Dirty tricks ballot initiative DOA?

Could it be? Is this just a ruse, or is it for real? The L.A. Times blog is reporting the dirty tricks ballot initiative designed to give the GOP 20 of our electoral votes has been pulled!!

Plagued by a lack of money, supporters of a statewide initiative drive to change the way California's 55 electoral votes are apportioned, first revealed here by Top of the Ticket in July, are pulling the plug on that effort.

In an exclusive report to appear on this website late tonight and in Friday's print editions, The Times' Dan Morain reports that the proposal to change the winner-take-all electoral vote allocation to one by congressional district is virtually dead with the resignation of key supporters, internal disputes and a lack of funds.

The reality is hundreds of thousands of signatures must be gathered by the end of November to get the measure on the June 2008 ballot.

If this is true, woo-hoo!!! But beware... they still could try to revive this later. They didn't seem to be able to get enough signatures for it to qualify for the June ballot, but for the November ballot........?

More commentary on DailyKos, Calitics, and an earlier piece from the New Yorker on just how dirty this trick was going to be. Looks like the revelations the other day that mysterious non-California donors connected to Rudy Giuliani were involved in this shenanigan was the final straw.