Excerpt:
"That's why, when I hear rumors that some delegates are planning to use the upcoming Republican Party convention to attack the Governor and his proposals, all I can do is shake my head.
Like many of us, I too have disagreements with some of the Governor's proposals. These differences, however, do not justify the abandonment of our party's responsibility to work tirelessly to reelect this Republican governor and to elect our GOP candidates to statewide and legislative offices.
For this reason, I view any effort to attack Governor Schwarzenegger as an attack on my own candidacy and those of every Republican seeking partisan office in 2006.
The measure of an effective statewide party is not our ability to pass resolutions scolding our own. Rather, it's whether we wisely use the next ten months to organize and train a grass roots army in fifty-eight California counties.
That's why I strongly urge the party to take the following advice for our February convention:
1. Our party has endorsed this governor for re-election. While I am not in favor of pre-primary endorsements for any partisan race, once the endorsement is given, it must not be rescinded. Let's leave this issue alone.
2. Put aside the plans that would cause strife and division among our party and instead focus on those things that unite our party and divide the Democrats.
3. Focus every minute of every hour at this convention on planning to recruit, train and deploy a vast grass roots army that will successfully impact our election results in November.
Please join me in calling for a productive, united convention that will lead to the Governor's re-election as well as the election of our statewide ticket of talented Republican leaders. And join me by rejecting any misguided effort to divide us by rescinding the party's endorsement of our Governor.
I believe it is critically important to all of our Republican candidates to have an effective, unified party convention that sets the course clearly toward building and equipping our grassroots army to deliver a great Republican victory this November."
This entire philosophy here among others in the CAGOP and some, this thread, is that Republicans in the state must adopt liberalism and forego principles otherwise, "to win."
That's the ONLY motivation and incentive I read from that letter and elsewhere that advises Republicans to "vote for Arnold"..."to win". Inorder to do so, we have to endorse and vote for liberalism, and abandon principle and politics otherwise.
The CAGOP, by this attitude, is responsible for killing off Republicans in CA, not the Democrats. If the CAGOP would remain faithful to principle, they'd have principled conservatives and Republicans voting for the conservative candidate.
Instead, they are chasing Republican voters away by this attitude of "win" above all else.
I'd like a Republican in the Governor's office and in our State legislature as much as anyone else. I don't think the way to do that is to promote a liberal candidate by the CAGOP and then reprimand Republicans for being disenchanted.
I'm still surprised that the Lincoln Club Republicans are even tolerating this, much less contributing to it. I had higher hopes for them as Republican leadership.