Well Jubal. I think you get it. It was an idiotic, egotisical, with the total lack of legal skills to back it up. Upshot didn't help Dana either? Suppose that is true. Is that what you meant?

What a bunch of buffoons. These are what pass for Republican leaders? God help us.

so why the full court press by Schroeder? There are Republicans running using "Mayor" gaining the title the same way Debbie has. Why this action?

Buffoons don't need reasons.

He did get some headlines for himself, so in Schroeder's world, this was a win.

Cook might not win, but this stupid stunt improved her chances, and will result in Dana being forced to spend a substantial amount more on his race than he otherwise would have. Cook recieved an enourmous amount of publicity out of this.

Matt, Schroeder, Truong Diep,

For all your big talk, you keep losing. Why don't you quit being bullies and come over to MAYOR Debbie Cook's side. She is bright hard working and actually works in the district unlike Rohrabacher.

If you and Schroeder would quit defending Rohrabacher and Corona, maybe you would seem more credible.
The GOP tried to defend the indefensible in 2006 and lost overwhelmingly. MAYOR Debbie Cook is the strongest candidate to represent the 46th District. In the past two elections, MAYOR Debbie Cook has garnered support from people of all political persausions Republicans, Democrats, and Decline to State voters. I urge you to support MAYOR Debbie Cook and quit being blindly partisan.

I think calling them buffoons is a bit strong, but Schroder's repeated strategic and legal mistakes, his association with dubious characters and his propensity to attack anyone, even friends, who disagree with him, are serious flaws in his political resume.

Jubal is right.

The general election is seven months away and nobody will remember this little episode in November.

May I suggest that Scott Baugh form up a "Litigation Committee", headed by Mark Bucher, of course, to review potential lawsuits being contemplated by Republican leaders and/or candidates?

Bucher's cool head and keen sense of politics should be used to filter the good lawsuits from the bad ones BEFORE they are filed.

That is one way to make lemonade from this big lemon.

If you can't beat em, join em said:

Speaking of "big talk":

What has been my "big talk"?

How am I being a "bully"?

Please, work your heart out for Debbie, but do a political reality check.

I like Debbie personally and think she is very intelligent. But we happen to adhere to different political philosophies and so there's no way I'm going to support her over Dana Rohrabacher.

Jubal--You're right, the punking of the Dark Lord and by default, Dana, does not ipso facto mean Cook wins in November. But it is another step in a ladder that takes the seat from solid Republican to leaning Republican IMHO. She got publicity and is generating $$$ from this. And enthusiasm by the activist base. Combine that with a) big Dem turnout this year, b) generic polls showing public favors Dem over Rep for Congress, c) Dana anti-environmentalist in a green district, d) Dana's goofiness(ok, I know you don't like name calling but his conduct is sometimes just plain goofy)cuts down tendencies of DTS voters to support him,e) Add in a certain percentage of voters who think its time to turn in the old clunker for a new model and e) Cook has good ballot title, is attractive and bright,. Mix them up and you get a competitive race. And I'm not even factoring in the top of the ticket which would be speculative right now. So I put this in a leaning Republican rather then a lock Republican race. But Cook will need to turn some more water into wine to get to 50% + 1.

If it was a slam dunk case, well of course you go for it. But it wasn't. And it was easy to see that. And it was handled poorly(filing in wrong County without indispensable defendant, the SOS). And the residual is that this GOP suit has politically enriched Debbie Cook, politically enriched(marginally) the Dems by allowing them to point out the double standard(mayor of for Republican scofflaws ok but not Democratic scofflaws) and enriched financially Mssrs. Rosen and Woocher.

A thank you note from Cook to Schroeder might be in order. Or better yet, Cook or Rosen or Woocher should leave their business card on the Dark Lord's front doorstep in the Dark Lord style.

By the way, what serious commenter ever thought Steve Young had a realistic shot at the 48th?

I am a strong supporter of Dana but Bladerunner makes the case for a possible upset this November. And, don't forget the gender gap. Women vote in higher numbers than men and Dana is not known as much of a feminist.

BR:

I wouldn't go so far as to put it even leaning-Republican, but it has certainly changed the psychology of the race. The perception that it is competitive can, to some extent, become a self-fulfilling reality.

Whether it does depends more on what Dana does than on what Debbie does. If Dana decides to run as if he is in a real race by running hard and building a really big warchest, the DCCC will probably decide spending on behalf of Cook is a poor use of their money.

On the other hand, if Dana decides he can sit on his $300K and incumbency and rope-a-dopes it to November, the DCCC may decide to spend in the 46th just to see what happens.

The perception of weakness tempts opportunism. Better for Dana to smother Debbie Cook's candidacy in the cradle.

By the way, what serious commenter ever thought Steve Young had a realistic shot at the 48th?

No serious Dem commenter (at least, no one who'd put their name to it) did, but there was plenty of blather from Dem commenters -- net roots-types -- sketching out the scenarios by which Young could pull it off. I remember that guy who runs the Bulldog something-or-other blog enthusing that "Team Hackett" was on the ground to help Young, and another pseudonymous local Dem who started a blog dedicated to that race, he came across as a veteran politico, not a wacko.

One who knows has a good point. Rather than have a few egomaniac activists running amok as if they are speaking on the GOP's behalf, how about a little consensus. After all we're a little bruised up around here lately. Couldn't hurt as bad as all the negative publicity

So Schroeder got punked again? It has been a tough year for Mikey. Boy will he be upset when Supervisor Janet Nguyen trounces the Trannies in June!

