Posted on 09/03/2006 10:29:30 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
It's no surprise Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would remake the California Republican Party following his election in the 2003 recall, but who would have expected that he would change the party of Ronald Reagan into the party of Earl Warren?
For 40 years, California Republicans have been Reagan conservatives. Nearly all GOP officeholders today are to the right on most issues, but they run in safe gerrymandered districts. Schwarzenegger is running statewide in increasingly liberal California and has largely shed his party in his re-election campaign. Wittingly or not, Schwarzenegger adopted the mantle of another successful GOP governor ...
The hallmark of Gov. Warren's era -- 1943 to 1953 -- was nonpartisanship, out of style in this day of partisan vitriol. Warren fought with more partisan members of his own party, and regularly beat them. But not since Warren has a gubernatorial candidate shunned his party the way Schwarzenegger has.
Covering the recent GOP state convention, Web blogger Bill Bradley noted, "Schwarzenegger did not appear with the generally much more conservative members of the Republican statewide ticket. There were no signs for the other candidates in the hall when the governor gave his convention address."
In June, Schwarzenegger avoided a primary night celebration with the GOP ticket, and they were nowhere to be seen on his bus tours.
Warren, like Schwarzenegger, came into office by defeating a very unpopular governor. He turned out one-term Democrat Culbert Olson in 1942. And like Schwarzenegger, Warren took advantage of the California political setting, then as now an electorate of ticket-splitting and independent-minded voters.
Because California has no political patronage, politicians cannot build party machines that deliver the votes. Instead they merchandize their personalities. Warren did it effectively; Schwarzenegger has certainly been the most successful personality in California politics in decades.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Early on in his reign, the Gub stated it was not his job to build the Ca GOP up.
Read into that what you will.
I think it is Arnold's right to determine his approach. He is certainly more powerful than the Cal. State GOP. The author is correct in that Arnold is a throwback to an older, faded GOP era of conservatism on crime and fiscal matters and liberalism on other matters. In that sense, he is more conservative than say, Nixon or Deukmejian.
Let's hope no one nominates Arnold for the Supreme Court.
"Republicans are so far out of step with California voters today they have ceased to be competitive in statewide federal races. Were it not for Schwarzenegger, the GOP would be irrelevant at the state level, too. In 2002, they lost every statewide office for the first time since 1882."
Translation: The CA GOP didn't have the cojones to support a real conservative, so they took the easy way out and went for a guy who's as liberal as any Democrat, but had brand name recognition not for his political credentials, but his box office success.
Yup. That pretty much sums it up.
What you said.
Important to whom? Partisan Republicans? Certainly not conservatives.
I have no problem with Republicans supporting whom ever they choose and for whatever their reason. I do not, however, well tolerate a Republican shill, showing up at the doorstep to my house and attempting to convince the occupants that a dual citizenship, liberal should be elected to the highest public office in my state.
That behavior is certainly bad manners and was, until very recently, considered political heresy by Republicans.
I've seen you miss a few excerpts too, FO, if you really want to go down that road. Weak, just like your attempts to cover for the public record of this administration. In some ways, he seems to be trying to outdo and stick it in the eye of the President, what comes to mind are prescription drugs and global warming.
Funny how you seem proud to work with a dem Gubinor and ridicule anyone who refutes your offerings and ignore other relevant facts now in evidence.
Your efforts for the New Majority will be well rewarded, I am sure.
btw ,, Can't wait to see him inking away the next few weeks. maybe McCain can stop by ral quick when he signs the global warming bill, I hear McCain will be in Sacramento real soon... funny, it doesn't say anything about an appearance with him tho. what's up with that?
I sure hate having you and the FO account team having to hang around with a bunch of "losers" aka conservatives here. You should be out riding Trojan trail horses or something, maybe dress up like Reagan in western gear.
giddyup! Hack.
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
You are still campaigning for Angelides, I see.
"McClintock opposed nearly all of Schwarzenegger's compromises with legislative Democrats. The gulf between McClintock and the governor seems greater on many issues than between Angelides and Schwarzenegger."
For conservatives, thats always been the real debate.
If you think your broken record is going to get anyone to vote for that pile of dung that isn't fit to be dumped into a septic tank you need to be locked up in the loonie bin.
I see you are campaigning for Angelides. What did Angelides do to deserve your unwavering support?
I've never supported a democrap and you can't find one post where I have.
Go lock yourself in a rubber room and play your broken record to yourself you are far worse than booring!
The plurality of California Republicans are right center and probably only slightly more involved in political pursuits than are their equivalent, Democrat brethren. Most do not consider the Austrian a liberal because they simply don't know what he's done or is doing or is proposing. All their information is filtered by the Malchy Syndicate or the Tribune Company.
Agreed
Angelides is behind simply because he's a poor public presence and isn't well liked by those in the upper echelons of the CADEM.
Agreed.
The Republican vote isn't going to make much difference in the November gubernatorial contest and the conservative vote will have no impact at all. The contest will be decided by independents and DINOs. How big a loss Angelides suffers depends on the conduct of Angelides over the next 60 days, not the Austrian.
OOOGA BOOGA! Vote for the RINO or else the monster Dim will come out of the closet!
Best summation of the RINO platform to date!
Hell, if these liberal-coddling RINO-lovers would put even half as much effort into supporting conservatives as they do trying to trot out their tired old boogeyman arguments, we'd have some real change for the better on both the National and California level.
Hay Norm... This turned into a purdy good thred down here toward this end!!!
As I see it,, they go by many names including but certainly not limited to the
Rockefeller Republicans
RINOs
Moderate Republicans
Republican Main Street Partnership
New Majority
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