Back in December, I announced with some caution that the CA Dirty Tricks Initiative had been "delayed." Indeed, the CA right-wing's best bet at passage, i.e. getting on the June ballot, was not going to happen, but I still was taking nothing for granted. As I wrote at the time:

...if we've learned one thing about right-wing dirty tricksters, it's that they're not to be underestimated. So chalk this up as one battle won, but not yet the war. I expect we'll see plenty of dirty tricks to come.

Well, we just won the war.

Proponents of a controversial proposed ballot measure that would have reallocated California's electoral college votes by congressional district -- instead of the current winner-take-all system -- have abandoned their effort.

 "It's not going to make the ballot this year," said David Gilliard, a Republican political strategist organizing the campaign. "The money never materialized to put it on the ballot."

The deadline to get the signatures in to the Secretary of State's office was Monday and let's just say they didn't. It's sort of an anti-climactic end to what could have been a dramatic twist in this already dramatic election season but the Republicans saw the writing on the wall; with the excitement generated by the Democratic candidates, there was no way they'd ever pass this thing in California on the November ballot.

This is great news and a real testament to the grassroots/netroots rapid response instigated by The Courage Campaign. Our No Dirty Tricks campaign should really serve as a model for how local netroots working outside of the establishment party system can provide much needed pushback to the right-wing dirty trick machine that used to be so effective.

Used to be.

Money drying up...signature gathering falling short...it seems the Republicans are slowly realizing that, thanks to the proliferation of organizations like The Courage Campaign, these tactics are simply no longer viable.

Chalk another one up for the good guys.