Greetings from the California Republican Party State Convention. As you can see by the timestamp on this commentary that it is very late, indeed, and so this will not be a long one. The State GOP is gathered at the Renaissance Esmerlda Hotel in Indian Wells, out in the Coachella Valley east of Los Angeles.
I am not going to spend a lot of time talking about Governor Schwarzenegger’s speech to conventioneers at last night’s dinner banquet. You can pretty much read about what he said in a plethora of articles highlighted on our main page (look for various comments from me in the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, and the San Diego Union Tribune).
In short, the Governor came before us, declared that the State GOP was in trouble, and in essence prescribed that the ‘cure’ for our party’s ills is to move to the left on major policy issues in order to capture the political center.
Frankly, and to be honest, I couldn’t disagree more. First and foremost, the purpose of a political party is to achieve it’s public policy goals. No where in our goal is a massive and costly government ‘intervention’ in California’s health-care delivery.
Anyways, pretty much everyone I spoke to tonight feels that the Governor was dead-wrong in his remarks and it certainly cast a pall on evening from those who were expecting much more uplifting remarks.
Fortunately two other Republican Governors spoke at the dinner, Governor Christ of Florida and Governor Perry of Texas. While I was not there for their speeches, I understand both were met with rousing applause and accolades. Perry specifically defied Schwarzenegger by talking about the importance of the GOP sticking to its guns.
Ahh, what a first day. Today my resolution to oppose the Perata/Nunez Term Limits End-Run comes up for a vote tomorrow morning in the Initiative Committee. Keep your fingers crossed..
September 8th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Thanks for the report Jon. I’m sorry I can’t be out there this weekend. I figured as much from Arnold. What a sellout.
September 8th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Arnold is speaking the truth. The numbers don’t lie. Time for you and others to wake up and smell the coffee. It’s an adult beverage, it’s bitter, but it is what is being served.
September 8th, 2007 at 12:00 am
We shouldn’t be surprised. Arnie has been very clear about his intentions. Since he was outsmarted by the Dems and unions in special election a couple of years ago this has been his direction. The answer isn’t to capitulate to them. The answer is to present real Republican values. Get them registered to vote and get them to vote. That was my goal when I was on the CRP board. We could and can turn this state to a “red” state with Republican values and voter registration. However I hit a deadend a nearly every turn when I attempted this. I could only conclude that there is no goal or desire to turn California into a Republican state.
September 8th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Problem is we have a state with two different political cultures. The heartland of California and the coastline of California.
We do very well with the heartland of California, but for most of the coastal communities of our state we fail.
Problem is San Fransisco and Los Angeles neuters any Republican gain to make us a Republican state if remain with the status quo. But adapting our message to coastal California would make us a Republican State
Certain parts of the state may not be receptive to the views of the CRP base on guns, abortion and the gays. But they would support the lower taxes and law and order that the Republican Party believes in.
September 8th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hey, you guys voted for him. Thanks so much for that…
September 8th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I absolutely did not. I voted for the Libertarian Party twice because I knew Arnold would be a fraud.
I would suggest that we derail Arnold’s delusions of Grandeur with someone like Carly Fiorina for the US Senate in 2010.
I would like to see a four year plan with Ed Laning’s strategy to grow the party tested out and see if we could actually turn constituencies that are marginally Republican back to our party.
Are there actually conservative independents, Democrats and third party voters willing to cross over to the Republicans? Or did they all move to Nevada, Arizona and Colorado.
September 8th, 2007 at 12:00 am
In 1984 the Reagan/Bush campaign committee paid for over 250,000 Republican registrations leading up to the 1984 election. Registering Republicans is how Reagan won such a huge landslide in 1984. I don’t believe Arnie would want a California with a Republican registration majority. He wouldn’t know what to do with it anyway.
September 9th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Sitting and listening to the Gov. was painful at best. It was humiliating to hear him denigrate our party in a public venue with all of the media present.
He used Reagan as an example of using a “big tent” philosophy to win elections. However, Reagan never compromised his core principles to lead our party to success. He won because he clearly articulated his values to a receptive voting public. The values have not changed. The voting public has not changed. I submit we will win if our leaders would only clearly state our principles then follow them once the get elected!
Particularly galling, Swartzegger alluded to the lack of success of the down-ticket Republican candidates outside of Steve Poizner. The down ticket candidates lost because Swartzegger sucked the oxygen and money out of their campaigns while doing nothing to help them. The election was all about him, not our party. Now to suggest that the GOP is a losing party because we are not liberal enough is the height of chutzpah!
Allen wood