read the whole discussion here from OC Watchdog April 15, 2010 and here.
For the record, Fiorina’s people told the OC Watchdog it’s just a coincidence that the “citizen’s group” shares an address with Carly’s campaign attorney. (crickets chirping.)
I’m no attorney or investigator, so I make no legal conclusions about whether there is anything improper about DeVore’s handling of his staff salaries. The explanations given to the OC Watchdog seem very thorough and clearly the campaign is aware of the laws and feels it has followed them. It is also not unusual for state employees to work on the campaigns of their employers. If the boss gets elected to the next best job, the loyalists move up and along for the ride to the big show. DeVore’s staffers say they work for little pay because they believe in him.
That’s about the time I stopped volunteering on campaigns. Spending time around campaigns and political operatives can make you cynical.
” It looks like the establishment is saying, “OK you’ve had your fun, and your rallies, now we’re taking the process back over. You can go home now.”
That’s what they’re saying. Now it’s time to see if they can make it stick.
If beating Boxer is the criterion, Campbell polls best against Boxer, followed by Devore and Fiorina
“I’m amazed that so few people here seem to know about, or care about the guy that is walking away with this race, they are convinced that this is a primary between Carly Fiorina and Chuck Devore.
I don’t get it.”
+++++++++++++++
Running away? They all do well against Boxer, and head to head there are still 15 to 25% undecided. Well, the primary is in one month. In any case, when you look at how Brown closed in the general in MA, DeVore could still pull this out - but he’s got to start moving now.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/california/election_2010_california_senate
California Survey of 500 Likely Voters
April 12, 2010
Election 2010: California Senate
Carly Fiorina (R)
38%
Barbara Boxer (D)
42%
Some other candidate
7%
Not Sure
13%
Election 2010: California Senate
Chuck DeVore (R)
39%
Barbara Boxer (D)
42%
Some other candidate
8%
Not Sure
12%
Election 2010: California Senate
Tom Campbell (R)
41%
Barbara Boxer (D)
43%
Some other candidate
6%
Not Sure
10%
+++++++++++++
15 to 25% undecided.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2010/senate/ca/california_senate_republican_primary-1120.html
Poll Date
Sample Campbell (R) Fiorina (R) DeVore (R) Spread
SurveyUSA 4/19 - 4/21
538 LV 34 27 14
Capitol Weekly/Probolsky(R) 4/10 - 4/13
751 LV 31 17 14
When does the absentee voting start?
- - - - - -
I think it starts tomorrow. You don’t think this is timed, do you?
How Palin could support this is eye opening.
Bob, Tom, whoever. He still sucks.
“OK you’ve had your fun, and your rallies, now we’re taking the process back over. You can go home now.”
Sorry, we’re not playin’ by your same ol’, same ol’ rules any longer.
You think an unknown write-in candidate can win?
“You did it too, pretended that Tom Campbell does not exist and is not waltzing to victory.”
And what should be done about this - should we pull back from our Conservative principles?
I meant Tom.
Bob Campbell is the American Grand Jury guy, and he’s cool IMO.
“When does the absentee voting start?”
Early voting begins tomorrow.
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=17776e13-400d-4a95-a794-8272ea7277c3&c=100
WHO CARES? This is a primary race, get it? Tom Campbell is running away with the PRIMARY race, that means no future match up with Boxer for Devore, or Fiorina.
Again, it is as if Tom Campbell does not exist, and is not running away with this race.
This is a primary race The most radical pro abortion guy and pro gay marriage guy that the Republicans can possibly elect, and you want to post polls about the general election, you might as well just publish the ones between Boxer and Campbell the way it looks, and if it is true that voting starts tomorrow.
No, it won’t help Devore or Fiorino. It will help Tom Campbell.
“Tom Campbell ain’t winning anything. If anything, he’s drawing votes away from Fiorina.”
He’s up in the RCP averages.
Even the Tea Party people in California prefer DeVoreElection 2010: California Senate
Carly Fiorina (R)
38%Barbara Boxer (D)
42%Some other candidate
7%Not Sure
13%Election 2010: California Senate
Chuck DeVore (R)
39%Barbara Boxer (D)
42%Some other candidate
8%Not Sure
12%
“WHO CARES? This is a primary race, get it?”
Look ansel I posted the matchup polls and I posted the RCP averages for the primaries below that.
Chill.
Tom Campbell or Barbara Boxer are headed for the Senate, if you are OK with that reality then don’t try to change it.
“get it?”
Perhaps if you’d read my post, you’d ‘get it’...;) I posted both the matchups and the RCP averages. I’m not disagreeing with you, but am pointing out that there are a lot of undecideds.
Now, tell us what you think we should we DO? Abandon ship? There’s a full month to go. I think it’s premature to suggest that when Fiorina is within the margin of error of Campbell and DeVore could close in if he starts mopping up people from Campbell and the undecideds.
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