Paul Smith Quits

Paul Smith—the perpetual CD 5 candidate against Doris Matsui—effectively threw in the towel today. Had this been Smith’s first run as the Don Quixote candidate in the race, I might have more sympathy but the way this was handled today was more the act of a petulant child. Paul flamed on a lot of supporters and well wishers unnecessarily.

When last I had heard from Paul’s campaign last week he was trying to cobble together enough funds to order some yard signs. Today’s message of I quit unless you give me $20,000 ASAP was unprofessional. Paul knew what he was getting into long before now.

On the whole, I like Paul but every once in a while he really gets off on tangents. I remember last summer when he was demanding $300 from the Sacramento County Republican Party so he would have the funds to rent a hall to hold a townhall event on healthcare. The SCRP couldn’t give him any funds because they felt that this would be tantamount to a pre-primary endorsement. Instead of looking elsewhere for the money, he went on the Eric Hogue radio show and publicly took the SCRP to task. The fact that a Congressional candidate could not raise a mere $300 to hold a public event seemed laughable to me.

I agree with him that Doris is part of the problem but her district is so safe that it would take millions to move enough voters to throw her out. In addition to the almost 15,000 newly registered Republicans in his district, he would need about 70,000 more to have a likelihood of winning in November.

Paul’s actions today affirm the belief that the Republican voter registration efforts in Sacramento County have largely been a wasted effort since he has been the primary beneficiary of the effort and not Dan Lungren. The high registration bounties paid in Sacramento County were intended to boost Lungren out of the vulnerable category. Lungren has only recently been made aware of this fact. Unfortunately, the political consultant that is running the registration effort seems to get paid the same regardless of where the newly registered voter lives.

As a result of the press release today, Smith’s days as a candidate are likely over. It’s too bad, I like having Paul around.

Abram Wilson: Missing in Action

Abram Wilson is missing in action. The repeat candidate for Assembly District 15 has been harder to find on the campaign trail than a ham sandwich at a Bar Mitzvah. When his name has come up in conversation, it is with the same love and affection that Southerners still have for General Sherman. In fact Wilson has probably burned more bridges in the last two years than the civil war general did in his march to Atlanta.

Wilson has burned bridges not only with the volunteer base but with other candidates as well. Some candidates are not even willing to share resources with him because his campaign has “dissed” them too.

Wilson is the only Republican candidate in Sacramento County that still has not received an endorsement from the California Republican Assembly. This is due to the fact that Wilson still hasn’t forthrightly answered any questions on his opinion of the Life issue. The fact that he will not say that he is a Republican on any of his campaign literature hasn’t helped either.

On paper, Wilson is a great candidate and should win handily, but he keeps surrounding himself with Bay Area Elitists that have no use for Conservatives and grassroots politics. Since this is his second try for the AD 15 seat, one can’t help but wonder if his campaign supporters are just a reflection of his values. Wilson has shown no growth as a candidate and is even less engaged in campaigning than he was last time.

My friend—the Sith Lord—sat next to Wilson at the SCRP BBQ last weekend. This is the fourth time Wilson has spent time with the Sith Lord in the last two years and Wilson has yet to even say hello to him.

The scorched earth treatment given to many Republicans by Wilson and his team seems to stem from the fact that many of us thought Robert Rao was a better candidate in the 2008 primary; even after we worked for Wilson in the general election. Give Wilson’s lack-luster performance in both election cycles, I hope Rao will be on the ballot in 2012.