Kuff's World

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."

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Despite the attention the measure garnered after a report in the Los Angeles Times' political blog, Top of the Ticket, and in the New Yorker, it failed to attract significant financial support, perhaps because many Republican donors are less than energized this year, and perhaps because of the slowing economy.

"There is not a huge amount of donor interest in the measure for a variety of reasons," Wilson said. "I'm not willing to keep beating my head against the wall."

The campaign received only one sizable donation -- $175,000. That is less than one-tenth of the $2 million typically needed to gather sufficient signatures to qualify a measure for the California ballot.

The "Ralph Nader Democratic Caucus Campaign Draft Committee" is seeking campaign workers in Iowa and New Hampshire, according to advertisements placed on Craigslist.

And why shouldn't he? He will have the platform--President of the Republican Governor's Association--and the conservative record and the red-meat, no-apologies message of this speech. There is that little matter of being from Texas, which is not the most beloved state in the land these days, and his 39% problem, and the no-love-lost history between Perry and George W. Bush, but the Republicans are desperate for a message these days and Perry has one. In fact, the convention featured dueling messages, the other delivered by Governor Schwarzenegger.

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Here's my prediction: Perry will give this basic speech, adjusted for geography, To Republican audiences all across the country. It will be robustly received. By the time the primaries start, he will be on the short list for Vice-President.

On Friday, Sept. 14, Alan Keyes filed a Statement of Candidacy (Form 2) with the Federal Election Commission--thus officially announcing as a Republican candidate for President of the United States.

Keyes told Janet Parshall, host of a nationally syndicated radio show, that he's "unmoved" by the lack of moral courage shown by the other candidates, among whom he sees no standout who articulates the "key kernel of truth that must, with courage, be presented to our people."

He added, "The one thing I've always been called to do is to raise the standard . . . of our allegiance to God and His authority that has been the foundation stone of our nation's life"--and he decried the lack of "forthright, clear, and clarion declaration" from the other candidates concerning this issue.

As a result, Keyes said, "We're putting together an effort that's not going to be like anything before, because it's going to be entirely based on citizen action. We're going to be challenging people to take a pledge for America's revival," and elevate them from spectators in the political arena to participants.

Isn't it great that Hillary Clinton is the only polarizing Democrat in the race for president? I'm extremely pleased that if Barack Obama, John Edwards or someone else is the nominee, the Republican Party plans to take a hands-off approach and not demonize them in the same way they have Hillary over the past 15 years. Therefore, it's only Hillary Clinton who could possibly be a drag on down ballot candidates in states like Texas in 2008 and not any of the other Democratic candidates.

If the above paragraph sounds absurd, it should. But according to the Associated Press, many leaders of the Democratic Party really do think that way. In a recent AP article, the chairman of a Midwest state party called Clinton "a nightmare for congressional and state legislative candidates."

I've heard similar comments from a number of Texas Democrats. The argument is that Senator Clinton is so polarizing that she'll "jeopardize the party's standing with independent voters and give Republicans who otherwise might stay home on Election Day a reason to vote."

As one who has publicly endorsed John Edwards, I know I should join this chorus. However, while I like Senator Edwards and his stands on issues the most, I'm very pleased that, unlike the GOP, we have a number of candidates to get excited about on the Democratic side. We don't have to wait for someone to decide whether to make the jump from Hollywood back to politics in order to get our juices flowing.

And, most importantly, I refuse to allow the Republican Party to choose the Democratic nominee for president and that's exactly what those who accept the strained "Hillary is too polarizing" logic are doing.

Who has made her polarizing? Not Democrats; that's why she's leading in all Democratic polls. Instead, it has been a steady drumbeat from the right which has succeeded in turning so many against her. And to pretend that won't happen regardless of who wins the Democratic nomination is pure fantasy. That's what Republicans do. They are all about the politics of polarization and they have made it an art form. Look what they did to John Kerry, for crying out loud.

The Republicans haven't driven Obama's and Edwards's negative ratings up to the same level as Clinton's because those two haven't received nearly the same level of attention but there have already been signs of just how far they will be willing to go if necessary. Ann Coulter, that great paragon of conservative virtue who still thinks name-calling is cool, has called Edwards a "faggot" and Rush Limbaugh, still the leading right-wing radio windbag, played a little racist musical ditty on his show called "Barack, the Magic Negro."

So Democrats should expect the worst and stop pretending that someone other than Hillary will get a free pass. They also need to stop playing into the Republicans' polarization game and start standing up for what and whom they believe in. That's what majority parties do. It's time for the Democratic Party to start acting like one.

A Senate electoral playing field that was already wide open for 2008 has become considerably more perilous for Republicans with the retirement of Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) and the resignation of scandal-scarred Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho).

Republicans need a net gain of just one seat to take back control of the Senate, but they have 22 seats to defend, and campaign cash is conspicuously lacking. Warner's retirement raised to two the number of open Republican seats, and both of them -- in Virginia and Colorado -- are prime targets for Democrats.

