Red County Exclusive: IRONIC - What if Aaron Park Caused the Downfall of Tom McClintock?
Posted by: Jeff Flint | 04/09/2008 9:58 AM
(Editor's Note: This is a Red County Placer exclusive, please cite this blog and and/or link back if picking up this story.)
My 11 year-old son has a friend down the street, a 10 year-old boy, who likes to use the word "ironic." When I take the two boys to baseball practice, my son's friend tries to see how many times he can use "ironic" in the course of the 10 minute ride to the field.
I am not sure why this young lad likes to use the word "ironic." I think he likes how it sounds, rather than knowing what it means.
Any reader of this online journal of opinion (Blog) knows that one of my blogpen members, Aaron Park, is a zealous defender and promoter of Tom McClintock. In fact, Aaron is a zealous promoter of all his causes. Aaron, to his credit and detriment, has no middle ground. Everything is on or off. 100% or 0%. No gray, just black and white.
That his causes change and has caused him to change positions is a fun side effect for me to point out from time to time, which I engage in for fun and sport.
Since taking up the cause of Tom McClintock, Aaron has been relentless in attacking Doug Ose and defending McClintock from any attack. His dedication and bull-headedness in these pursuits has been single-minded.
So wouldn't it be ironic if, in his zeal to support Tom McClintock, Aaron Park contributed to McClintock's downfall?
And furthermore, given that one of the charges that Aaron has relentlessly defended Tom from is the carpet-bagging attack, would it not double the irony if it was Aaron's own "carpet-bagging" into Placer County that took down the carpet-bagging candidate, Tom McClintock?
As most readers of this blog will know, to be placed on the ballot for a primary election in California legislative races like State Senate, State Assembly, and Congress, the candidate must submit 40 valid signatures of registered voters in the party for which the candidate is seeking nomination.
In Tom's case, of course, he would have needed forty valid signatures of Republicans in the 4th Congressional District to have his name on the ballot.
For a "conservative hero" with such a large a following as Tom, you would imagine, getting 40 signatures would be a snap...a mere formality, right? The voters would line up to sign the nomination papers, you can almost imagine McClintock-backers crowing.
So no doubt, you'd be surprised to find out that Tom only submitted 45 signatures in his nomination. And when you further discover that 5 of Tom's signatures were deemed to be invalid, you would be shocked at how close the margin was for Tom to not appear on the ballot at all.
But that's not the ironic part yet.
Digging deeper, you see that one of the 40 "valid" signatures submitted by McClintock was one "Aaron Park," on a petition circulated by a "George Park."
Now of course, we know that this is George Park of the Placer County GOP and his brother, our own Aaron Park.
The registration address for Aaron Park is a home in Roseville, California (address withheld). Aaron registered to vote at this home sometime recently after being registered at other locations in Placer County for the last 10 years. Aaron has voted without missing (good job Aaron!) for 13 straight elections, including the Presidential Primary this February.
But it's after that where things get interesting...you might say ironic.
At this same home, George Park and his wife are also registered to vote. One wonders where are the snarky comments about "Cabana Boy" Aaron Park living with his brother and his wife?
But maybe there have been no such comments because it is common knowledge that Aaron does not live in Roseville, nor Placer County, nor anywhere in the 4th Congressional District!
In fact, Aaron has repeatedly admitted as such. On this blog, for example, on March 19, 2008 at 8:53 AM, Aaron wrote (emphasis added):
Upon further examination, we find that Aaron's new wife (congratulations again Aaron!) is registered to vote in Sacramento County (address again withheld) at an address consistent with where Aaron admits he resides. Yet Aaron is not registered there.
So, the question arises, is Aaron Park entitled to register to vote in Roseville? Is he qualified to sign Tom McClintock's nomination petitions, and indeed, to provide the crucial 40th valid signature to get Tom on the ballot?
Certainly Aaron did not expect or intend to hurt rather than help McClintock, but the question must be asked, did Aaron, in his zeal to help Tom get on the ballot, (despite McClintock' carpet-bagging) commit carpet-bagging of his own and provide a faulty signature? And in the ultimate irony of all, if Aaron's signature is indeed invalid, as it appears, should Tom even be on the ballot at all?
