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“CONTRACTING OUT” WITH A VENGEANCE - G.O.P. CHAIR PUTS
DEMOCRATS SEEK METHOD IN THIS MADNESS

By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento
So let me get this straight. The GOP Chair, Ron Nehring, has hired an “alien” to be the party’s chief campaign operative earlier this year.
Now this “alien’s” legal status has been questioned by the Bush Administration’s Department of Home Security. Evidently they busted this operative on an immigration issue. Held him in jail for 30 days.
The guy running the operation for the California Republican Party is suing the Bush Administration’s Department of Home Security for millions of dollars.
Not very patriotic. But then, he is an Aussie.
But give him credit. He did try and become a citizen. Why he married not one, but two American women who tried to legalize his status.
Former GOP spokesperson, Karen Hanretty was critical of the hire – not because of his immigration status, but on the issue of his competency (given his newness to the arena) and the fact that there are out-of-work American GOP operatives.
The flap over his immigration status led the media to explore his background further. They discovered a previous employer who scoffed at his skills and motivation.
Ominously, it appears that he may have been hired because of his relationship with the GOP Chair in spite of his shortcomings, credentials wise.
But what would I know? I’m a Democrat and I gun for the Democrats.
If the Republicans want to import and out of state/country gun to do their work, who am I to criticize??
Bill Cavala was Deputy Director of the Assembly Speaker’s Office of Member Services where he worked for over 30 years.
He attended undergraduate and graduate school in the 1960’s and received a doctorate in political science at UC Berkeley. He taught political science at UC Berkeley during the 1970's while he worked part-time for the State Assembly.
Cavala left teaching at UC Berkeley and went to work for Assembly Speaker Willie Brown in 1981 until his tenure as Speaker ended in 1995, and he has worked for his five successors as Speaker up to and including Speaker Fabian Nunez.
Mr. Cavala manages election campaigns for Democratic candidates.
Comments
I am going to disagree with Bill's main point on this one. Although the Republicans obviously screwed up by not doing a background check, hiring someone from Australia is not a lot different from all of the countries overseas that have hired top Democratic consultants to work for their campaign at least in my opinion. It actually touches on an issue that is effecting a lot of industries, but the Reps apparently thought his papers were in order and if that had been true, I think it should have been enough.
Posted by: Tom Kaptain at June 25, 2007 07:31 AM
Even mediocre consultants from America can win overseas because of the comparatively vast experience our thousands of elections provide us over pros in other countries - almost all of whom have other jobs.
Importing political consultants is a "coals to newcastle" error
Posted by: william cavala at June 25, 2007 07:48 AM
I am not sure if I agree with you or not, since it raises the question of how many people actually would want to work for the Republican party, but I would point out that there has been a lot of comparing of notes on an international basis on campaign strategy and I can definitely see the day when some of those foreign citizens who have worked with the James Carville and Dick Morris's of the world in their own country start looking at running races here. It may be a while and they may need a proxy for cover in the near future, but the day is coming as the world grows smaller.
Posted by: Tom Kaptain at June 25, 2007 12:02 PM
I am not sure if I agree with you or not, since it raises the question of how many people actually would want to work for the Republican party, but I would point out that there has been a lot of comparing of notes on an international basis on campaign strategy and I can definitely see the day when some of those foreign citizens who have worked with the James Carville and Dick Morris's of the world in their own country start looking at running races here. It may be a while and they may need a proxy for cover in the near future, but the day is coming as the world grows smaller.
Posted by: Tom Kaptain at June 25, 2007 12:03 PM
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