With former Democratic senator Bob Kerrey possibly waiting in the wings, Republicans are anxiously watching to see whether Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) will retire. And two more Republican seats open for reelection -- in Wyoming and Idaho -- would be occupied by unelected appointees, John Barrasso and Craig's replacement.

"It's always darkest right before you get clobbered over the head with a pipe wrench. But then it actually does get darker," said a GOP pollster who insisted on anonymity in order to speak candidly.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report on Wednesday rated the Colorado seat being vacated by Sen. Wayne Allard (R) as a tossup, but the state has been trending Democratic. Antiwar sentiments are turning some voters away from the GOP, imperiling the reelection prospects of Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), John E. Sununu (N.H.), Norm Coleman (Minn.) and Gordon Smith (Ore.).

The Craig scandal is only the latest issue to demoralize the Republican Party, and new wild cards keep springing up, such as an FBI raid on a home of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and questions about the role that Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) may have played in the firing of U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias in Albuquerque. Democratic surrogates in labor-backed groups such as Americans United for Change have even been attacking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) in Kentucky.

[Rebecca Fisher, spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee,] conceded that fundraising has been difficult in the current political climate, but she said the race for cash is picking up. And she predicted that if Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) secures the Democratic presidential nomination, Republicans will come to the polls in droves.

California Rep. Duncan Hunter won a scaled-down Texas Republican straw poll Saturday, and Fred Thompson surged to an unexpected second-place finish - a possible momentum boost as he prepares to join the presidential race.

Rep. Ron Paul, the longtime Gulf Coast congressman, managed only a third-place showing despite an aggressive effort to get his grassroots supporters to the nonbinding contest.

The GOP frontrunners in national polls were no-shows and finished far back in the voting by 1,300 party activists - a smaller turnout that party officials had hoped for.

"Winning the straw poll in Texas is big. Texas is huge," said a jubilant Mr. Hunter.

The San Diego congressman, who takes a hard line on illegal immigration and touts strong conservative-value credentials, said the win, with 41 percent of the vote, gives a boost to his candidacy. He's hovering in single digits in polls of likely Republican voters.

"It translates into credibility," he said.

Mr. Giuliani, the former New York mayor who leads in many national polls among the GOP contenders, got 6 percent of the vote. Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee also stayed away.

The turnout by 1,300 party activists fell short of the GOP's initial hope of attracting between 10,000 and 20,000 Texas Republicans. Even last week, party officials said they expected between 2,000 and 3,000 of the GOP faithful to attend.

Interest in the event dwindled after the major Republican candidates declined invitations, in part because legislators decided against moving up the state's primary elections next year to a February date that would have drawn more national attention.

Both parties will probably have chosen their nominees before Texans vote March 4.

Despite its downsized character, the two-day GOP event did attract more than 2,000 Republican delegates and guests, many wearing red, white and blue regalia and waving signs for their White House favorites.

While it had the look of a mini state party convention, the energy that usually pulses through such gatherings of Texas Republican activists was missing. The grassroots of the party are not happy.

"There is so much apathy," said delegate Ned Watkins, a senate district chair from Houston. "[Republicans] are angry with the governor and they're angry with the president." In fact, when Gov. Rick Perry appeared on a video message to the delegates this morning, there were scattered boos and hisses in the crowd.

Watkins said he's had trouble enticing GOP precinct chairs in Houston to come to meetings. The grass roots are deeply frustrated with the performance of their elected officials, he said. Delegates here seemed less energized by the applause lines about national security and terrorism. When asked, most said they want officials to curb immigration and to cut government -- two issues on which Republicans officeholders have not appeased the base lately.

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The true purpose of the event seemingly was to rally the party's base. For the first time in a long while, party leaders weren't making the sale. The GOP activists may well rediscover their energy in the 17 months before election day. But right now, the grassroots are feeling used and abused.

At one point this morning, while [Sen. John] Cornyn droned on, one delegate leaned in to another and whispered, "I wish they would just let us vote and go home."

[Rep. Ron] Paul bused in an enthusiastic cadre of supporters who wore T-shirts bearing the candidate's face and festooned the streets around the Fort Worth Convention Center with placards and banners. But many of his grassroots supporters were ineligible to vote.

The poll was only for party activists who have been a delegate or alternate to a recent GOP state or national convention. Voters had to pay $75 each to participate.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn acknowledged that Republicans are "going to be flying into a bit of a headwind" in next years elections, in part because of congressional scandals that have undercut the party's family values message.

"If some Republicans seem to have lost their way lately, it's because some have lost sight of the core values that brought this party to office in the first place," he said. "I'm convinced if we regain our vision and reconnect with those core values, we'll also regain and earn the endorsement of the people."

Mr. Cornyn predicted that one thing would galvanize disenchanted GOP voters.

"There is one person who is going to be able to unify and energize like no other," said Sen. John Cornyn. "And her name is Hillary Clinton."