That’s right. The Party of Fiscal Responsibility and smaller Government is going in to debt for (the California Republican Party) Victory 2010.

Actually, it never got out of debt after following Arnold Schwarzenegger off a cliff in 2006 to throw the down ticket races under the bus in favor of convincing Californians to vote to put themselves deeper in debt… (remember Arnold’s bonds?)

On December 28th an email was sent with a plan called “Victory 2010”. This is the Bi-Annual CRP (California Republican Party) plan that attempts to retake California for the GOP – it is a financial framework and is supposed to be a collaborative of political operations in California.

You’d think that a document this important would have been prepared weeks before the CRP Board of Directors was supposed to review and vote on it. The CRP Board of Directors is a small group of representatives elected by the delegates to the CRP conventions.

When the conference call occurred on December 29th – several key leaders were absent from the call due to the short notice and the issues having families during the holiday season brings… yet a vote occurred to ratify the plan anyway. Several of the most recognizable names in the CRP were not on the conference call.

The CRP is still over $400K in debt, before “Victory 2010” takes effect.

The details of the plan are as of yet unknown except that it is supposed to be funded through the “One Ask Program” – the deal where major donors are contacted once by a pre-designated person. That never got us out of the debt left over from Arnold, btw…

There is a rumor that  an executive director  for “Victory” has been hired – but no one seems to know who. Is that person a Californian?

… and most significantly, none of the campaigns of the potential nominees appear to have been involved in the creation of Victory 2010.

Could this be the GOP attempting to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory?

Remember how the FPPC exhonerated the Placer County Republican Central Committee? Didn’t it seem odd that the Fresno and Stanislaus committee were not mentioned that much in any stories that ran all over the state until the FPPC finished their investigation?

The statewide media had help. The same person who shopped the stories about the Placer County Republican Central Committee’s non-scandal has turned his sights on Tom Hudson.

The agenda of Doug Elmets and the Sacramento Bee meet again – the template of the National Media is to Show a Divisive, mean Republican Party that clings to its’ Guns and Bibles. Elmets, because he has an axe to grind is a willing co-conspirator.

Enter Doug Elmets as Quoted by the Bee:

“I would not want to be in a position of debating him on any issue,” said Doug Elmets, a local political consultant who is not on the committee. “It would be exhausting. And no matter how right you think you are, he would declare victory.”

Elmets said Hudson should be careful not to let his passion get in the way.

“Sometimes those who are the most passionate lose their objectivity and ultimately become more controversial than constructive,” he said.

It is refreshing to see Doug Elmets come out of the shadows – It was Principle that carried the day for Tom McClintock in 2008 and it will be principle that will carry the day for Rick Keene in 2010. The significance of seeing Doug Elmets quoted in these articles is borne by what the reporter omitted:

Elmets’ main client is the United Auburn Indian Tribe. (The Auburn Tribe is viewed as amongst the most anti-Republican in the state) Doug Elmets is also active in re-assembling the same endorsement list for Doug LaMalfa that Liberal Millionaire Former Congressman Doug Ose had in 2008.

Now that Elmets is out in the open – let’s point out the absurdities of his friends in the Bee:

Hudson is not the only one that thinks Meg Whitman is a Democrat. (She campaigned for Boxer in 2004, gave wads to Enviro Groups, Supports Benefits for Non-Citizens, Supports Taxpayer Funded Abortion, etc…)

Peter Hill and Jim Holmes both have a history of supporting tax and fee increases which they were rightly criticized for. This fact is deliberately omitted by the Bee in their numerous stories attempting to portray Peter Hill and would-be Congressman Jim Holmes as victims.

The Placer Cent Com was a top performer in the dismal 2008 election cycle for registrations and because of technicalities had to wait until after the election was over to receive the bounty check from the California GOP.

There will be no attempt as the Bee alleges to unseat Tom Hudson – in fact, the criticism has only served to validate his leadership.

The Central Committee’s endorsement of Tom McClintock was a stunning counter-weight to the local electeds who rallied behind Liberal Millionaire Former Congressman Doug Ose in 2008.

And therein lies the rub.

Here we go again, this time like an unwelcome Christmas gift Team Ose has come back to take another swipe and Congressman McClintock and those that helped him win election. Every political observer in the country knows that the Ose vs McClintock battle was the archetype for the decades long struggle between those in the Republican Party who want us to be more liberal in our philosophy and those who want to hold firm to a core set of conservative principals.  

