1) A veto-proof, 2/3 Democratic Majority in the Legislature spells the ruin of California.

2) Legislative leaders in Sacrmento don’t trust the County party organizations to get the job done.

David Dayen reports in California Progress that, “Each of the marquee races are expected to be $1 million+ contests. The new Assembly Speaker will be responsible for raising funds and overseeing the campaigns.” Dayen goes on to question why

the Speaker (and the President Pro Tem of the Senate) have the sole responsibility of overseeing these elections and creating advertising, GOTV, etc. It seems…that the California Democratic Party would be able to do a much better job in these districts, with their membership already on the ground and involved, and with a larger fundraising base to conduct the operations necessary. Yet for some reason, there is this bifurcation: the CDP deals with statewide races and Congressional seats, and the Assembly and Senate leadership do the legislative races. Is this just tradition? Why can’t the CDP play in whatever race they wish?

On the Republican side, in addition to losing Pombo’s 11th Congressional seat, AD-15’s strong Republican registration lead has slipped into coin-toss territory thanks to the leadership of Tom Del Beccaro, chair of the County’s Republican Central Committee. Across the aisle, Nagaraja Rao, who seems to spend more time outside the country than in it is under fire by party members and the public for raising false alarms over sham death threats and ham-fisted support of Maria Alegria during the recent Pinole Recall campaign.

If the current Contra Costa County Democratic and Republican Central Committees responsible for election results in AD-15 are any indication, it is no wonder that legislative party leaders Nunez and Perata in Sacramento want to run the show to make sure some incompetent petty fiefdom doesn’t get in the way and botch the job.

It’s Tom Del Beccaro, Chairman of the Contra Costa County Republican Central Committee, who, for all intents and purposes, has hijacked the party apparatus for his own self-aggrandizement.

The most recent e-mail blast from the Contra Costa Republican Party presents another sad illustration of what happens when a weak non-profit board and constituency that does not know how—or care— to provide appropriate organizational leadership, governance, or oversight, can be commandeered by an unchecked, enterprising chairperson bent on appropriating the organization’s resources willy-nilly to benefit personal agenda.

This newsletter isn’t at all about CCRP news. The first thing you see is Tom’s photo, not the picture of the new temporary and part-time Executive Director. The top news is not about upcoming events, but an appeal to leave the site and click through to the Chairperson’s personal website that hawks highly questionable predictions about the 2008 presidential campaign (he predicts Hillary is too formidable and will be the inevitable Democrat nominee) and his book that is still not available on Amazon despite the claims of his toadies in November that it would become a best seller overnight.

This is worse than sad. It is embarrassing. It’s time Tom’s Mickey-Mouse Club, doing business as the CCRP, find some weaker constituency to prey on. Hopefully, it will not be the California Republican Party.

Republicans should be aghast that the Contra Costa GOP website promotes the Irish Republican Army (IRA) as something that the GOP stands for in its META KEY TERMS of it website.

Here is the source for the home page of the site as of 12/20/2007;22:11.

What on earth is the Contra Costa GOP doing putting “define GOP” next to “Irish Republican Army” in the content of its META KEYTERMS of its HTML source code for its web site? To attract fresh recruits after all the sane people leave the party in disgust?

What sick, twisted ego would allow some webmaster, even if family, to list the bloody IRA as a keyterm in the hopes of attracting clicks? Is this some sort of black-hat Reaganism we didn’t hear about?

Furthermore, what business is it of the CC GOP website to promote Tom “Del Beccaro” as a keyterm, or his blessed book? This is madness, petty self-aggrandizement, and search-engine optimization lunacy.

Truth is, no one ever searches for “Tom Del Beccaro.”

WHO: Tom Del Beccaro, CC GOP Chair and #2 Republican statewide
WHO CARES?: HalfwayToConcord.com, Republican rank and file, and California FPPC want answers over charges of massive mismanagement, electoral failure, and bogus reporting.
DESCRIPTION: Petulant, rapidly aging with L.A. pony tail that even Martinez councilman Mark Ross, had the sense to lose years ago.
FAVORITE PHRASE: “Don’t you know who I am?”
LAST SEEN: Belittling office workers, volunteers, vendors, and those who dare disagree with him.
BUZZ: Current rumor says Tom has fled the country with Nagaraja Rao, Chairman of the county Democratic central committee, to avoid having to answer embarrassing questions about how they run their respective party organizations.
LAST HEARD FROM: Misuse of Party e-mail list to order California Republicans to buy his book for Christmas or God (i.e. Tom) will withhold party favors.
ADDRESS: Unknown, as CC GOP lost its lease with no known forwarding address.
CONTACT: Unknown, as former ED has left and no one wants to work with a megalomaniac.

Tom: We love you and hope you get some help. Let us know you’re OK and leave a message at 925-215-8463!

Tony Strickland, former President of the California Club For Growth and Candidate for CA State Controller, says the book is “a must read for all those who want to understand the political power of pro-growth policies from Kennedy to Reagan to Bush.”

If the book jacket means anything, we’ve got to wonder what a stripper poll has to do with Republicans winning elections. What with almost 50 stops on a whirlwind book signing tour around California thru 1Q-08, we hope Tom will still have some time to help Republicans get elected in Contra Costa County.