Here on the RightonDaily Blog, we’ve been introducing you, the readers to the players involved in the hostile takeover of the California Republican Party. For a refresher – see Part 1 and Part 2 of our series about the CAGOP Swamp. The Oligarchy of Controlled Failure are the small insular world of consultants, lobbyists, donors, and officeholders that are manipulating the levers of dwindling power. They need to be known to the world at large. These are the people seeking to eliminate the influence of the rank and file republican grassroots.
It is nothing personal to the people trying to install Jessica Patterson as CAGOP Chair. I wrote about their retaliation in a previous blog. I just happened to be in their way and their response was to use their connections to get news stories written about me. If it was someone else in their way, they would have done the same thing to that person versus me. If it wasn’t Doug LaMalfa accusing me of felony money laundering, it would have been whomever was in office at the time in Placer County.
What I am trying to tell you is that the issues surrounding the CAGOP are larger than Travis Allen. The Oligarchy of Controlled failure would be playing the same 30 year old playbook against any candidate, it is not unique to Travis Allen.
As I write this blog – the following things are happening:
- The Oligarchy of Controlled Failure is preparing a “Blacklist”. Travis Allen supporters are being identified and excluded. These include several long time party stalwarts, people that walked precincts and made phone calls for current electeds.
- The Oligarchy of Controlled Failure is seeing to it that staff and consultants are appointed delegates. The last update of CAGOP Delegates show over 50% of the delegates appointed thus far are paid staff. Still others are political consultants or their staff. This is far from a representative sample of the GOP.
- The Oligarchy of Controlled failure are threatening people they once helped get on the ballot with financial ruin if they do not appoint the delegates that they direct them to.
- The Oligarchy of Controlled Failure are pressuring County Republican Party Chairman and other delegates with multiple phone calls.
- The Oligarchy of Controlled Failure are lining up their next batch of contracts and dividing up the shrinking pie. See the truth about the $2.3 Million Dollars Wasted by the California Trailblazers on salaries for Jessica Patterson ($1.2Million to her), Jeff Randle and others…
- These people have failed miserably as the GOP has lost a net 12 seats in the State Legislature since founding Trailblazers on 2011.
The long term effects of this California Republican Party battle will be felt for years to come and may be irrecoverable. Long term volunteers are being shunned, new volunteers are being told they can not participate and staff that are disloyal to the GOP are being appointed only for their vote.
Dozens of top volunteers are living with what I have seen firsthand for 20 years, once elected most in office forget those that helped them get there.
The oligarchy of controlled failure is laser focused on today without regard for long term ramifications. Luis Buhler, who is attempting to assemble a slate of candidates for all GOP Board Officers, Jeff Randle and others that are exterminating long-term volunteers and newcomers from the process have had a pattern of this behavior for the 20 years I have known them.
Truthfully, I believe they have no regard for the Grassroots. They see Grassroots as unstable and unpredictable. I have dealt with many consultants that destroy grassroots organizations they can’t control. This is how they do business. This CAGOP officer election represents a chance for the Oligarchy of Controlled Failure to complete their grip at the expense of everyone they do not directly control.
David Stafford Reade, like Jessica Patterson has been a tool of these folks. If it was not David and Jessica, there would have been (and have been a lot of) others. I can see the faces as I type this article. This is what the Oligarchy of Controlled Failure does in order to accomplish their goal of furthering their financial interests.
Luis Buhler’s contempt for Grassroots is legendary. In future posts, I will detail what Luis Buhler did in an attempt to take over the party at the county level statewide. Jessica Patterson participated in it every step of the way.
P.S. Thank you for reading these blogs about the CAGOP – they are getting record traffic.
As Chair of Californians for Trump, our thousands of grassroots volunteers throughout the state have felt disenfranchised, shunned, and unwelcomed throughout most of the counties and state leadership since our formation in 2016. LIke the candidates who have been left without any support or organization– we as representative of the “new volunteers” have felt the obvious void in leadership and desire to grow the party and to welcome new energy. In the age of Ballot Harvesting- there needs to be a new direction for our party from top-down to now bottom-up. Only one candidate for chair has the proven ability and following to mobilize the large state-wide grassroots movement required to compete. Allowing the establishment and the same-faces to shut down and take over our party will truly be the final straw. Frank or Petterson never have organized a rally or mobilized any large groups. Allen has over and over up and down the state, not just for governor but numerous times with volunteer training during the general. He is the only candidate to hold an elective office–an experience crucial to the role of chair and getting Republicans elected. He is about action, the rest have been about talk for years now- and represent status quo. Thank you for exposing what has been, and is at risk of continuing to be, the downfall of California politics. Not only is our state doomed, but when never-trumpers are given control and refuse to support our own party slate, we are in serious jeopardy.
There you go again West, calling folks ‘Never Trumpers’… While your candidate is breaking the 11th GOP commandment everytime I see him speak…and you have Aaron doing the same. I have to commend Steve Frank for attacking other people with surrogates because he is a cowared. He tries to give the illusion he is for trying to lead and not divide…He is not attacking fellow Republicans and rather Steve Franks offering solutions frozen in the 1980’s and a real plan that is 100 pages long.
The CA GOP is a mess. I gave up on it in 2012. At this point, Steve Frank is the only candidate with the experience, the tools and an actual written, workable plan to make something positive happen. It may already be too late for the GOP, but if any one of the candidates can do it, he’s the one.
The best term to describe the Kevin McCarthy, Jessica Patterson, David Reade, et al. group is cartel, an association of suppliers with the purpose of maintaining high prices and restricting competition. In this case, they push up prices in order to line their wallets at the expense of candidates, contributors, and the party and they ruthlessly eliminate from the party structure and elected office any real conservatives who believe in free enterprise, limited government, and individual liberty (their competition for total control).
As someone who has worked as both a volunteer coordinator and a paid campaign staffer organizing ground operations in the Sacramento region, I can attest that Aaron’s description of this group (The Oligarchy of Controlled Failure) is very accurate. I have witnessed close up the disastrous consequences of their incompetent management of campaigns. They are consistently several cycles behind the Democrats in terms of strategy, tactics, technology, and organizational prowess. As the 2018 election results in California reveal, they are completely outclassed by their Democrat counterparts.
Charlie,
As if your candidates have never broken the 11th commandment. You, yourself have broken the 11th commandment by calling Steve Frank a coward. Hypocrite!
CAGOP is in the ditch. Other than being used as an ATM we have little influence for the next few years. New LEADERSHIP is needed now!!! Travis Allen is the only candidate that has harnessed the hearts and minds of the grassroots volunteers. They are the sole of the party. Let us not repeat the results of 2016 and 2018 in 2020. Travis Allen for Chair in 2019!