One year has past since Congressman McClintock was declared the winner over Charlie Brown, and the Ose team has come back together for a reunion of sorts. Who is team Ose? Well they should really be called team LaMalfa instead. The team is made up of 4^th Senate District Candidate Doug LaMalfa, David Reade, former PCRP Chairman Ken Campbell, Supervisor Jim Holmes, United Auburn Area Spokesman Doug Elmets, Lincoln Councilmen Spencer Short and Tom Cosgrove,  Loomis City Councilman Miguel Ucovich, Rocklin City Councilman Brett Storey, and Rocklin Mayor Scott Yuill. This is the same group of folks who worked overtime to keep Congressman McClintock from winning election in 2008. Even after McClintock defeated Ose in the primary most of Team Ose did almost nothing to actually aid his campaign against Charlie Brown. Team Ose headed by Doug LaMalfa is now in full swing working hard to try to defeat former Assemblyman Rick Keene in the 4^th Senate District primary in June.  

Rick Keene was one of a small handful of elected officials that stood by Congressman McClintock from the beginning of his campaign for congress to the end. Rick Keene was true to his conservative roots by never wavering in his support of Tom McClintock. Doug LaMalfa and team Ose were on the wrong side of history in 2008 and they are on the wrong side of history in 2010. 

Just as in 2008, team Ose and their new standard bearer Doug LaMalfa must be stopped. Placer County and the Republican Party need true leaders that understand the value of principal as opposed to the convenience of personal expediency.

Once again the Placer County Republican Central Committee finds itself at odds with some of our local elected officials. Lately the Placer County Republican Party has been maligned for supposedly being the party of “NO”. I find this to be an interesting line of attack, as it is one frequently used by Democrats when attacking Republicans for opposing their policies. Our disagreements are focused on different approaches to policy issues. It all boils down to two differing world views and visions for what it means to be a Republican and what it means to be a Republican serving in “non-partisan office”. Our Placer Republican party chair and my good friend Tom Hudson has been attacked repeatedly for defending and upholding core Republican principals. I take comfort in knowing that most members of the Republican Central Committee and Congressman McClintock agree that we must stand firm and uphold the basic principals that make us Republicans.

 The following are the basic Republican principals that the Placer County Republican Party works hard to promote in Placer County and throughout California:

 Taxes: We believe that the federal, state and local tax system is abusive to the Placer County residents and discourages investment and growth. We believe that local taxes and fees are too high and need to be reduced. We believe in growth-oriented tax policies which do not punish those who succeed as a result of their hard work and personal efforts.

Education: We believe in the rights of parents to a quality education for their children. We support parental choice to create competition among the schools. We must insure that no school or teachers union can compromise the education of our children or advance a particular political agenda at the expense of our future generation’s educations. We will oppose those in our county who do not support parental choice and fostering competition among the schools in Placer County.

Free Enterprise: We believe in the free enterprise system as the best hope for men and women to fulfill their economic hopes and dreams. We know that the free market is the most efficient and the least costly system to deliver the highest quality goods and services at the lowest price to the consumer. We will support only those who support the free enterprise system through legislation to reduce or eliminate intrusive government intervention in the marketplace.

Family: We believe that the traditional American family, defined as any persons related by blood, marriage of a man and a woman and/or adoption, is the cornerstone of our American society, and the government is duty bound to protect the integrity of the family unit through legislation and taxation policies.

Sanctity of Life: We believe that the preborn child is a human being deserving the full protection of the law.

Right to Bear Arms: We believe in the unqualified right of our citizens to keep and bear arms without the intrusive hand of government and we will work tirelessly to make sure this right is preserved for all Placer County citizens.

Victims’ Rights: We believe in the concept of victims’ rights over the rights of any criminal. We support a system of restitution as a deterrent to crime and recidivism. We will support judges and elected officials that support victim’s rights.

Term Limitation: We believe that public service is a privilege. We support term limits for public officials, not as an ideal but as a necessity to dissuade career politicians. It is the people who should rule, not an elite with little accountability.

 In the eyes of the voters of Placer County and beyond, what it means to be a Republican is under assault. Some of our elected officials both in partisan and non partisan office have not upheld the principals that have made the Republican Party great and attracted new Republicans to our cause. The principals that have made the Placer County Republican Party the most Republican County in California are instructive to voters and vital to the future success of the party throughout California

The leadership and members of the Placer County Republican Central Committee will work hard to make sure that the word “Republican” will be a political label that actually stands for something in Placer County and beyond.