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.
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February 11th, 2006 at 12:00 am
John, I couldn’t agree more. But in the end, you and I will be targeted for this reasoned political strategy.
The ONLY WAY to direct this state is to WIN elections. The ONLY WAY to gain “Speaker of the Assembly” power is for the party to “build” victories and a majority – one way or another.
When we have the majority, then we can “spank” our elected…if they journey off of the path ‘too much’. If we do it now, we turn the state entirely over to the liberals…game over!