From The San Francisco Chronicle, 6/28/07:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/06/28/EDG6QQ...

Good ol' boys empty GOP

Debra J. Saunders

THE GOP has a guy problem.

Even after Veep ***** Cheney shot a friend in a hunting accident, he
still hunts.

In California, GOP biggies injure their comrades in a less ballistic
manner.

State party chairman Ron Nehring is under fire for handpicking an
Australian immigrant -- who was ordered deported in 2001, was jailed
on visa violations in 2004 and has filed a $5 million wrongful arrest
lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security -- to be the
party's chief operations officer.

Under Nehring, the party also sought an H-1B visa so that a Canadian
citizen could serve as director of political research and technology.

If someone had paid a Democratic operative to smear the GOP, he could
not have done a better job than Nehring.

After all, Repub biggies routinely harp about illegal immigrants and
the need for the federal government to get tough on employers who hire
them.

So when the party seems to carve out an exception for an Australian --
and an H-1B visa for a Canadian to do work no American can do -- it
seems as if Nehring bought a billboard that shouts:

You can call me "mate," but not "amigo." Eh?

I've talked to party operatives who insist that Michael Kamburowski
was a good COO.

Canadian Christopher Matthews was a personal assistant to Stephen
Harper before he was prime minister of Canada.

It's not unusual in politics for operatives to work in other
countries.

Some insiders see The Chronicle stories as overplaying the fact that
the GOP did a poor job vetting one job candidate (Kamburowski).

"Get over it," state GOP board member Jon Fleischman, wrote on his
blog.

"It's time to move on. The guy omitted key information when he applied
for the job. When it was revealed, he quit."

Problem is, it is impossible to believe that Fleischman or other
partisans would get over this story so quickly if the Democrats had
hired a top staffer whose deportation had been ordered and also was
suing Uncle Sam.

Savvy Republicans are also concerned that Nehring and Kamburowski both
worked for anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, and Norquist remains a
Nehring client.

Norquist's name has been in the news this month as Italia Federici,
former head of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy,
pleaded guilty to tax evasion and obstructing justice when she lied to
a Senate committee investigating disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Norquist helped found the council.

The Washington Post also has reported Abramoff turned to Norquist's
Americans for Tax Reform to funnel gambling money to former Christian
Coalition head Ralph Reed.

Thus, Norquist had a role in a scandal that helped bring down the GOP
majority in Congress as voters saw GOP leaders as more interested in
helping themselves than in serving the public.

Former state GOP Vice Chairman Jim Hartman noted in an e-mail, "Red
flags should have gone up long ago on Nehring's ties to Norquist."

Hartman especially resents Norquist's attempts to hound moderates out
of the party -- as if Norquist, an Abramoff crony, stands for true
conservatism.

So how did Nehring get this job?

He ran unopposed for a non-paying post.

Get over it?

No.

As state GOP board member Tim Morgan wrote in The Chronicle, Nehring
didn't look for "the best and the brightest talent from among our
political class."

When I ran into Nehring in Sacramento Tuesday, he couldn't even argue
that Kamburowski had the requisite experience.

You can't help but believe Nehring picked a guy who is good to pal
around with.

Some GOPers seem more interested in working within their comfort zone
than in winning elections.

Now the party will pay a price.

Money will dry up.

Big donors don't want to hand over money to losers.

And they don't want to bankroll bad headlines.

When you only want to work with people who tell you only what you want
to hear, it gets to be a small room.

_____________________________________________________

heh heh

Harry