CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN PARTY DROWNING IN RED INK-- I GUESS THAT'S BECAUSE THEY'RE SO GOOD WITH FINANCES, RIGHT?

With the California Republican Party getting ready to begin an expensive ballot initiative process to try to deprive Democratic presidential candidates of the 55 electoral votes the state's winner-take all electoral system has been awarding them regularly, the L.A. Times just reported that the state party is pretty much bankrupt.

The GOP lawmakers whose complaints of fiscal mismanagement at the Capitol are moving them to block passage of a state budget may not want to look to their own party for inspiration in balancing the books.

The California Republican Party is swimming in red ink.

State campaign finance reports that were due by midnight Tuesday will show that the party has millions of dollars more in debt than money in the bank, according to party officials.

The party's dire financial situation has alarmed Republican activists, who worry that it will not have the resources needed to run an effective get-out-the-vote campaign in key congressional and legislative districts during the upcoming election.

The state party has only $1.1 million cash on hand, money it needs to hold onto to pay day-to-day expenses such as salaries.

Meanwhile, it is struggling to come up with a plan to pay off $4.2 million in debt.

That is in stark contrast to the Democrats, who have wiped out all but a few thousand dollars of debt and have $5.2 million in the bank.

The Republicans are right to worry about their get out the vote operations in the congressional districts. With corruption likely to be a major issue in the re-election bids of at least 4 vulnerable Republican incumbents-- John Doolittle, Jerry Lewis, Gary Miller and Ken Calvert-- Republican voter turnout will be depressed while Democrats will be encouraged at the prospect of ending 8 miserable years of the universally hated Bush and replacing him with any of a very popular roster of Democrats. Other Republicans facing strong challenges in 2008 include Mary Bono, David Dreier, and Brian Bilbray.