Last weekend, about a thousand members, alternates and guests gathered at the California Republican Party Convention at the Renaissance Esmerelda Hotel in Indian Wells in the Coachella Valley/Palm Springs area. As is typically the case, we’ll be sharing some stories and happenings from this event over the next few days.
First and foremost, we’re pleased to announce the return of our highly-acclaimed, caddy and pithy "Winners & Losers of the CRP Convention" column, which we should be featuring at the end of this week. While your trusted FR team had many of our team members on the ground, looking over the convention for nominees, we typically get some of our best suggestions from FR readers. If you have a nomination, you can e-mail us here. As always, we ensure the confidentiality of anyone who contacts us.
I’ll start by fast forwarding to a couple of results from the weekend that I want especially emphasize. The first is that convention delegates unanimously put the party on record as opposing the ballot initiative sponsored by Senate President Don Perata and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. In a resolution that instructs the party to prominently display opposition to this measure, where feasible, on the party’s voter-contact mail, the CRP attacked this measure as a brazen effort by termed-out liberal politicians to try to circumvent voter-approved term-limits. Also, in a significant and important decision, despite the efforts of Past CRP Chairman Bob Naylor, the initiatives committee and convention delegates unanimously voted to endorse the California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act, a measure that will reform California eminent domain laws to protect all property owners from abuse. Also in a unanimous decision, delegates condemned efforts by the California League of Cities to push a legislature sponsored ballot measure, ACA 8, as an effort to lock into the State Constitution the ability of governments to continue to abuse eminent domain. The State GOP also opposed a potential initiative, similar to ACA 8, that the League is threatening to file. I mention all of the CRP positions for and against ballot measures here.
Getting back to the "big picture" on the convention — this convention (with one exception) was an awesome one. It was well attended, and delegates were pumped up and excited, with a lot of obvious enthusiasm for the various Republican Presidential contenders being displayed on the lapels of conventioneers. The meal functions were well attended, and the workshops packed for this first convention of the 2008 election cycle.
Unfortunately, if you read media accounts of the convention, it’s hard to tell that there was so much positive activity and enthusiasm. I would love to lay the blame for this on liberal main-stream-media reporting with a goal to disrupt conservative harmony. But, alas, to look for the source of the sour ink, we need look no further than our recently re-elected Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. For some reason that escapes this website publisher, Governor Schwarzenegger decided to come into a convention of the party’s faithful and give a speech calling for the GOP to move away from its core principles and embrace the political "center" (by following the Governor’s leftward lunge). It was very disconcerting to hear, and was not greeted well by the party faithful. The lack of enthusiasm for this message was evident by the lack of rousing approval that the Governor had been used to receiving at previous visits to CRP conventions. I think it would be fair to say that GOP donors and activists, knowing that the Governor was going to be moderate on social issues, have been stunned and are quite disappointed at the Governor’s retreat from the traditional GOP positions of limited government and opposition to higher taxes and fees. As an interesting note, after Schwarzenegger spoke and left (curiously not staying to hear the remarks of two other large-state Governors, Charlie Crist of Florida and Rick Perry of Texas), Governor Perry in his remarks delivered a rebuttal to Arnold’s message, counseling the California GOP to stand firm for our core principles.
Speakers at other weekend banquets include United States Senator and Presidential aspirant John McCain, as well as two others GOP Governors — Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Jon Huntsman of Utah (the former being the President of the National Governors’ Association).
The final chapter of the "Arnold urges the GOP to embrace Democrat ideas" story played out at the convention general session on Sunday morning where the keynote address was delivered by GOP icon State Senator Tom McClintock. His entire speech is here, but McClintock really laid out the case for why the Republican party must not retreat from its principles but rather return to them. Party delegates also heard speeches from CRP officials, as well as newly-engaged Congresswoman Mary Bono, and Assembly Republican Caucus Chairman Bob Huff (who was serenaded with a rendition of Happy Birthday from delegates before his speech).
It was clear from talking to many at the convention that the there was very little interest in the part of CRP members, especially after Schwarzenegger’s "lecture," to parse down the State GOP’s platform into a short document that could be in any way interpreted as a retreat from the party’s core principles. The Platform Committee of the party essential ‘punted’ the adoption of the CRP’s four-year platform until it’s February convention, to take place in downtown San Francisco. At that February Convention will also be a number of party elections — for National Committeeman and Committeewoman, as well as for CRP Secretary and Treasurer.
That’s wrap on this quick overview of events, but I did want to throw some deserved praise to the CRP staff and volunteers who really facilitated an awesome convention and a ‘shout out’ to FR friend Eric Linder for his victory in the race for CRP Associate Representative.
LOOKING AHEAD: More coverage from the convention including our Winners & Losers column, as well as some indepth early analysis on races for CRP office, you’ll never guess what got slipped under my hotel room door, my meeting with Matt Romney, some interesting insights from my chat with Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, and which candidate for President won big at a convention straw poll? Of course, we’ll also be responding directly to the Governor’s comments to the convention…
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