California’s Republican National Committeeman is Tim Morgan of Santa Cruz. Tim was elected to this post by the California Republican Party Membership back in 1996, and re-elected subsequently in both 2000 and 2004. Tim has penned a column, which is below, in which he calls for the upcoming races for California Republican Party office to be "spirited, vision packed and respectful" – I present his views for your reading pleasure. I suppose this also a good time to express my appreciation to Tim, as when I announced my candidacy for Vice-Chairman, South of the CRP, Tim was one of the very first to endorse me. Thanks, Tim!
Let’s Have A Visionary Race for California Republican Party Board of Directors
By Tim Morgan, National Committeeman
For California Republicans there was much to celebrate and much to mourn on November 8. The twin victories of Governor Schwarzenegger and Insurance Commissioner Poizner were inspiring. But the loss of the rest of our state-wide ticket, the continued stalemate in the Legislature, and the loss of Rich Pombo’s Congressional seat were heartbreaking, especially for the candidates and the tens of thousands of volunteers who poured their hearts and souls into these races.
While memories are fresh, this is the time to determine what we did right and what we can do better. This effort is currently underway.
Lessons learned will be applied to the 2008 campaign, which will be led, in no small part, by the new California Republican Party officers we’ll be electing in February. Between now and the February convention we need to hear what these candidates – those who would lead us – have in mind. It’s vital that they share their competing visions of the future of our party and outline their plans for making the CRP a better partner with our volunteer organizations, our county committees, and our nominees. Without necessarily going into specifics, they should tell us what they want to accomplish, how their programs will be financed, and how they intend to communicate with CRP members and the general public. Most important, they need to tell us how they will work with our grassroots activists, our donors, and our nominees to forge winning strategies for 2008.
This can’t be done by negative campaigning, or by the kind of name calling and rumor mongering that’s begun to surface in some of our leadership elections. We’re engaged in serious business. The next election will be for President of the United States. We need to have the best, most efficient operation possible going into that campaign. This will require the best leadership and talent we can muster.
In 2008, approximately a third of the Legislature will be termed out. This presents us with an unprecedented opportunity to pick up seats, if we act in a unified, focused, organized manner.
We’re not going to get there, though, if good people are ruined by negative campaigning – especially the kind built on unfounded rumors – that makes it so very hard for the rest of us to concentrate on the real issues that will enable us to decide who we want at the helm to provide the leadership, energy, and experience to make 2008 a winning year for the California Republican Party. .
I look forward to a spirited, vision packed, respectful campaign for CRP office. Demand to hear the plans and priorities of the candidates. That’s the way to victory in 2008.