Caronistas munching on sour grapes

You knew that the Carona team was not going to allow Tim Whitacre, the campaign manager for their top opponent, Bill Hunt, gloat for long after he was able to derail Carona’s hopes for an OC GOP endorsement. Well, the other shoe dropped over the weekend.

Matt Holder filed a complaint with the OC GOP Central Committee’s Endorsement Committee. Holder is employed by John Lewis, the former State Senator who is running Carona’s reelection effort. He is also well known for having married the daughter of Buck Johns, the wealthy and influential Republican donor who is a Carona backer. I believe that Holder’s wife also is the executive director for the Orange County Lincoln Club, which is likewise backing Carona. Oh what a tangled web!

At any rate, Holder’s complaint includes a number of charges – most come down to semantics. You can read the complaint itself at http://blogs.ocregister.com/buzz/archives/Central%20Committee%20complaint.pdf. Holder does note that Carona did not endorse Nativo Lopez, the disgraced and recall Santa Ana School Board member, during the recall campaign against him. Carona did endorse Lopez in his reelection campaign. Many experts believe that Lopez could not have been reelected without Carona’s endorsement. That of course would have done away with the need for the recall in the first place. Holder of course avoids these details.

I suspect that Whitacre has evidence that will defray most if not all of the accusations. I hope that Jon Flieschman, Michael Schroeder, Adam Probolsky and others who work for Team Carona, will recuse themselves from voting on the Holder complaint – if they are on the Endorsement Committee. I doubt they will though, as they are running a scorched earth campaign and are surely out to destroy Whitacre once and for all.

I personally recruited Whitacre to the OC GOP Central Committee many years ago, and he has done so much for the party while I have been away from the Central Committee. He should have received a medal for his work on the Lopez recall alone. It would be a true shame if the Caronistas were to bury Whitacre after all the good work he has done for the GOP.

By the way, in case you missed the latest Carona scandal, the O.C. Register reported last Thursday that an indicted businessman is now saying that Carona should be accountable for illegal campaign contributions that the businessman mande to Carona’s political campaign. Go to http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/county/article_1088550.php for the details.

If you would like to attend tonight’s OC GOP Central Committee’s endorsement committee meeting, it will be held at the party headquarters at 6 p.m., at 1800 W. Katella Ave., Suite 210, in Anaheim. I believe that is the SC Fuels building, located just a few blocks east of the Pond at Anaheim. You can call the party for more information at 714-453-0900. As far as I know the meeting should be open to all Orange County Republican Central Committee members – but come down anyway and show your support for Whitacre!


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"Admin" is just editors Vern Nelson, Greg Diamond, or Ryan Cantor sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.