It's a Sad Day
Democrats helped to oust their own champion of voters rights, despite showing no significant wrongdoing in his recent audit hearing.
California's Secretary of State Kevin Shelley has just resigned, due to lack of funds for his legal defense to ward off his reward for standing up for us--the "Ken Star" treatment where no less than FIVE government entities were looking for skeletons.
Now our friend of Enron, who seeks to redistrict California, gets his prize--the control to choose the key player California elections--the Secretary of State. [What's Next? See below the fold]
I feel it is a sad day for democrats suffering once again from the Daschle-wing of the democratic party. Some never realized it wasn't about the RNC vs. Shelley, it is about the RNC vs. U.S. voters and how their HAVA funds may be used, but that's a diary for another day.
Background
What first triggered the "Ken Star" treatment: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/18/14525/599
What Happened at the Audit Hearing: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/31/203839/646
The Prophesy
Calif.Sherry made the point in her comment, which was posted to my last diary on the subject, that the RNC would likely attempt to select a "moderate seeming" candidate. She made a few other excellent points; here's what she said:
"If Shelley falls and the rumours concerning the long arm of the RNC turn out to be correct, we will have lost, not just the Secretary of State who stood up to Diebold (and the Registrars of red California), but the staff who have been holding the line on verifiable, reliable elections. Who will be the CA Blackwell? Does the RNC/CRP have a short list of
moderate seeming candidates [emphasis added] with deep party connections?
To me, this looks like another chapter of "California in Play." Gray Davis goes down in a recall. Don Perata is challenged in the weeks before he takes office as Senate Pro Tem. Leading Democratic contributors are investigated by the Ashcroft Justice Dept. And Kevin Shelley's dirty laundry is held up to public scrutiny and made an easy target for our entirely understandable frustrations and anger. None of the (inferred) actionable charges stick, but the damage is done.
Shelley, with his negative charisma, is the guy we (Dems) voted into office. We should vote him out. Surely, we can do better. At the same time, he's the devil we know. And he does work we applaud. Seems to me that getting rid of him this way is a victory for the RNC, the CRP, and Diebold."
Heads Up All Daschles-to-Deans
Today, I've received a number emails extolling the virtues of a moderate seeming candidate Ross Johnson, as a replacement for Kevin Shelley. Whether Johnson is a good guy is not the point. Even if he is a good, we need to be very wary.
1. How do we know he would be the replacement (and this isn't yet another bait and switch)? Fooled us once. . . .
2. How do we know he, a republican, would not be heavily pressured by the republican party to adhere to their guidelines--there is a lot at stake in the outcome of CA elections. (You know the GOP isn't offering a lot of autonomy of independent views these days.)
3. Similarly, how do we know he won't fall victim to the "Ken Star" treatment if he continues to speak openly on the virtues of open source software and paper trails.
Is this all paranoia, or do the republicans follow shrewdly systematic strategy based on their "win at all costs" neo-con philosophy?