Another blunder that was made in this lawsuit was putting Keith Carlson as the plaintiff. The fact that he is the treasurer of our party makes the party look bad. I am sure Schroeder, Carlson, Rohrabacher & Company could have found somebody else to be the plaintiff.

As far as my overall analysis of the damage, I agree with Jubal. This would be equivalent to spending 100K - 200K on direct mail. If Rohrabacher runs a proper campaign (and he hasn't in a long time - there hasn't been the need either), Cook stands little to no chance.

Message is that the party got punked on this one. And try as one might to deny, this did help Debbie. This episode would be forgotten if Debbie was not for real, but she is. This will make mailers, the defeat of right wing pro-war dana supporters is news. As we've discussed before this is not going to be a normal November in the OC, every vote will be important.

These events make dana and his henchmen look like loosers...red hopes that national attention would ignore Mayor Cook have been dashed by this Schroeder lawsuit. This has put dana in DCCC's crosshairs.

Jubal, come november you and your buddies might be needing a few more beers...

...and

Think this is no loss...

Its clearly a win for Mayor Cook!

This has put dana in DCCC's crosshairs.

While liberal exuberance in the wake of the lawsuit's dismissal is understandable, the above claim is putting you in irrational exuberance territory.

A failed ballot title lawsuit doesn't put an entrenched incumbent in a national congressional committee's crosshairs. Incumbent weakness does -- and this lawsuit isn't evidence of that. DCCC is raising a lot of money, but that doesn't mean they want waste in a windmill tilt.

November is a long way off and Debbie Cook's campaign is in the vulnerable larval stage. If Dana's starts fundraising now, I have little doubt Debbie's candidacy will ultimately receive the DCCC's best wishes and not much else.

Jubal--You may be right---the DCCC may give Cook about as much support as France gave Poland in September 1939.

BUT, the traditional DCCC war plan of "We'll target 50 seats" has gone with the wind as a result of a)the blue base blogging community demanding it and Florida's least favorite son, DNC Chair Howard Dean and his 50 state strategy shaming the DCCC into expanding their outreach and b) of more important strategic importance to the GOP, the current vulnerability of Republicans based on national trends. This latter phenom essentially tilts some leaning GOP seats to toss ups and some lock GOP seats into a leaning status. Of course, this seat may be perceived by the GOP as a great opportunity to bleed an entire generation of Democratic contributors(think of Huntington Beach as Verdun)so its a risky game that the Dems play.

Cook is an attractive candidate for the Dems in this seat for reasons I stated above. If she runs a strong campaign, raises sufficient funds from her sources and "real" polling demonstrates she has a shot in September and October, late DCCC money THIS year is a real possibility. And if it turns out to be a watershed Democratic year, Dana could be sent packing to Afghanistan. A tremendous number of ifs, I grant, but not impossible. Dana having an active campaign, as long as he is not running it, would of course make a difficult run by Cook even more so. Even so, the Dems may look at this as better the Reds spending the green in Sunset Beach rather than the Garza Strip.

Looks like Rhonda Rohrabacher's really going to earn those tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars; she's got a tough campaign to coordinate for her hubby.

Looks like Rhonda Rohrabacher's really going to earn those tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars;

And what tax dollars would those be, Alex?

...and shouldn't the headline read...

Mike Schroeder and Keith Carlson Lose Lawsuit

Looks like Rhonda Rohrabacher's really going to earn those tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars;

And what tax dollars would those be, Alex?

Why, the dollars that taxpayers contribute to Dana Rohrabacher's campaign, of course! (ba doom - ching!)

Rhonda then pockets her tidy salary as campaign manager. As she and Dana are husband and wife, it's interesting that campaign donations find their way into the candidate's wife's pocket.

Alex, "taxpayer dollars" means government money. But then again, you know that but still chose to give the false impression Rhonda is on the government payroll.

It's no secret Rhonda is Dana's campaign manager and is paid as such out of his campaign account. It is also perfectly legal. If you have some evidence of wrong doing, present it. Otherwise, you're just being a gossip.

Dana Rohrabacher has a long history of paying Rhonda Rohrabacher out of his campaign fund. (I haven't looked at the reports lately). I personally find it questionable for an elected official (or one running for office) to pay an immediate family member.

At minimum, this is just another item that makes him a little more vulnerable. But, I guess Dana feels this is acceptable since he is from a safe district. By the way, what ever happened to his promise to only serve three terms.

"By the way, what ever happened to his promise to only serve three terms."

Brett, please elaborate.

BTW, I agree that it's pretty unseemly for a candidate to pay his wife (esp. in a community property state) and even worse when there's no real campaign to be run. Maybe this year Rhonda will actually have to earn her salary.

When he initially ran for office, and after he got elected, he said over and over in his 1st (and maybe 2nd) term that he was only going to serve three terms. Now, I don't know why anyone would ever say that. One would think it is almost counter productive given that power in the House has some relation to seniority (it use to be more seniority based). But, I assuming that Dana Rohrabacher did not want to be known as a career politician and was trying to avoid be hit by the anti-incumbancy trend at that time.

I should actually read what I write before I submit it. I made more than one grammer mistake. How pathetic.

I looked at the reports on CRP.org. Apparently, Rhonda makes $1549 twice per month. That 3100 per month, $37200 per year.

If you take that salary for the last ten years, it adds up.

Plus, I thought she was doing a low carb pasta business at the time as well. (That may have not taken off since the low carb diet is not as popular as it once was). Plus, raising three little ones. I have no problem with someone negotiating the best pay for themselves, but when you are husband and wife, it is obviously a different situation.