Friday, April 29, 2011

CA Democrat chairman suggests Gov. Brown "try shooting" a Republican

SACRAMENTO -- Republicans are criticizing John Burton, the state Democratic Party chairman, for suggesting Gov. Jerry Brown "try shooting" a Republican to convince them to vote for taxes.

In an interview with Bay Area News Group, Burton said Brown "can try shooting somebody and tell the next guy, 'You don't want that to happen to you, you better step up and vote.' ... What's Jerry going to do unless he took out a gun?"

The comment, made on the eve of the state party's convention kickoff, went over the line, said Mark Standriff, communications director for the state GOP.

"Is it open season on Reeps now?" Standriff asked in a tweet.

"Having a salty reputation is no excuse for poor judgment," Standriff later said in an interview. "I'd ask him for an apology but frankly all I'd expect in return was a well-directed expletive."

The California GOP, Standriff added, is making it "our mission to travel the state with open and civil discourse and we'd hope we'd get the same from the other side. To have this happen doesn't seem to be advancing civil discourse."

Conservative radio talk show host Eric Hogue asked in his own tweet: "Is this rhetoric unbecoming of a party chair?"

Sensitivity over violence-laden political remarks has come under scrutiny since the assassination attempt of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, that many believe was incited by heated political rhetoric.

A spokesman for Burton said...... READ ENTIRE STORY

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