Not Nuts

National Review Online's "The Corner" section ^ | September 30, 2003 | Peter Robinson

[WarrenC]

Readers are all over me for calling the Board of Directors of the California GOP “nuts” this morning. Okay, the members of the Board aren’t actually insane—Duf Sundheim, the chairman of the party, is a lawyer here in Palo Alto whom I know to be hard-working and public-spirited, a man who is only too happy to perform an unpaid job that lots of people wouldn’t touch. But I still think endorsing Arnold was a whopper of a mistake.

How come?

As far back as the 1966 gubernatorial campaign of Ronald Reagan, the California GOP has been divided into two camps, the conservatives and the moderates. With the emergence in the 1970s and 1980s of the social issues—or, to put it another way, with the assault during that period on traditional morality—the division deepened. What used to be a disagreement over taxes and spending became a disagreement over the intractable issues of abortion, gay rights, and school vouchers. To hold the party together, an essential task in a state where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by roughly 45 to 35 percent, both sides need to demonstrate an almost exaggerated civility toward one another.

To my mind, Tom McClintock has been doing a pretty good job of just that. Arnold hasn’t. To name just one example of Arnold’s incivility, he has called supporters of Ward Connerly’s Racial Privacy Initiative “right-wing crazies.” McClintock supporters, understandably enough, find this galling, and plenty of them—I beg your pardon: plenty of us—are already hopping mad. (For a fine example of fiery polemics, look at this piecehttp://noleftturns.ashbrook.org/default.asp?archiveID=2638 by John Eastman, a professor of law at Chapman University and a regular guest on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show.)

Enter the Board of Directors of the California GOP. By endorsing Arnold, I suppose, they might have won him a few additional votes, helping to give some sense of inevitability to Arnold’s campaign. But why? Arnold didn’t need the help. The most pronounced effect of the endorsement, I suspect, will be the insult it conveys to McClintock’s supporters. All that Tom McClintock has is a conservative message and the ability to articulate it, yet on that alone he has garnered the support of between a sixth and a fifth of the California electorate—and polls show that if Arnold dropped out of the race McClintock might very well win. The 17 members of the Board of Directors of the California GOP have now announced that they got together, talked it over for a couple of hours, and decided that the judgment of Tom McClintock and his hundreds of thousands of supporters is…inferior to their own.

The decision may not have been nuts, but it’s no example of sound politics, either.

[WarrenC]

To hold the party together, an essential task in a state where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by roughly 45 to 35 percent, both sides need to demonstrate an almost exaggerated civility toward one another.

[Itzlzha]

To hold the party together, an essential task in a state where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by roughly 45 to 35 percent, both sides need to demonstrate an almost exaggerated civility toward one another.

Tell it to these so-called "Moderates", that will not support Conservative candidates that can win!

So much for "exaggerated civility"...if they want a war...they GOT one!

Say "NO" to the pro-Infanticide/Anti-2nd Ammendment/Pro Illegal Infiltrator Crowd..say no to RINOs/CINOs/Country Clubbers!

[FastCoyote]

Duff Sundheim is a college buddy of mine, he is the best. I had a broken neck playing rughby at Stanford, Duff was also on the team. He was one of the few people who showed up when I was at my lowest (a quadriplegic for a while). So, when conservatives start claiming how evil Duff is, I will know who is the better man.

[DoctorZIn]

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[Cicero]

On abortion, there is no way that right to lifers can compromise. It's really time the Country Clubbers grew up and understood that. We can compromise on many other issues, but not on that one. Do they want lower taxes, a better business environment, and the like? Then GIVE IN on that one issue and the feud will be ended.

But, you know they won't. If Arnold is elected, it's predictable that he will go to the Republican Convention in 2004 and demand removal of the pro-life plank, just like Pete Wilson. Once again, the party will be split and the Democrats will profit from it.

WHY do these people need to support abortion? As long as they do it, the party will be split and they will be unable to push their other agendas. Really stupid.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

The problem is that abortion is a party splitter my dear. That's why Bush won't do anything about it. The day he does is the day Republicans will lose big time.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

You were right the first time around, Peter. They are nuts.