The Mystery Men Behind the Ca. Recall

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http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2003/08/blumenthal-m-08-13.html

California Confidential
Who are the mystery men behind the recall push?

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The cabal includes Kaloogian, who was a right-wing backbencher in the state Assembly, Sal Russo, who handled banker Bill Simon's hapless 2002 gubernatorial campaign, and David Gilliard, a veteran GOP strategist with a career steeped in scandal. They're joined by former Enron pollster and Republican tactician Frank Luntz, who devised a strategy for the recall campaign centering around negative character attacks and avoidance of policy discussion. With the surprise announcement of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger -- who boasted on The Tonight Show Aug. 6, "I have plenty of money. Nobody can buy me off." -- the movie star's high-priced uber-consultants George Gorton and Don Sipple have grabbed the baton in the recall race, eager to take it the last mile to the state capitol. Thanks to this handful of men and the millionaires who bankrolled them, what started with a petition and a few phone calls has become an election that may unseat a twice-elected governor and dramatically affect the lives of one in seven Americans.

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In order to find a funding source to jump-start the movement, Kaloogian enlisted Ray Haynes, a Republican leader in the state Assembly's far-right caucus. To his chagrin, Haynes was rebuffed by Simon, Schwarzenegger and Gerald Parsky, George W. Bush's chief California fund-raiser. Parsky initially distanced himself from the recall out of concern that it might backfire or divert funds away from Bush's 2004 re-election drive. Only after these rejections did Haynes call on fellow right-winger Issa, who was planning to run for governor in 2006. Issa enthusiastically stepped forward to form his own recall committee, Rescue California, with $1.7 million from his personal fortune. Suddenly, droves of clipboard-waving petitioners were descending upon the nucleus of California civic life -- shopping-mall parking lots -- and were paid $1 per signature.

To direct Rescue California, essentially the recall's funding mechanism, Issa hired Dave Gilliard, a Republican operative with a reputation for using underhanded tactics to help his archconservative clients' campaigns. In 1988, for example, in a stunt reminiscent of Mississippi's Reconstruction-era "shotgun policy," Gilliard arranged for uniformed guards to stand outside Orange County polling places in predominately Latino districts to deter the kinds of voters who might cast ballots against his conservative Republican client.

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One of Gilliard's clients, Republican Assembly member John Campbell, signed letters sent to Irvine, where he is facing a primary challenge in the overwhelmingly Republican district from fellow Republican Ken Maddox, who was not included in the letters. Campbell donated $10,000 to Rescue California and gained the endorsement of the Lincoln Club, an organization of businesspeople and executives that has also coughed up $100,000 for Rescue California. Another of Gilliard's clients who signed the letters, Cristi Milazzo-Cristich, is a Lincoln Club activist and a candidate for the Assembly in Orange County; she has kicked in $7,000 to the committee. Meanwhile, Republican State Sen. Rico Oller paid Rescue California $30,000 for the honor of being the voice of a radio spot on behalf of the recall.
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greedy, criminal punks