Memo to Tom McClintock: don't close that campaign committee for the Board of Equalization seat just yet!
My 11 year-old son has a friend down the street, a 10 year-old boy, who likes to use the word "ironic." When I take the two boys to baseball practice, my son's friend tries to see how many times he can use "ironic" in the course of the 10 minute ride to the field.
I am not sure why this young lad likes to use the word "ironic." I think he likes how it sounds, rather than knowing what it means.
For the record, one of the dictionary definitions is, "contrary to what was expected or intended."
Any reader of this online journal of opinion (Blog) knows that one of my blogpen members, Aaron Park, is a zealous defender and promoter of Tom McClintock. In fact, Aaron is a zealous promoter of all his causes. Aaron, to his credit and detriment, has no middle ground. Everything is on or off. 100% or 0%. No gray, just black and white.
That his causes change and has caused him to change positions is a fun side effect for me to point out from time to time, which I engage in for fun and sport.
Since taking up the cause of Tom McClintock, Aaron has been relentless in attacking Doug Ose and defending McClintock from any attack. His dedication and bull-headedness in these pursuits has been single-minded.
So wouldn't it be ironic if, in his zeal to support Tom McClintock, Aaron Park contributed to McClintock's downfall?
And furthermore, given that one of the charges that Aaron has relentlessly defended Tom from is the carpet-bagging attack, would it not double the irony if it was Aaron's own "carpet-bagging" into Placer County that took down the carpet-bagging candidate, Tom McClintock?
As most readers of this blog will know, to be placed on the ballot for a primary election in California legislative races like State Senate, State Assembly, and Congress, the candidate must submit 40 valid signatures of registered voters in the party for which the candidate is seeking nomination.
In Tom's case, of course, he would have needed forty valid signatures of Republicans in the 4th Congressional District to have his name on the ballot.
For a "conservative hero" with such a large a following as Tom, you would imagine, getting 40 signatures would be a snap...a mere formality, right? The voters would line up to sign the nomination papers, you can almost imagine McClintock-backers crowing.
So no doubt, you'd be surprised to find out that Tom only submitted 45 signatures in his nomination. And when you further discover that 5 of Tom's signatures were deemed to be invalid, you would be shocked at how close the margin was for Tom to not appear on the ballot at all.
But that's not the ironic part yet.
Digging deeper, you see that one of the 40 "valid" signatures submitted by McClintock was one "Aaron Park," on a petition circulated by a "George Park."
Now of course, we know that this is George Park of the Placer County GOP and his brother, our own Aaron Park.
The registration address for Aaron Park is a home in Roseville, California (address withheld). Aaron registered to vote at this home sometime recently after being registered at other locations in Placer County for the last 10 years. Aaron has voted without missing (good job Aaron!) for 13 straight elections, including the Presidential Primary this February.
But it's after that where things get interesting...you might say ironic.
At this same home, George Park and his wife are also registered to vote. One wonders where are the snarky comments about "Cabana Boy" Aaron Park living with his brother and his wife?
But maybe there have been no such comments because it is common knowledge that Aaron does not live in Roseville, nor Placer County, nor anywhere in the 4th Congressional District!
In fact, Aaron has repeatedly admitted as such. On this blog, for example, on March 19, 2008 at 8:53 AM, Aaron wrote (emphasis added):
"It is common knowledge I currently reside in Sacramento. Unlike Ose, I lived in Roseville for 7 years and Lincoln for 1 year."
Upon further examination, we find that Aaron's new wife (congratulations again Aaron!) is registered to vote in Sacramento County (address again withheld) at an address consistent with where Aaron admits he resides. Yet Aaron is not registered there.
So, the question arises, is Aaron Park entitled to register to vote in Roseville? Is he qualified to sign Tom McClintock's nomination petitions, and indeed, to provide the crucial 40th valid signature to get Tom on the ballot?
Certainly Aaron did not expect or intend to hurt rather than help McClintock, but the question must be asked, did Aaron, in his zeal to help Tom get on the ballot, (despite McClintock' carpet-bagging) commit carpet-bagging of his own and provide a faulty signature? And in the ultimate irony of all, if Aaron's signature is indeed invalid, as it appears, should Tom even be on the ballot at all?
