Proving they have no political principles but their pocketbooks, several of California’s premier political consultants have banded together to extract more cash from the referendum process — and help export it to other states as well.

With no end in sight to the state’s flurry of ballot initiatives and the state likely to hold a special election this year, top Republican adviser Steve Schmidt and Democratic strategist Chris Lehane are among several California heavyweights forming a new firm solely designed to work on ballot-box campaigns.

Schmidt ran Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s re-election drive, while Lehane worked in the Clinton White House and defeated a GOP attempt to change California’s electoral college system.

The new firm, LFM Campaigns, also will include:
— Democratic consultant Ace Smith, who was Hillary Clinton’s California presidential campaign chairman and serves as an adviser to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a potential gubernatorial candidate
— Republican strategist Adam Mendelsohn, adviser to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the governor’s former communications director
— Mark Fabiani, Lehane’s longtime business partner and a former communications aide to President Clinton

As David writes at Calitics, "there’s a murderer’s row of willing stooges."  As long as the money’s right! 

Schmidt, you may recall, is responsible for the spectacular crash-and-burn of the most recent GOP presidential campaign, where he was unable to get across the finish line with a certified Vietnam war hero and a reform-minded female governor running against a biracial political rookie and a blarney-mouthed gaffemeister.

Lehane, of course, we last saw trying to bust the Writers Guild of America by taking the filthy lucre of the studio owners to break the union. Real Democratic Party values there, Chris.

But don’t worry — this stellar team means to keep their messes instate. Oh, wait:

While all are based in California, he said they consider the firm to be national in reach, especially as California’s brand of direct democracy spreads to other states.

Great! Bringing the structural breakdown of the initiative process to a ballot box near you, as long as there are Owners willing to pay to convince voters to pull a lever against their own interests.

{h/t David Dayen at Calitics}