Posted on 02/09/2007 9:38:39 AM PST by areafiftyone
} When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani speak at the California Republican Convention this weekend, some party leaders from Solano County will be there and listening carefully.
Approximately 1,300 delegates from across the state are expected to fill the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Sacramento beginning today through Sunday. Among them will be Mike Gomez, the chair of the Solano County Republican Party Central Committee, and Lynda Rose McMahan, chair of Solano Republican Women's Federated.
A busy itinerary awaits the group in the state capital, including the selection of new party leadership. Gomez said one candidate, Ron Nehring, is running unopposed for chair, while the vice-chairmanship is hotly contested.
"I think it's going to be a good convention," Gomez said. "To me, it is always interesting and exciting when we elect new officers."
Situated between major election cycles, this convention is an opportunity for the party to strategize and organize. Local party leaders said it is chance for California Republicans to regroup after a shift of power in the November 2006 election, as well as prepare for the upcoming battle in 2008.
McMahan said, "I'm hoping a sense of unity comes out of it; that we find out what we did wrong in the last election and go about changing it."
While she is unable to attend, Cathy Ritch, the second vice chair of the Solano Republican Central Committee, said "I think it is going to be an important meeting."
"It's a chance for us to get together and look over what happened in the last election," she said. "We're really at a crossroads."
Giuliani, dubbed "America's mayor" after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, has made headlines recently with his burgeoning presidential aspirations.
"I'd like to hear what his philosophy is and how he would deal with what's going on in Iraq differently than what President Bush is doing," McMahan said.
Republicans will have to produce a turnaround in Iraq, McMahan said, to be successful in 2008.
Gomez said he is also looking forward to the lunch with Giuliani on Saturday. He wants to hear the celebrated mayor's views on national security and the kinds of programs and policies he would implement as president.
"I'm anxious to hear him speak," Gomez said. "At this point in time, he's the one who holds the most interest for me."
Ritch said about Giuliani, "He'd be my favorite candidate if you asked me right now."
As for Schwarzenegger, McMahan said she likes that he is bold and understands the necessity of compromise in politics. However, she and Gomez have concerns about his health-care proposal.
"I do have some questions," McMahan said. While she understands what Schwarzenegger is trying to accomplish, she said, "I'm just not sure that his proposal is the best way to go about it."
Other business awaits the convention's delegates, including a vote on resolutions opposing tax increases and another titled "Voter ID for Honest Elections, which supports a measure requiring would-be voters to provide a valid photo ID.
McMahan said she had not had a chance to peruse the resolutions, but Republicans generally oppose tax increases. Concerning the other issue, she said, "I think everyone should have to show ID when they go to vote."
Additional information about the convention is available on the California Republican Party's Web site, www.cagop.org/.
Provided the poster is polite, any viewpoint can be expressed. A discussion forum is about discussing ideas. Different views are what make this forum interesting. If two people agree on everything, then one of them isn't thinking.
Frankly, the anti-Rudy forces tend to be much less civil and more disrespectful than the "Rudyophiles." You might want to check the log in your own eye.
All they'll lack is Bloomberg, Pataki, Whitman, Snowe and Specter for a complete set. At least they win elections!
The new GOP: Government Of Peabrains
At least they win elections
Leave it to the Republican party where losing by 1 run is better than 10 runs but winning is not an option.
-— Ronald Reagan, 1965 http://www.claremont.org/writings/crb/summer2001/hayward.html
I can make up my own mind about candidates and what they stand for, thanks.
Oh, and while I said that your earlier post was the silliest I've read all day, after your comments about National Review and Mona Charen, I take it back. THAT post was the dumbest I've seen all day.
You have a terrific day finding yourself marginalized more and more as time goes by.
That's not a negative as you make it sound, you gotta give the mayor some teeny weeny credit, right? Rudy didn't go up with NYC; he actually lifted it up to new heights.
I sincerely would like to see Hunter doing something to get some recognition or he'll be toast when Newt enters the race.
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Same here - whoever gets the nomination gets my vote.
Conservatives have already handed McCain his walking papers. Rudy is next.
Rudy isn't a moderate. He isn't a liberal. He's a Republican who has more socially liberal positions on 2-3 issues than you do.
Good luck trying to find that perfect Republican/conservative. It's not going to happen.
Ronald Reagan himself could not get elected in today's climate. Here are the negatives that you all would give him:
Divorced, married Nancy while she was pregnant, signed gun control legislation, gave us amnesty, ran from the terrorists in Lebanon, gave us two pro abort judges, and raised taxes 4 times while president.
So? What's it matter when all you end up with is another facilitator of socialism?
You have no freaking idea what socialism is do you? Go to Venezuela that may enlighten you a bit.
Along with Romney.
I just don't understand, why one wouldn't pledge not to shoot himself/herself in the foot?
Hugo, is that you?
Watching the reputable polls, McCain has been slipping while Rudy has been gaining.
If that statement were true, one would think that some reputed "True Conservative" would be making those gains instead. But in truth, the opposite has happened.
Any more brilliant theories?
Yeaaa Riiight! Silly!
Conservatives know how to keep their powder dry, and socialist RINOs don't?
Just a thought.
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