I am crazy busy between all of the projects I am working on, but this is too amusing to me not to write up.  Fred Thompson has now hired both Todd Harris and Karen Hanretty for his now official, not illegal presidential run.  Those two were key consultants on Arnold’s disastrous 2005 special election.  It was his aides that convinced him that a bunch of power grab measures and attacking labor was a good idea.  Wrong.  Oh so wrong.

Arnold is doing much better since he dropped the DC Navigators crew.  Indeed his former re-elect staffers were snapped up by other campaigns, way before Frederick got Harris and Hanretty.  BTW, anything that Mike Murphy says about Thompson should be considered coming from the campaign.  Todd Harris is a principle at Murphy’s firm DC Navigators. 

I have two favorite moments of Harris during that campaign.  The first was when he brought a bunch of interns over to CTA’s offices in Sacramento to “protest”.  Needless to say, Republicans are terrible chanters.  The kind teachers were worried that the kids needed some sustenance, so they brought out some cookies and milk for them.  The chant leader told them to stay away, lest they create a nice photo-op, but Harris couldn’t help himself.  Here he is chewing away.

The second one was the time he was caught by Warren Beatty taking pictures of his wife Annette Benning at a campaign stop.  Benning and Beatty were on a bus tour for us and high-jinks ensued.  Heh even Nehring is mention in Carla Marninucci’s blog post:

The Academy Award-nominated actress won over legions of fans, even on the GOP side. Holding her husband’s hand, she posed for photos with union members, talked up the election, and remained serenely gorgeous throughout the day, even after she and Beatty became the target of some decidedly nasty personal attacks from state GOP vice chair Ron Nehring, who dismissed them as “over the hill” and “B” actors.

Beatty, in an affectionate nod to his wife, addressed the crowd in admiration, saying: “Give me liberty or give me .. Annette Bening!”

Even Schwarzenegger spokesman Todd Harris couldn’t resist, snapping some photos of her. That’s when Beatty strangled him in mock exasperation while pleading, “Todd, join us!”

Harris instead rushed back to combat duty — on the press bus.

I was amused to see Maviglio defending Schwarzenegger’s star power today in Carla’s article on the hires, oh and even Gary South shows up:

And Maviglio said Thompson doesn’t compare with the California governor when it comes to star power.

“Muttering a few lines at the end of a ‘Law & Order’ episode isn’t the same as a multimillion-dollar blockbuster,” Maviglio scoffed. “It doesn’t translate.”

Garry South, the sharp-tongued former strategist for Davis, said Thompson has other problems.

Harris and Hanretty are “both really worthy additions to the (Thompson) team,” South said. But … the candidate is “an empty vessel into which (the conservative right) are pouring all their hopes. Fred Thompson is no Ronald Reagan,” or even an Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“He’s not an upbeat individual. He comes off like a grouchy, grumpy old man … Can you see the words ‘shining city on a hill’ coming out of Fred Thompson’s mouth?”

How many CA hacks can I tie into this story? sheesh.

Who knew that Marinucci’s story a week ago on the hiring of Canadian Christopher Matthews to be the California Republican Party’s deputy political director would lead to his colleague resigning and accusations of breaking the federal law?  Here we are with yet another A1 story at the Chron.  Today’s story breaks the news that the CRP may have violated federal law by failing to demand to see Kamburowski’s green card.

Ron Nehring, who heads the California Republican Party, admitted Tuesday that he — and as far as he knows, any party officials — never saw the green card that would prove that Michael Kamburowski, an Australian citizen hired as the state GOP’s chief operations officer, was a legal resident.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division said Tuesday the law is clear that “it is the responsibility of the employers to check and see that someone is legally in the country and eligible to work.”

Whoopsies.  This may lead to a fine or something, but the greater damage is in extending the story in the news.  The Reeps can’t stand the Chronicle, for it’s supposed left-wing bias.  It must be killing them to see their party’s dirty laundry aired, day-after-day, on the front page.

Right now, they are just hoping this goes away, and quickly, if only because it would avoid giving their opponents the opportunity to lob shots at them:

“This is the typical GOP hypocrisy,” said Luis Miranda, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee Tuesday. “They will scapegoat immigrants to try and win elections, but they will look the other way when it comes to rewarding their cronies.”

