Posted on 02/13/2002 4:13:46 PM PST by snakebitevoter
It's provided the plot for many a novel or motion picture. A beautiful woman has to decide among several suitors. Should she plight her troth to someone her family favors – a man of her own social station who will provide the kind of life she knows? It means a church wedding with all the right people in attendance.
Or should she run off with a man who doesn't fit the family mold? A fast-talking romancer, maybe, who's fun to be with but leaves a woman wondering about marriage. Picky parents may disown her if she chooses this interloper. Shades of "It Happened One Night," or "Philadelphia Story." Transposed to real life, this oh-so-familiar plot line is causing serious rupture within the California Republican Party. Delegates to the party's semi-annual convention in San Jose considered three suitors for governor. Each offered a differing vision for prosperity and social standing as the party's candidate.
The wedge their rivalry has driven into GOP ranks seems unlikely to be removed by March 5. That is the absurdly early date upon which all candidates for partisan office must be winnowed out in a statewide primary. Yet the fear and loathing in evidence at San Jose, if it persists, may reduce the value of this year's GOP nomination to the value of a controlling interest in Enron. Not one of the three aspirants could have left town floating on air. With less than three weeks to go, each is damaged goods.
Though flaunting impressive party credentials from his "30 years of toiling," State Secretary Bill Jones must pay for a single but unforgivable sin. This was his lack of loyalty to George W. Bush in an hour of crisis long before Bush was president. Jones joined the California campaign to nominate John McCain.
This brings us to candidate William E. Simon Jr. Businessman Simon sports the purest references for a conservative this side of paradise. On issues Republicans supposedly cherish – anti-taxes, anti-abortion, anti-gun control – Simon should be their man. But he lacks the support of his late father's longtime assistant and business partner, Gerald Parsky – and this, it happens, is a crucial handicap.
Parsky was a deputy to Treasury Secretary William E. Simon Sr., in the Nixon-Ford era. They later were investment banking partners. Parsky packs a political punch this year as the president's "man to see" in California. Through him, Bush has declared for – yes, the one suitor old family members cannot abide, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.
The handicapper's word on Riordan is that he's probably the only Republican running in March who might win in November. And we want to win, don't we? In the logic of hard-boiled pragmatists, "The guy may be a scalawag, but he's our scalawag."
But Riordan's past disloyalty to GOP candidates and causes finds numerous conservatives turning their backs. One of these, former state chairman John Herrington, told conventioneers he'd sit out the November election if Riordan heads the ticket.
Herrington, a onetime Reagan Cabinet member who is for Simon, says he simply couldn't vote for a Republican whose past political action, "time after time," was in support of Democrats. (No one seems to have reminded Herrington of Ronald Reagan's early support for both Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman.)
But several others also threaten to boycott a wedding of convenience. Former Republican Gov. George Deukmejian, who chairs the Jones campaign, recalls Riordan as the largest donor to two statewide campaigns by the late L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley, a Democrat, against Deukmejian.
"Riordan's a person that I have no respect for," Deukmejian asserts. "There's no way I could vote for him to be the leader of our party – or to be governor." From all reports, Utah's Olympic slopes were no icier this week than some of those hotel suites at the Republican convention. Though he's an affable fellow, Dick Riordan's likely nomination won't unite California Republicans – not now nor in November.
Two results are possible: (l) He beats Gov. Gray Davis anyhow, and later broadens the party to which Riordan has given only spasmodic past support. His leadership in this huge state might help temper the GOP nationally on a host of social issues. Or (2) he loses to Davis. In that event the Old Guard – they of elephantine memory and knowing whom to blame – regains its party dominance for many years to come.
Either way, a burning question remains. Can California's Republican leaders find true happiness?
This brings us to candidate William E. Simon Jr. Businessman Simon sports the purest references for a conservative this side of paradise. On issues Republicans supposedly cherish – anti-taxes, anti-abortion, anti-gun control – Simon should be their man. But he lacks the support of his late father's longtime assistant and business partner, Gerald Parsky – and this, it happens, is a crucial handicap.
Parsky was a deputy to Treasury Secretary William E. Simon Sr., in the Nixon-Ford era. They later were investment banking partners. Parsky packs a political punch this year as the president's "man to see" in California. Through him, Bush has declared for – yes, the one suitor old family members cannot abide, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.
If Bush is supporting Riordan behind the scenes, then Simon is probably toast.
