It has gotten back to me that Tea Party members are bragging about how they have “Taken Over” the Placer GOP Central Committee.
It appears that these Tea Party members know everything and that they have decided to start their efforts to save the Republican Party by attacking one of only three counties who have maintained their Republican numbers over the last four years.
Why aren’t those Tea Party members trying to set up operations in Sacramento County? Yolo County? – that is totally Blue Country.
It is simple – to genesis of the Tea Party war against the Placer GOP Central Committee can be found in the Rick Keene vs Doug LaMalfa state senate race. One of Doug LaMalfa’s biggest beneficiaries, Karen England went to war and got to several local Tea parties who were looking for the boogie man.
It appears that Dave Gilliard helped with a media drill as David Stafford Reade, Mark Spannagel and England wanted to make an example out of the Placer GOP’s leadership. This culminated with an article on the front page of the Sacramento Bee that was never substantiated. (Linked here is a .pdf of the story from the Modesto Bee, published the same day as it appears that Dave Gilliard got the Sacramento Bee to remove the story) In the article, Doug LaMalfa accused the Placer GOP is committing felonies including money laundering and influence peddling.
Karen England herself said at the January 2011 organizational meeting that the FBI had visited her house in October to talk about the Placer GOP’s finances. This charge of an FBI investigation has been repeated by Phyllis Wing, Dan Catania, Bonnie McAdams, Leah Cavanaugh and others in local tea parties. It has now been over two years and no one has been visited by the FBI.
However, the Tea Party members who think they know better have refused this blogger’s attempts at communication and the only interaction I have had with them is when Placer GOP events have put us in the same place.
Doug LaMalfa / Jim Nielsen’s operation had co-opted a network of Tea Parties all over the north state. That network appears to be emerging from the influence of those two as the recent Race that LaMalfa had for congress exposed a lot of his hypocricy and the real investigation in to LaMalfa’s Chief of Staff has caused most reasonable people to re-evaluate.
At some point – those of us attacked by LaMalfa get to call BS. My interactions with the local Tea Parties have largely been negative. I have known many to espouse conspiracy theories and anyone that has been in the GOP circles for a long time is treated with suspicion – except for electeds. I have also discovered many people talking behind my back and planning to do in conservative volunteers by virtue of forwarded emails.
The cause? Doug LaMalfa. Ted Gaines. Dave Gilliard. Jim Nielsen.
It is natural, they want to maintain control. Those of us that know them the best stand in opposition to them as we understand that they are not good for the Republican brand.
I know Jim Nielsen to be a fraud – he claims to be a Conservative, yet his record is anything but. The local Tea Party took Nielsen’s word for it, despite proof and walked thousands of pieces for Nielsen while allowing some really bad people they said they opposed to get re-elected to local office.
I know Doug LaMalfa to be a fraud. Despite irrefutable proof – several in local tea parties still worship at his political feet. Both Jim Nielsen and Doug LaMalfa have been proven to have participated in efforts to decimate the California Republican Party platform in a manner that no Tea Party member would approve of, but Doug LaMalfa’s explanation of it not mattering since there was no vote is accepted.
Yet – an alleged FBI investigation and allegations made by those two against Republican volunteers are believed. This is the self-righteous arrogance and stupidity that I have seen from the local tea party members. Not all are like this – but those that ran for Central Committee appear to be of this ilk. And, again – I would retract these statements, but there appears to be no desire by those actors to respond to my attempts to communicate.
My issues with the Gaines are very simple. The number of people they have screwed over is a large list. I have been very clear that my issue with Beth Gaines is that she is incompetent. Neither represents the GOP well.
Simply showing up and voting no does not cut it.
But, does any of it matter? Republicans are irrelevant in Sacramento and this drama is indeed part of the cause.
I am waiting for these local Tea Party members to actually attempt to have a dialogue. I am getting tired of hammering them, but every time I get intel back to me – it shows the same theme:
It’s all about Jim Nielsen, Doug LaMalfa, Ted Gaines, Beth Gaines and everyone that does not support them is the enemy.
As such, these so-called conservatives are ready to align themselves with liberal Republicans to attempt an overthrow of Conservatives on the Placer GOP Cent Com. (Aided and abetted by Charles Munger)
The players: Murriel Oles – rumored to be running for chairman. She openly opposed Conservative hero Tom McClintock, advocating for his primary opponent Michael Babich.
Cheryl Bly-Chester – in the opinion of this blogger, she filed an FPPC complaint against the Placer GOP, she has attacked several Placer GOP leaders in the community and is so far left that she was endorsed by the libertarians for her assembly run. She is also terminally disruptive at Cent Com Meetings.
Jon Green – President of the Moderate Group, Placer County Republican Congress. This group also lists Tea Party member Phyllis Wing on their board of directors.
Mike Holmes – Liberal Republican Auburn Councilmember – he ran against Conservative Congressman John Doolittle twice, he has supported every school bond and parcel tax in his area and he has also repeated vacuous corruption charges several times in an attempt to gain political advantage.
Leah Cavanaugh / Dianne Foster – leaders in the Auburn Women’s Fed. This group is one of the most moderate Republican groups in the county. Again, they apparently supported Tom McClintock’s Primary opponent as evidenced by photos and testimony from several sources.
You see, Tea Party members like Gary Hall, Dan Catania, Carol Wilson, Phyllis Wing, Bonnie McAdams and others are going to have to align themselves with a group of Pro-Choice, No on Prop 8 liberal Republicans who are known to support tax increases (like Placer Legacy) in order to do the bidding of Doug LaMalfa and Jim Nielsen to meet out revenge on the Conservatives.
This is the jam that they are in. I hope for their sake that these Tea Party members understand they are being used. But, then again, these are the same people that believe that there is corruption on the committee as well.
This is a microcausm of why the GOP is dead in California. Jim Nielsen. Doug LaMalfa. Dave Gilliard. Ted Gaines. Beth Gaines.
It’s all about control. (Of nothing)
But, if the Tea party members do what’s expected – maybe just maybe the aforementioned will get the revenge they have craved since 2010, or will they?