Since Mr/Dr/JD/Pope Ken Campbell, just outed himself by defending liberal Democrat Kris Johnson (http://www.thepresstribune.com/article/5/12/16/letters-money-talks-and-uhler-walks) , the same Kris Johnson that has consistently tried to take out McClintock, I thought it was time to finally peel back the mask of Mr/Dr/JD/Pope Campbell’s decade-long rage against Uhler. I can’t keep track of Campbell’s titles so I have to use a one-size-fits all approach.
The year was 2002, and things were a mess on the GOP Cent Com (sound familiar?). Our dearly beloved Mr/Dr/JD/Pope Kenny Campbell, was Chairman of the Placer County Central Committee. Our Congressman, John Doolittle (the last Congressman who actually gave a damn about Placer County) was worried about the direction of the GOP Cent Com under the leadership of Mr/Dr/JD/Pope Ken Campbell. Doolittle wanted a Committee that would actually get things done, not just argue over titles and procedures (again, sound familiar?). He funded a slate of candidates in all five districts, and he wanted Kirk Uhler on it.
Doolittle’s Chief of Staff, Dave Lopez, personally called Uhler to ask him to run. Uhler, understandably was reluctant. You see Uhler had already served eight years on the committee, including two terms as Vice Chairman to Bruce Kranz. However, Kirk Uhler was a team player, and back then when your Congressman called, you answered.
Here is where it got awkward for me. I was also part of the Doolittle team trying to restore order to the Cent Com, even though I had been left off of the slates they bought.
That said, I was the guy asked to work with Uhler to make the election of Team Doolittle happen. The problem was the last time I had interactions with Uhler, I was working against him in the 1996 race for Assembly. I was working for Rico Oller against Uhler, and Uhler knew it.
The first time I knocked on Uhler’s door for a meeting, I had no idea what to expect, but I certainly didn’t expect what I got. I got a warm welcome. I got a person who was focused on the mission ahead, with no animosity from the past. I got a professional.
The Doolittle slate succeeded. We took control of the Central Committee, thanks in large part to Uhler helping us raise the funds for the campaign.
That’s when it got interesting. You see, Uhler was the guy making the presentations for the Republicans at the High School Voter Outreach Program that Jim McCauley had started. At the time, Uhler was making almost all of the appearances for the Republicans, from Roseville to Tahoe. Uhler was literally registering hundreds of high school students every month on behalf of the Republican Party, even though he had no title and wasn’t a part of the “Republican Machine”. Now, the same Central Committee is trying to unseat him as supervisor.
When he got back on the Committee, Uhler was given access to the “Bounty reports”. Back then, we actually had elected officials who cared about registering Republicans. John Doolittle and Tim Leslie would actually give the Committee money for each GOP registration we got.
Ted Gaines used to chip in for bounty until ironically the Committee endorsed McClintock in 2008 over Ose. At that time Roger Niello and Ted Gaines discontinued paying registration bounty. Gaines was upset that the party would dare take sides in a contested primary.
Well, Uhler was personally registering hundreds of high school students every month, but the “bounty report” issued by Mr/Dr/JD/Pope Campbell out didn’t match Uhler’s efforts, so he Uhler asked why.
After an internal investigation, Campbell had to stand before the Committee, put his arm around Uhler, and confess that he was running an unapproved and unauthorized drill with another County to try to milk more money for the voter registrations. He apologized to Uhler for all of the very bad things he had emailed out about him (sound familiar?), and thanked Uhler for setting the record straight. I was there, I saw it all.
Shortly thereafter, Ken Campbell resigned his position as Chairman of the Placer County Central Committee, because he continued to attack several local electeds publicly. Then his jihad against Uhler began. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Campbell hates Kirk Uhler to this day.
You should also note that Campbell was one of the leaders in the movement to oust John Doolittle a few years later, publicly railing on him for corruption. Congressman Doolittle was exonerated, just like we all knew he would be. Does that sound familiar? It should, because Mr. Campbell has accused Bruce Kranz, Ted Gaines, Tom Hudson, the late Kathy Lund and several others (beyond Mr. Uhler) of corruption.
The moral of the story? For those of you on the Cent Com and others that want to be on it, just remember, you will accomplish nothing but making enemies for life. It isn’t worth it.
The second moral of the story? Never, ever take someone else’s word for the misdeeds of someone unless there is conclusive proof to back it up – this is why I post links to news items and official documents on this blog and on www.victorbekhet.com. Forcing people to deny the truth backed up with real evidence is the best defense to insanity.