GOP Stealing California's '08 Electoral Votes From Right Under Ahnold's Nose

Posted by Rick Jacobs at 7:00 AM on September 7, 2007.

This post, written by Rick Jacobs, originally appeared on The Huffington Post

Is Arnold Schwarzenegger really just a Simpson's cartoon? Sadly, it's starting to look that way. Have a look at the Courage Campaign video (it's to your right) including the trailer of the Simpson's movie, starring our governor, who believes that he is here to "lead not read."

Ten days ago, he said that he had not read the so-called presidential reform act initiative, which is really a dirty trick designed simply to steal twenty electoral college votes from California's fifty five possible votes. So last Friday, Courage Campaigne strategist and blogger Julia Rosen delivered 2,148 copies of the initiative -- sent courtesy of Courage Campaign members -- to the Governor's Sacramento office so that he could read it over the Labor Day weekend. It takes about five minutes to read, even if English is your second language.

The pressure seems to have had some effect. In an interview yesterday on KABC, the governor said:

"I feel like if you, all the sudden in the middle of the game, start changing the rules it's kind of odd, it almost feels like a loser's mentality, saying I cannot win with those rules, so let me change the rules... I have not made up my mind yet in one way or the other, because I haven't seen the details on it."

Oddly enough, our governor will be joining many of those "losers" this weekend in the desert at the California Republican Party convention. And what are his Republican cronies doing to prevent this cynical ploy to change the rules, lock down the White House, and keep us in Iraq for another four years?

According to their state chairman, they plan to endorse it enthusiastically. Chairman Ron Nehring called a potential endorsement a "significant step" and that the party could provide money or help gather signatures to qualify the measure [...]. The move for the California GOP to back the initiative before it has even qualified - or even reported a campaign contribution - was driven, in part by "the hyperventilating on the part of the Democrats."

"Cynical ploy orchestrated by the blah blah blah," said Nehring. "The vitriol and overreaction from the Democrats caught a lot of people's attention from the party." What am I missing here? Mr. Nehring's words sound like a "loser's mentality," the very one abhorred by the self -described hyper-competitive, post -partisan and highly hyphenated Mr. Schwarzenegger.

There's one man who can end this nonsense on the spot and that's Arnold Schwarzenegger. He could kill this radical right-wing coup in its cradle right now by speaking up at the convention this weekend. Unfortunately, as the future of our country and the world hangs in the balance, he continues to play dumb, even though we know he has at least 2,148 copies of the initiative. Even as he considers calling the legislature into special session, he's poised to allow the Republican Party to waste time and money on a blatant power grab.

In January, the governor said he was "post-partisan." In the spring, he was featured on a Time magazine cover with post-partisan Mayor Bloomberg. Now, he and his Republican apparatchiks will show their true colors: either he says NO to his crazy right wing sons of Nixon dirty tricksters or, by saying nothing, he says he is as partisan as they. Let's hope he has read and will lead.

Tagged as: elections, schwarzenegger, california, election theft, election08, electoral college

Rick Jacobs chaired Howard Dean's 2003 presidential campaign in California. He is currently Chair and Founder of the Courage Campaign, a progressive political organization in California.