[Theodore R.]

You have beautifully outlined all the reasons Californians should support Bill Simon. Unfortuantely, CA is now populated mostly by "non-Californians," non-Californian is tone, philosophy, and moral character. I cannot imagine any circumstance under which Bill Simon could be nominated or elected.

[Gophack]

In 1994 ... not that long ago, really ... Republicans had the wisdom and leadership of Newt Gingrich who, with his friends and allies, came up with the "Contract With America." Nothing in it was really new, Republicans generally talked about those issues now and again. What was new was that we (Republicans) were finally standing up and saying, "This is what be believe, this is why we will do, if you elect us."

Parts of the contract were a success, others failed, but the reality was: Republicans won all across the country by huge numbers, including here in the far-left state of California. Republicans actually TOOK one house of the legislature for the first time in 30 years, Republicans had a majority of congressional representation, and we did some good things.

Unfortunately, the power was short lived. Why? We didn't know how to govern. We used the norms of the democrats because they had been in power so long, we pulled back from the conservative rhetoric that got us elected and started to sound like fence-sitters on important issues. Nonetheless, Republicans in California lost the assembly by less than 2,000 votes. (That seems huge compared to Bush's victory!)

California does have changing demographics and Republicans -- especially conservatives -- must be on their toes. There are two important things that can bring about Republican victories in California -- particularly CONSERVATIVE Republican victories.

First, we need to learn how to communicate with people that don't traditionally vote Republican because they've been brainwashed by the Left. As Congressman J.C. Watts said: "We don't use polling or research to tell us how to feel, but we do like to have an idea of how much work we have to do." We need to find out what is making the voters tick THIS YEAR and craft our message using the words and feelings they want to hear.

This DOESN'T mean we have to be liberal or squishy, but we have to listen and respond with the appropriate feelings.

Second, and even more important, we need to get OUR VOTERS to the polls. It is a fallacy to think that the same group of people vote in every election, and we need to convince them to vote for us. If that were the case, Republicans would never win. The truth is, people stay home. In 1994 it was the DEmocrats -- they stayed home in droves, and we won. We ALSO got out voters in 1994 who felt good about Republicans and our message. We won big, enough to take the Congress and the State Assembly and many other state legislatures.

In 1998 and even 2000, Republicans stayed home. They didn't feel good about our message and Christians didn't see any reason to vote. One good friend of mine said, "Bush answered question right (Who is your hero? Jesus Christ), but how do we know he meant it?" Conservatives -- particularly conservative Christians -- have been lied to and manipulated to vote for bad people, and they just decided they didn't want to be lied to and manipulated any more. This same friend came back after the election, specifically after 9/11, and said, "Bush meant it."

So, we have a lot of work to do. We need to bring the Christians and other conservatives back to the voting booth. The Democrats outnumber Republicans in California -- liberals probably outnumber conservatives -- but if we get out OUR vote, we will win. If they stay home, we lose.

So, with that in mind, go out and spread the word, work hard, because if you don't do anything and Bill Simon loses, you (and others) will only have yourselved to blame for another four years of Gray Davis.