Memo to Tom McClintock: don't close that campaign committee for the Board of Equalization seat just yet!
CATEGORY:
4th Congressional District Race, FEATURE
Jeff,
You are beginning to make me wonder if ANYONE actually lives in the 4th CD. Turbo may be able to vote for himself and carry the district in a landslide!
John
Interesting story, Jeff. What I don't understand is why Aaron told McClintock he lived in Roseville with his brother at the same time he told Red County readers he lived in Sacramento with his wife. Sounds like a question the Secretary of State should ask as well.
My understanding is that McClintock turned in more than 50 signatures. Even if Aaron's sig is invalidated that still leaves him enough signatures for nomination,
The Secretary of State says McClintock was placed on the ballot with the bare minimum 40 valid signatures...45 total and 5 invalid. If I am shown evidence different from what I observed at the SOS, I will make a correction.
As I said elsewhere on this blog recently, Aaron is the best thing for Ose since canned beer.
Is someone looking into this. Can you be registered at a house where you don't live? It's possible Aaron was registered in the 4CD and then moved and re-registered in Sacramento.
There is no evidence that Aaron has ever been registered in Sacramento County. The laws about where you have to register are a little gray, but since we are talking about Aaron's brothers' house, at which I assume Aaron has no intention to live since he got married, and the fact that Aaron has openly said he lives in Sacramento County means there is a question to be answered here.
Also, to preempt any conspiracy theories, Aaron posted something about Ose trying to roll out endorsements a second time to undercut McClintock while he is on his "good, not bad" trip to DC. I deleted that post. It is a word for word post of something Aaron put on the PCRA blog last night. If you want to read that post, go to PCRA. They are the only blog listed in the blog roll right now.
Jeff,
Now certainly you are NOT implying that someone who registered at someone's house in the 4th CD in which they never intended to live in while they were waiting to purchase property in the 4th CD in which to actually live, would be doing anything even close to illegal, are you?
John
John,
No more than you would say that a 51 year old man from El Grove intends to move home to live with his mom in Thousand Oaks.
Jeff
Jeff,
Are YOU now saying that something can be "RIGHT" for your guy Ose and "WRONG" for my guy McClintock?
I thought that sort of thing REALLY upset you?
John
Thank God this is probably not on solid enough legal ground to actually bump Tom from the ballot. That said, this is just another example of how Aaron Park is poison to anyone he supports.
If I were a conservative running for office, I wouldn't touch him with a 10 foot pole.
Jeff - So let me get this straight... anything I post and cross-post on or from other blogs you will delete?
Aaron, you posted the item in PCRA last night at 7:54 PM or so. Well over 12 hours later, after my post on your voter registration, you post the exact same post on this blog, without even identifying it as a cross post, as you and I discussed before. Sorry if I doubt your motives for the sudden urge to post that entry.
John, as I stated, the voter registration laws are somewhat vague, but when Aaron flaunts that he lives in Sacramento County and is registered in Placer County, it invites scrutiny. I have never questioned Tom's right to be registered to vote in Ventura County and represent his home community there. And as you have stated, one need not be registered to vote in a Congressional District in California to run for it.
In that regard, what Ose and McClintock have done with their registration is similar and legal in my understanding of the law, whereas what Aaron is doing is different.
Jeff
Jeff
I have a great idea. Aaron Park should call the Cabana Boy, Doug Ose, to see if he can rent some space in that pool shed in Granite Bay, where Doug Ose claims to live. Apparently, that's all you need to do to be a voter in Placer County.
The court precedents favor "substantial compliance" when it comes to nomination signatures, so this incident is not likely to amount to anything -- other than allowing Jeff Flint's son's friend to use the word "ironic" again.
Very good Tom...Thanks for getting all lawyerly with me, and it certainly makes me feel better to know that "Loophole Tom" has "substantially complied" with the requirements to be a candidate in my Congressional District.
Jeff - I have made several posts on both blogs verbatim. (sp)
This includes three yesterday without a cross-post indication... the frustrating thing here is that anytime I forget a detail you delete the post. It smacks of censorship and you admit as much in your comment.
Aaron, first, I did no such thing as admit censorship. Second,, given the volume of people who HAVE begged me to censor you, I hardly think you're in a position to criticize my editorial control.