Nativo Lopez, national president of the Mexican American Political Association, said the GOP case illustrates that on immigration and border security, “it’s good for (Republicans) when it’s convenient for them — and as long as it comes from a country of their choosing.

“But they are perennially focused on the southern border, and it smacks of racism when they posture against immigrants of color from the south.”

It does not look like Nehring is stepping down over this one, though if this keeps up, he may be forced to.  He has accepted responsibility for the scandal and promised to put in place more thorough hiring processes.  Meanwhile, those lower in the food chain are sniping at the Chron for running this story in the first place.

GOP northern region vice chair Jerry Maltby said Californians should “start worrying about the 12 million illegals, not the ones with green cards,” he said. “If you guys take more time and write about the immigration problem, rather than worrying about what one guy did and didn’t do, it would be more relevant.”

Sorry, Maltby, once the media has their claws into a juicy scandal they aren’t about to voluntarily give it up.  This story has legs and they will run it until it collapses.

Actually, what I am most interested in right now is what Karen Hanretty has up her sleeve.  She didn’t take to well to being told to STFU and is now promising a series of expose posts over at the insider Hill newspaper’s blog.  She filmed a video yesterday, promising a series of posts that will:

…provide a timeline that raises a number of questions for the California Republican Party, as well as for Grover Norquist with Americans for Taxpayer Reform, who is also involved in this intriguing and developing story.

She then goes on a little rant about what Republicans need to do and provides a bit of a hit as to what she has in store for her upcoming series:

They are going to have to clear their ranks of incompetent leaders who refuse to follow their law and try and do things behind closed doors. 

That means our Republican party is doomed.

I almost can see shades of what the netroots tries to do in term’s of Hanretty’s plan to take her party back.  In true Republican form, it is someone already within the party structure, and in fact the former spokeswoman for the CRP who is actually challenging the leadership.  And of course she is using the most insider of all insider blogs to make this pronouncement.  She is pissed to be out of power and is willing to tear down the party to build it back up.  Expect to see some serious resistance from the status quo.

Hanretty has a big megaphone, especially with her regular TV appearances and will provoke a strong reaction from those she goes after.  I guarantee she has some dirt on Norquist, Nehring and others.  It may provide some more fodder for a few more A1 stories by Marinucci.

Make sure that you have some popcorn stocked up.  This one is not over folks.

Break out the popcorn folks.  The Republicans are writing each other nasty letters and using the Chronicle to lob shots at one another over the CRP’s hiring of a Canadian to become their director of research and political technology.  On one side you have mouthpieces of the CRP and on the other, former CRP official spokeswoman Karen Hanretty.  She has become a reliable quote against her party, in much the way that Gary South has become from the other direction.  I really have to side with Hanretty on this one.  There are plenty of qualified people to take that job already in the country and the move is embarrassing to the party.

Michael Kamburowski, the Australian who was recently hired as the CRP’s COO, shot off a letter to the party’s executive board, from which John Wildermuth is quoting over at the Chron Blog.

Kamburowski generally suggested that Hanretty will never be able to eat lunch in Washington again.

Much more below the fold…

“This story would not have the ‘legs’ it does were it not for the role Karen Hanretty is playing in fanning it,” Kamburowski said in his letter. “I do not know Karen, but I find the spectacle of someone who has fed at the trough of the CRP (California Republican Party) behaving in this way despicable and sad. If she desires a career in Republican circles in Washington — she may find her career rather short-lived.”

This letter appears to have been sent out prior to Hanretty’s appearance on CNN, where she went after the CRP for potential improper use of H-1B visas.

I really do love Hanretty’s response to the letter, which makes him look incompetent professionally, thus refuting the notion that he should have been hired in the first place.

Hanretty called Kamburowski’s letter “a peculiar response to a leadership decision.”

“You attack someone personally when you want to deflect criticism,” she said in an interview on Thursday. “When you feel you have the moral high ground, you don’t need to change the subject.”

The letter wasn’t a threat to Hanretty, said Hector Barajas, a state GOP spokesman who suggested his former colleague is “trying to make a living by attacking other Republicans.”

Wow, look at that from Barajas.  In a short span he denies there was a threat, then insults her again.  Knowing Hanretty, I expect her not to let these statements lie.  She has plenty of outlets to get her point across and she is tenacious.  I look forward to more entertainment.