This weekend Republicans will gather in the Century City district of Los Angeles for the California Republican Party’s Fall Convention (yeah, it’s a summer convention on this election year). GOP leaders and activists from around the state will take a weekend break from the contact-end of the sport of campaigning and come together to do networking, attend panel discussions, participate in workshops, hear speeches and all of that good stuff. As always, the Publisher of the FlashReport (yours truly) will be there to take part in the goings-on, notepad at the ready to take notes for our always-popular "Winners and Losers of the GOP Convention" issue that will come out next week, following the convention.
In the meantime, as we look forward to this weekend’s festivities, what are we likely to see? Well, based on my emails and phone calls, the most notable feature of the convention will be the sparseness of attendance. Many, many GOPers are not going to the event. Why is this? The reasons vary from logistical (the convention’s shift to the summer month of August means it now conflicts with many who are taking family vacations) to more political reasons. I have certainly spoken with a good number of state GOP delegates who are not going to the convention because they are generally unhappy with the direction of the party, and so their enthusiasm is down (the GOP becoming a party of big-spenders and big government tops the list up there with the support expressed by President Bush and Governor Schwarzenegger for guest-worker/amnesty programs for those who have entered the country illegally).
That said, I think that anyone who goes to the convention this weekend will find it to be a fun and enthusiastic event. Everyone likes to win, and everyone likes a winner. Governor Schwarzenegger is riding high in the polls, and his campaign team has been doing a great job of networking in the state. Look for a strong presence from the entire GOP ticket (of course) and all of the down-ticket candidates will be working to get their photos in the paper with the popular Chief Executive.
As for convention drama — there will or will not be drama depending on what actions are proposed to be taken by the State GOP relative to the November ballot measures, and on a serious of resolutions on the illegal immigration issue. I think that most GOPers are likely to support the endorsement of the levee repair bond (even Senator McClintock voted for that one). But look for a lot of resistance to the idea of supporting the borrowing of big bucks for the affordable housing, education bureaucracy and transportation bonds on the November ballot. Why? Because the state of California is not suffering for lack of resources to pay-as-you-go on infrastructure projects, its just that the liberals in Sacramento want to spend taxpayer dollars on their social engineering programs instead of needed ‘mortar-and-brick’ investments. There is also the fact that these bond measures are a product of the legislative ‘sausage making’ process which means that in order for them to get on the ballot, the Democrats loaded them up with more pork and special interest projects than we can afford (can we afford ANY? NO.).
It is my opinion that, especially in light of Phil Angelides’ extreme liberalism, GOPers are willing to be ‘tolerant’ of Governor Schwarzenegger’s moves to the middle or left on some issues. But I think that this careful balancing act with party regulars blows up in to a months-long dispute if the Governor or his team decide that they need/want to move the official positions of the state GOP to mirror those of the Bondinator.
In short, a convention that is focused on issues upon which we all agree will be a wildly successful one for the entire ticket.
We’ll see how it all goes. I look forward to going to the convention, and giving my support to our whole GOP ticket!
Jon
(I will be available for media interviews leading up to and during the convention. If you e-mail me here I will get the message on my blackberry.)
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