It is like Ronald Reagan talking to us from the Great Beyond – a slate card called "Continuing the Republican Revolution", put out by Orange County consultant Scott Hart, starts out: "President Ronald Reagan will be forever remembered on his upcoming 100th birthday. God bless him, and God bless America."
But President Reagan must have changed parties, because the positions on ballot measures encouraged on this card, complete with the Republican National Committee blue and red elephant logo, are exactly the opposite of the official GOP positions.
No, as the Gipper would say, I’ve not changed parties. What we have here is a fraudulent, slimy slate card that sold its recommendations for Republican voters on various ballot measures – all of which are opposed to the official Republican Party stands. This fraud had led the Republican National Committee to threaten Mr. Hart with a lawsuit.
"The bad faith of your mailer is evident on many levels, first in your false implication of RNC sponsorship, and again in your disgraceful ‘recommendation’ to vote the opposite the Republican position on every ballot measure…. The RNC will not allow you to use the symbol of the Republican Party in order to misinform and deceive the public. Therefore the RNC demands that you cease and desist from using the official Elephant Logo, or any derivation thereof, now or anytime in the future," RNC chief counsel John Philippe wrote Mr. Hart.
Here are the positions of the "Continuing the Republican Revolution" slate card:
• Proposition 20 – congressional redistricting, card NO, party position YES
• Proposition 21 – raise car taxes for parks, card YES, party position NO
• Proposition 23 – suspend global warming law, card NO, party position YES
• Proposition 24 – huge business tax increases, card YES, party position NO
• Proposition 25 – majority vote budget, card YES, party position NO
• Proposition 26 – hidden taxes vote, card NO, party position YES
• Proposition 27 – abolish redistricting commission, card YES, party position NO
You won’t be surprised to learn that every one of these "recommendations" was bought and paid for; sleazy slate cards like this one just sell their positions. Lady Gaga could have bought her way on to one of these cards as a GOP candidate if she’d paid enough.
There is also vast monkey see-monkey do in this business. Another card "Voting Guide for Republicans" has the same anti-GOP recommendations, again all bought and paid for. This card, put out by Tim Carey of Torrance, has already sent me three "Attention Republicans: Election Day Voting Guide" cards urging Republicans to vote against their own best interests.
These cards are nothing but a cynical attempt to trick Republicans into voting against their own party so the vendors can make money. Every time I see one of them I am reminded of Joseph Welch’s condemnation of Sen. Joe McCarty, "At long last, sir, have you no decency?"