A Win For Our Side

According to today's LA Times, the proposed Republican initiative intended to steal some 20 California electoral votes in the next presidential election is dead, at least for the near future. Let's all breathe a sigh of relief, and then be on the lookout for this to pop up again in the next couple years. Here is an excerpt from the Times article:

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."

This is good news, and a cause to celebrate -- but not to let our guard down. As for that "major donor" -- Tom Hilton over at If I Ran The Zoo has some interesting information about his, um, back-biting proclivities, shall we say...