California is a very hard state in which to elect a Republican to statewide office.  And by that, I mean ANY Republican.  With occasional exceptions, we have seen Republicans of all stripes – conservative, moderate, liberal – lose at the polls to the most outrageously socialist Democrats.  I can throw out Tom Campbell, Bill Jones, Matt Fong and Bruce Herschensohn (pictured) as examples of GOPers of all stripes who have lost – and these are just nominees for the United States Senate.  We can debate the reasons for the losses, but I am just trying to illustrate that electing a Republican in California is a challenge.  The fact that we have a Republican Governor in California is a great thing, and I don’t have to remind you of the convergence of amazing things that all took place to achieve this goal.

Like many FR readers, I endorsed and supported Arnold Schwarzenegger for Governor.  I can tell you that as a very conservative person, I struggled with the decision when I made it, as a strong social conservative.  Still, at the end of the day, watching Gray Davis preside over a pay-to-play economic death spiral for California, and hearing the fervor and emphatic pledges from Schwarzenegger to be a fiscal conservative, I was sold.  A lot of us who worked hard to qualify the recall felt that the “Terminator” embodied the spirit of our recall.

Since his election, I have been pretty pleased with this Governor’s performance – one of a fiscal conservative.  There were some bonuses, like his veto of same-sex marriage legislation.  There were some disappointments, like his penchant for appointing Democrats to judgeships.  That said, I am proud of the stands he took against the special interests that had bought Gray Davis’ government.  While we lost last year, the sheer volume of cash that the unions spent to misinform and beguile the public emphasized that the Governor was right all along – special interest dollars control state government.

Now, the last couple of months, I have experienced some frustrations.  I’ve made it pretty clear on this site and elsewhere that I thought it imprudent and unfortunate that a former Executive Director of the State Democratic would be chosen by our Republican Governor’s to be his Chief of Staff.  The seemingly-abrupt public policy shift (substantively and rhetorically) away from fiscal conservatism (as embodied with the massive borrowing proposal, minimum wage hike, etcetera) has been hard to fathom. 

I’ve heard from some that this massive focus on infrastructure was always a part of Governor Schwarzenegger’s long-term plan, but not only did he never articulate that in the recall, but it seems imprudent to pursue this course without first recommitting and passing needed fiscal reforms, and ending the choke-hold that unions and special interests have on our state government.

Okay, even with all of my concerns of the last two paragraphs, Governor Schwarzenegger is light years more to the right than either of the two Democrats likely to secure their party’s nomination for Governor – Controller Steve Westly and Treasurer Phil Angelides.  Both of these two candidates are atrocious, and truly believe in a redistributive government that takes from one to give to another, prioritizing their personal sense of “justice” over principles like liberty and freedom.  Governor Schwarzenegger has a fundamental understanding and belief in a free-market system.  I am not prepared to lose faith in Arnold Schwarzenegger in just two short months, but I am also an optimist, and am hopeful that he will embrace the fiscal conservatism that brought me to his team in the first place.  Especially as we go into the election season.

Later this month, Golden State Republicans will gather at the California GOP’s Winter Convention.  This is a strange and tough time for Republicans in California.  We are excited that we have a Republican Governor, but at the same time, we wish he would act more Republican than he has been lately.  As I said above, we all signed on to the notion that Schwarzenegger would be a centrist – socially liberal and fiscally conservative.  Well, the Governor’s about-face on the latter has left many Republicans disappointed and demoralized.  Not all Republicans, mind you.  But I will also say that party activists are a hard bunch to read.  I have spoken to many who are clearly dismayed, but would never, out of party loyalty, express their concerns to the Governor.  Frankly, many party activists would wave their GOP flags no matter what policies were pushed by a Republican Governor.  But almost all acknowledge the difficulty of being advocates in the community if they don’t believe in the Governor’s agenda.

It has been widely publicized that three former Chairmen of the California Republican Party, my close friend Mike Schroeder (pictured), my good friend John Herrington, and Truman Campbell have introduced a controversial resolution for consideration at the convention to pull the Governor’s pre-primary endorsement.  I oppose this effort (though I agree with their criticisms of the Kennedy hire).  Arnold Schwarzenegger will be selected by statewide Republican voters in June to be the official nominee, and pulling his endorsement is just a poor strategy for the Republican Party.  (Like Tom McClintock, I oppose pre-primary endorsements by the party, but that is academic at this point.)

I think that very few people who support the resolution want to see Governor Schwarzenegger lose – hardly any, actually.  Rather, I believe this resolution is being supported by many who want to get the Governor’s attention.  They just want the Governor to realize that he has set out on a new course this year that in no way resembles the messages he articulated in the recall election.  The symbolism (let alone the substance) of hiring recalled Governor Gray Davis’ Deputy Chief of Staff to run his own government was received by many grassroots supporters of the recall as an ultimate ‘slap in the face’ to the spirit and hard work of qualifying the recall of Davis.

I consider myself a part of “Team Schwarzenegger” – I really haven’t ‘gone’ anywhere.  I am in the same spot that I was when the Governor campaigned to me, broom in hand, talking about sweeping away the special interests, and the need to bring fiscal sanity to Sacramento. 

I support the Governor’s re-election.  But the reason I want to reelect him is because I know, in his core, that he knows that the problems with our state government still exist.  That the unions, public employee and not, still control the state legislature with an iron first.  That entitlements, pensions, regulations and taxes are strangling and stifling the California economy.

Republican supporters are looking for him to come to the convention and to re-embrace the fiscal conservatism around which we all have united.  Assembly Republicans didn’t unite behind a pay-as-you-go infrastructure plan to be contrary, they are demonstrating that this, not a massive general obligation bond package, is the Republican path towards responsible infrastructure investment.  The Governor needs to remind us why he ran in the first place.  Remind us why, after hitting a wall in attempting meaningful reforms, he took some critical measures to the ballot boxes last year.  Stress that the apology in his State of the State address wasn’t regret for the issues he championed, but just the timing of the election.

Virtually every Republican at the San Jose Convention will supports Arnold Schwarzenegger’s re-election.  But it is a question of motivation.  Republicans will support him despite serious reservations (Kennedy, bonds, etc.).  But this is the base.  Base voters need to be enthusiastic in their support if you are going to with the kind of victory in November that will take Schwarzenegger, Tom McClintock, Bruce McPherson, Chuck Poochigian and others over the finish line.  If Schwarzenegger embraces the fiscal conservatism that won him an election in 2003, showing the fire to take on the special interests and to bring fiscal sanity to Sacramento, he can and will win a big election in November!

Thanks for reading this.

Jon

Care to read comments, or make your own about today’s Daily Commentary?

Just click here to go to the FR Weblog, where this Commentary has its own blog post, and where you can read and make comments.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 9th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.