Calif. GOP divided over Schwarzenegger speech, future

AP on Bakersfield Californian ^ | 9/8/07 | Michael R. Blood - ap

[NormsRevenge]

"Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Republican Party have been a marriage of convenience from the beginning," said conservative Michael Schroeder, a former party chairman. "Nothing he expressed in his speech enjoys majority support in the Republican Party, and never will."

Asked about Schwarzenegger's speech, presidential contender John McCain, who addressed delegates earlier, said the party needed to "regain the trust of the American people."

"I don't think it's our message, it's our actions," McCain said, pointing to problems after Hurricane Katrina, corruption and runaway federal spending.

[The Ghost of Rudy McRomney]

The message is muddled too, John.

[kingu]

So, the theory is that if we’re almost impossible to tell apart from wackouted liberals, we’d gain voters? Gosh, why doesn’t that make sense?

The lack of developing up and coming members of the party is what hurts the most.

[edcoil]

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is an idiot. It is the one thing the California GOP agrees on.

[NormsRevenge]

aRnold and his followers and handlers would tell you that he delivered us all into a better place after the turmoil we experienced at the start of the 3rd millennium,, others would say he has guaranteed that we will carry a large debt into the foreseeable future and are expected to accept it as good and reasonable to do so.

at this point , it is very difficult to see how he speaks for many on the right, even as he coddles so many on the left.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at the California Republican Party convention in Indian Wells, Calif., Friday, Sept. 7, 2007. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

[NormsRevenge]

Thank goodness,, He ‘won’t be bock!’

Can we survive him much less afford him until 2010 is the question we ought be asking, imo.

[counterpunch]

The message is muddled too, John.

That's exactly right.
The problem is Republicans, particularly in California, are too timid to fight back.
 

[padre35]

A few things about the CAli “R” party.

1. Ahhnold is no Centrist, that is a media myth.
2. CA is the breakwater for the US on illegals
3. Republicans can win in CA, be smart.

In CA the rules are no one cares if there is Debt involved, no one cares (at least a majority doesn’t) about illegals.

If Ahhnold was on fire, I would not piss on him to put out the fire.....

[Lancey Howard]

Schwarzenegger, a Republican centrist, argued that the party needed to attract new voters by tackling issues with broad public appeal, like global warming.

Global warming? Schwarzenegger thinks the GOP should "attract new voters by tackling" a hoax perpetrated by the Democrats and their allies in the socialist-left "mainstream" newsrooms? Good grief. Yeah - - somebody has definitely lost his way. What a maroon.

[Lancey Howard]

[edcoil]

How can they, all the GOP leadership are ex-dems.

[forester]

Schwarzenegger on Friday provided a grim assessment of his party’s standing in California, saying it needed to appeal to independents or risk being relegated to the political margins. He said the party had lost 120,000 registered voters in eight months, and more than 370,000 since 2005. ____________________________________________________
God forbid that anyone state the obvious: the push to the squishy middle has alienated the conservative base.

[Digger]

the push to the squishy middle has alienated the conservative base.

Correct & AS stands for nothing but humself.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

ROFL. That post #5 pic of RINOLD is a knee-slapper.

[ThomasThomas]

Ahnold could be consider a centrist if the two opposing ends are RINO’s and the Dems.

[marsh2]

I know that the Republican party appears to be abandoning its conservative base in California. I know that I am tired of voting for the lesser of two evils when neither represent my point of view. I wish to heaven we had a good conservative alternative. I don’t care if the Republicans win if they act no different from liberals on the rural issues about which I care. I may sit out the next election for the first time since 1967.

[Wuli]

“Political fissures divided state Republicans Saturday as they faced questions about the future of a party that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says has lost its way.”

Yes, I agree. It lost its way when it started calling people like Swartzenegger and Bloomberg Republicans!

[ModelBreaker]

aRnold and his followers and handlers would tell you that he delivered us all into a better place after the turmoil we experienced at the start of the 3rd millennium,, others would say he has guaranteed that we will carry a large debt into the foreseeable future and are expected to accept it as good and reasonable to do so.

I predicted this before the Davis recall. All that can possibly happen in CA is deficits and political insanity. The only question was, who would be blamed? The recall was a huge mistake. We should have let Davis take the state down with all branches firmly controlled by the left. Instead, we put a Dem (with an R label) in office and nothing has changed. The only difference is Republicans now share the responsibility for the mess.

The problem in CA is not the politicians. It's the voters. They keep electing idiots and expect different results than the last time they elected idiots. Until the state crashes with blame firmly affixed where it belongs, no change is possible in CA.

The Republican party in CA needs to firmly fix itself as the adult, opposition party ready to pick up the pieces. Arnold is making that impossible.

[newzjunkey]

There is no conservative base to build upon in CA. McClintock lost. Twice.

So long as the masses in L.A. and coast up to the Bay Area are wowed by the Democrats this state will stay locked into Democrat hands.

[Amerigomag]

So long as the masses in L.A. and the Bay Area are wowed by the promises of liberal policies, a chicken in every pot, this state will stay locked in political liberalism.

Better ... and more accurate.