Jeff - the people asking you to censor me are those that disagree with me -
If more than the Eric Egland supporters and that consultant have asked, then they have emailed you because no one has had to courage to come to me and ask me to change anything.
I re-posted with an attribution to the Placer CRA blog and when I cross post items verbatim(sp) I will be sure to not forget the notation.
Please also note at least the last 15 posts I have made are on both blogs verbatim(sp) and none of them were deleted. All I am asking for is consistency as none of those posts had the cross-post indication on them.
This election is becoming a real joke. I am sure Charlie Brown is getting a good laugh.
As of last night, I was still sitting on the fence not sure who to support. I am not thrilled that McClintock is from Southern, California running in our district. But I am tired of seeing the multi-millionaire Ose blasting McClintock for living out of town. The per diem slap was way off base. You cannot put McClintock in the same category as Ted "in my pocket" Gaines. Remember Gaines lives only 20 miles from the capital. McClintock's primary home is down South.
I am also tired of Ose's commercials and the fliers that are coming in my mailbox. Ose reminds me of a spoiled rich kid with nothing to do with his money. One of his fliers told us how many times McClintock has run for other offices and lost. Most of those were state-wide offices. I thank Tom for doing that. He is not afraid to go out and tell us what he believes. I do not see the Republican party doing to well at the state level.
It is really strange to see former Doolittle Chief of Staff Richard Robinson running Ose's campaign. If you agree with Ose that McClintock is just looking for a job, then I think Richard Robinson falls into that same category. McClintock is much closer to Doolittle than Ose is when we are talking about a true conservative. I do not fault Richard. I am sure he has to pay his bills just like us and Mr. McClintock. Most of us do not have the luxury of spending 1 million dollars of our own money on a political campaign.
Ose should be talking about our military. How about our Air Force? Is anyone listening on why our F-15 fleet was grounded. How about an F-15 breaking apart during flight? Ose and his gang would rather talk about where Aaron Park lives. I do not care if Aaron Park lives in a tent along the American River. I do care about my firends flying aircraft that break apart during flight. What has Mr. Ose done for our military?
I feel McClintock will serve our district, California, our country and my Air Force better than some spoiled millionaire.
Mr. McClintock you have my support.
Chico John:
Actually, I know I live in the 4th CD and have for over 30 years. I also know that all those elected officials from Placer County that have endorsed Doug Ose also live in the 4th district.
Aaron:
1) Actually, the people who want you removed from the blogosphere are not just people that disagree with you, rather they are people who both share and oppose your positions. It's the fact that we all can't stand your tactics that bonds us together in wanting you to take your show elsewhere.
2) The "everyone who disagrees with me is a coward/anonymous coward/Ose staffer/communist/conservative enemy/use your own inflammatory Parkism here" kind of doesn't work for you if this whole voter fraud thing is true. If this is the case, I think it is quite obvious that Jeff needs to do the right thing and remove you from his site.
Interesting. We have a guy from Chico and a carpetbagging blogger supporting a guy from L.A. running for congress in Northern California. And all three guys claim that the guy who is actually from Northern California is carpetbagging. It sure seems like an odd angle to take guys. Might want to reevaluate your tactics.
"everyone who disagrees with me is a coward/anonymous coward/Ose staffer/communist" - you should have stopped there.
Once again - lobbing bombs without accountability.
Someone should have compared someone to Hitler by now, did I miss that part?
Wow, Jeff! This is such a petty crybaby article you have written. I am actually shocked. I have enjoyed this site for quite awhile and i am really surprised to see you write something so utterly wrong.
You really should haved called the voter registrs office before embarassing yourself. Even if a canidate turns in 1000 signatures, they STOP counting once they reach the 40 valid signatures. It doesn't make sense to keep on counting... It only takes 40, and when they reached it they stopped. DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW IT WORKS NOW JEFF??? McClintock turned in close to 60 signatures i believe.
Just go ahead Jeff and tell us what a real OSE lover you are and we can all move on.
VOTER IN THE 4TH (Aaron Park?) You're really missing the point here.
Now Mike er. auburnymous... I don't comment anon.
but, that anon coward was right, Jeff loves Ose.