Personally, I think that the Riordan campaign has been exaggerating the Bush involvement since the beginning.
Typical of a liberal reporter to screw up their facts ... Ronald Reagan was a DEMOCRAT when he supported those Democrats; he re-registered Republican because he didn't like the direction of his party. A lot of good, conservative politicians re-registered Republican in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
Riordan was supporting Democrats WHILE he was a Republican
Exactly, this is the reason the Democrat In All But Label (DIABLO) must be stopped. Electing Riordan would be a knife in the back of the conservative movement. Four more years of Davis in the Governor's seat is a small price to pay for avoiding Maxine Walters as a leading national Republican, imposed by a Riordanized leadership.
I have no idea, and do not care if he did, although I am a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment. A prosecutor can't pick and choose what crimes to prosecute, he must enforce the law that exists.
Agreed. What I'm wondering is why the White House has apparently been backing Riordan.
I don't think that he is, I think that this is DIABLO spin. Why should we be surprised that a Hollywood Democrat, like Riordan would lie?
Roger Hedgecock is having way too much fun and making way too much money as a radio talk show guy to get mixed up in that kind of a mess. He'd have to run against Babs "BowWow" Boxer or Dianne "ChiFi" Feinstein - both of whose ample bottoms are firmly ensconced in their safe Senate seats. Hedgecock would have to be a masochist to go up against either one of those harridans.
What the GOP needs is a young, ambitious, charismatic, media-savvy guy - Assemblyman Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria immediately comes to mind. I firmly believe that Abel is being groomed by the RNC for great things here in California. By the time Abel is ready (4-6 years from now, both "Babs" and "DiFi" will be looking really long in the tooth, and their tired old liberal mantra will be finally deemed obsolete.
Well, I'm not too shocked when any politician lies, but were Riordan to falsely claim that Bush supports him, he could expect to be slapped down by an angry White House, no? I'm more inclined to think that the White House probably has provided Riordan with some assistance based upon their belief, perhaps erroneous, that Riordan might make a better candidate than Simon in the general election.
Pete Wilson didn't try to be Jerry Brown lite ... he never patronized the Hispanics and Asians. He had a (relatively) conservative agenda and people came to him naturally. If you are for English only instruction in school, be for it totally and proudly. Many Hispanics and Asian immigrants will support you happily. That's how you win in California, Texas and Florida. The Bush boys understand.
If Riordan DOESN'T win this year, there is no hope for Republicans out in that beautiful state. Davis is a wounded wildebeast on the Serengetti. If Davis wins in November, he's Clinton's archangel from hell.
I'd like to see Simon go after the Seante seat in 2004.
Regarding Jones, the NRA endorsed him because he's a sitting legislator. Simon also rated an "A" from the NRA and is a solid pro-gun candidate. In fact, I would argue that Jones has caved on other important issues and, when push comes to shove, is he going to cave on guns as well? I just don't know.
Jones was the deciding vote for the largest tax increase in California history (1991) and he said he would "consider" supporting public funding of abortion. He also switched his endorsement from George W. Bush to John McCain in a move that showed his lack of political acumen and loyalty ... meaning, his word doesn't mean anything. Jones also has a proven ability to NOT raise any money ... as Republican leader of the assembly in 1992 we lost three seats.
Jones is a pretty good guy, and I would probably vote for him if he won the primary ... but he's third in the polls, has little money, and doesn't look like he's going to get it.
I'm tired of career politicians who think they have a right to public office. I'm supporting Simon because I believe when he says he's pro-life, he means it; when he says he won't raise my taxes, I believe him; I want an outsider, just like Ronald Reagan.
Roger Hedgecock is never going to run for any public office again. When he was mayor of San Diego, he was convicted following a jury trial of several felonies. Although most of the convictions were reversed on appeal, he would never escape all of the baggage that he would bring to a campaign.
This may be true, and would explain the conservative Republicans backing the DIABLO, but if the President doesn't back him openly, that should keep it from being a problem.
The quote from the article which I referenced above 'His leadership in this huge state might help temper the GOP nationally on a host of social issues.', is enough for me to say, if the California GOP has to take a bullet to keep this man out of office, it is their patriotic duty to do so.
Not going to argue jurisprudential theory with you, I am not a lawyer. Especially since all evidence is that Simon is a gun rights supporter, as can be seen from the fact that the only reason the NRA preferred Jones was that he has a record as a legislator.
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