CA: GOP conservatives reconsider effort to withdraw support for governor

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Members of a key GOP conservative group said Saturday they are reconsidering their call for the California Republican Party to withdraw its endorsement of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in this year's election.

Despite ongoing differences with the governor over issues such as the minimum wage and his reliance on Democratic staff members, the Republican Assembly is reevaluating its position based on assurances from party leaders that its concerns will get a full airing at the upcoming party convention.

"We want to make sure our views on specific policy issues are openly discussed," said Mike Spence, president of the assembly - one of the oldest and most conservative member organizations of the state GOP. "We have differences from the governor on some issues, and we want to make sure we are able to discuss them."

The group's board voted in December to ask delegates to the upcoming Republican Convention in San Jose to withdraw the expected endorsement of the incumbent governor. Conservatives have been angered by Schwarzenegger's moves toward the political center since his disastrous loss in the November special election.

The biggest issue was the governor's decision to hire a prominent Democrat - and a former aide to Gov. Gray Davis - as his chief of staff. But Republicans are also uneasy with Schwarzenegger's $222 billion public works building proposal that relies on borrowing; his idea to increase the state minimum wage; and his proposed budget that would spend nearly $6 billion more next year than the state would take in from tax revenues.

But Spence said the conservative group is taking another vote on the endorsement issue. The results are expected early next week.

Even if the organization decides not to change its position, party leaders said they do not expect the issue to receive much attention at the convention, which runs from Feb. 24 to Feb. 26.

"Out of 1,400 delegates, I only know of a handful of people who are taking this issue seriously," said California Republican Party Chairman Duf Sundheim. "The endorsement is not in trouble. We are going to come out of the convention with a unified ticket, with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the top."

Still, delegates will likely be asked during the convention to consider a floor resolution that calls for the party to withdraw its endorsement of the governor. Sponsored by former state Republican Party Chairman Michael Schroeder, the resolution must pass out of a screening committee before it can be considered by the full delegation.

Spence said that while his organization was not involved with introducing the resolution, he acknowledged that if the Republic Assembly withdraws its support, the call to rescind the party's endorsement of Schwarzenegger would be badly undermined.

Sundheim said attention has already turned away from the endorsement issue. Now, he said, members are talking instead about crafting resolutions that would express some of his party's concerns with positions the governor has taken.

For instance, Schwarzenegger wants to increase the minimum wage by $1 an hour over the next two years, but many Republicans do not support the idea. Sundheim said a resolution might be presented to the party stating that Republicans believe that an increase in the minimum wage would be bad for low-wage workers and minority-owned businesses.

"I think there's differences of opinion, but it does not go so far that we are not going to support the governor," he said.

"My idea of getting a bit toward what we would call dirty is not running fully to the right."

True conservatives would call that compromising your conservative principles. Which principles do you discard to achieve "not running fully to the right"?

"Look at what we have in the CA legislature and tell me how you think a bunch of conservatives could unseat a bunch of them."

Only electing conservatives will unseat the crapweasels in Sacramento. Electing more RINOs will only get us Rat-lite, someone only half a ratchet click "less worse" than an authentic Rat.

"I think we have to fight outside of our comfort zone and to then get voters to listen more and drag them to the right."

Disagree. This is a weak argument which attempts to justify party-above-principles voting. It hasn't worked in the past and won't work in the future.

"I think there needs to be at least a 4% shift in voting trends before you can run on a regular basis a very conservative candidate."

You expect to get that 4% by running RINOs first and then hoping for the shift. You have it backwards. Run a true conservative first--then you get the shift. Keep running CAGOP/New Majority RINOs and you can kiss that shift goodbye.

"At this time I think we do not have people in the state that would vote a super conservative person in unless they were famous like Reagan."

Disagree. Won't know until we try it. Voting for RINOs like Arnold the True Liberal isn't the answer.

"Sure I want the more conservative state, but my position is the reality of what is says there is no instant cure or candidates that can pull that off."

In other words, you will keep voting for RINOs--rather than insist on conservative candidates--because you don't believe a conservative can win. These are not the words of a true conservative. Moreover, doing the same thing over and over again despite repeated failure is known as "stuck on stupid".

"Meanwhile I say we in main elections put Republicans in and that we should not waste the vote on nonvoting or a pathetic third party. All that does is get Communist Democrats voting."

This is a formula for failure. Ensures there will never be conservative candidates because we are obviously satisfied to elect Democrats so long as they dress up in a Republican suit. This would tell the CAGOP/New Majority twits that we approve of their candidates. We don't and more and more of us will express our discontent by simply refusing to donate or vote for RINOs. It's the only way to get their attention.

" You want nonconservative? Look to those who on principles won't vote in 2006 or will waste the vote away from the Republican party."

Disagree. The nonconservative is the one who elevates party-above-principles. True conservative vote for those upholding the principles conservatives believe in. Compromisers are not true conservatives.

"That would be your liberal in spades because actions speaks louder than words and those actions get Communist Democrats elected IMO."

Agree that actions speak louder than words. Refusing to vote for a RINO--like Arnold, for example--is an action that speaks loudly for upholding conservative principles. On the other hand, voting for a RINO like Arnold mere says the voter is willing to elevate party-above-principle and really isn't all that committed to the conservative cause--these are the voters who encourage the continued election of "Communist Democrats". Arnold is the perfect example of this theory in action.

True conservatives don't need the squishy "lets elect RINOs" crowd. Conversely, it's going to be very difficult for those voters to elect their beloved RINOs with 30%+ of the base missing in action.

There is your reality.

True conservatives would call that compromising your conservative principles.

Of course we all want the same result, but if you keep wanting to produce a candidate that the voters will think is unappealing, then you will continue to stick the state with Democrats.

Just as Christ finds you where you are at, the conservatives also need to deal with finding voters where they are at. They are more to the left in this state and not the right.

The action is mostly IMO replacing (D)s in the State Legislature. You have to first replace them with a candidate that wins, then you have that candidate and others slowly educate and drive those voters to the right.

The only way you can get a firm conservative elected in places where they vote liberals in is to vote left of center. Just as Guliani ran in NY as an example.

There is no miracle or quick fix and sabotage by non (R) voting only gives us the Communist (D)s in office.

Running less right than usual to grab the voters is the process that will win in liberal areas. Then step two is to educate and move them more and more to the right.

The only way to grab more left of right voters for conservative candidates is if you have real appealing ones who are marketable. They would have to have an amazing personally and a dynamic personality (which is rare to find).

Taking CA back will be a two part process. Running full right is great in areas of CA where we can do that, but in the more lib areas we have to run less right, win the office and then slowly swing the voters more and more right.
This will be a process that takes time and is hard work, all the talk talk talk about how purely right one might be and then throwing your vote away will only keep setting conservatives back as they have throughout history with such behavior.
Remember that the protest vote for Perot got the country 8 years of Clinton. That should show what numbskulls people are when they either don't vote or vote other than (R) in main elections.

"Right, instead you advocate we give the left all the power so they can supposedly destroy everything and when it is all destroyed, we can come in and get the crumbs and our chance."

Your words, not mine. Please do not misquote me and then set up a strawman to knock down. Works over at DU--doesn't work here. Your problem may be that you are not a true conservative. Which means you do not mingle well with true conservatives. Your problem, not mine.

"You advocate the exact wrong thing."

Cite a single case where what you advocate has produced the results you say are sure to follow. In fact, what you advocate has been tried over and over again, always to no avail. Refer to my "stuck on stupid" comment in #102. What you advocate has produced a stack of failures. What the true conservatives around here advocate is yet to be tried. So it would appear to be you who is advocating the "exact wrong thing."

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