Republicans Love To Lose!

California Republicans Love to Lose Tuesday, March 05, 2002 By Ken Layne LOS ANGELES — Here's a cheap little tale about losers and winners and dumb assumptions. I don't know how it will play out, but we'll still be feeling it in 2004.

California is supposed to be a liberal state, neatly in the Democrat column. We've got exactly one Republican statewide officeholder in Sacramento, and both U.S. senators are Democrats. George W. Bush wasted millions of dollars here in 2000, and he still lost to Al Gore by a million votes. This most populous U.S. state will be one-third Latino by 2005 — and Latino voters remember Republican Gov. Pete Wilson's attempts to paint them all as dangerous criminals trying to steal white babies and make them speak Spanish.

Today, some seven million of California's 34 million people will take the trouble to stop by the polls to vote on a couple of stupid propositions and primary candidates. Less than half of those people will decide the GOP nominee for governor. In this nation of 280 million people, about 3 million Californians will decide whether the Republicans can ride George W. Bush's wartime popularity to victory in 2004.

And there's the problem for Democrat Gov. Gray Davis: most people find him repulsive, if they've ever bothered to think about him at all. Gary Condit's dear friend dumped the state into a bogus energy crisis, squandered the surplus, and praises totalitarian Singapore as a swell model for California. The famously liberal Democrats of this state are forced to support a guy so bloodthirsty that he mocks Republican rivals for not being equally bloodthirsty on the Death Penalty.

Gray Davis was once dismissed as a faceless bureaucrat with the personality of an oyster — without the delicious flavor. But in the face of a serious Republican rival, he has become a robotic schemer with one mission: to destroy a popular ex-mayor in the GOP primary.

That ex-mayor is Richard Riordan of Los Angeles. Having run this town for eight crucial years, he left a massive city in much better shape than it was back in the Rodney King days. Riordan — a friendly self-made millionaire with an obvious affection for Los Angeles — was a Republican Democrats could love. He made the city livable again, much as Rudolph Guiliani did for New York City.

George W. Bush himself encouraged Riordan to run for governor. Despite his wartime popularity, Bush knows how important California will be in 2004. In 1988, his father beat Michael Dukakis by three points, after Ronald Reagan handily took the state in 1980 and 1984. Bush Sr. got a good beating in 1992, as did Bob Dole in 1996. And Pete Wilson's White House dreams went down the toilet with his briefly popular Mexican-bashing.

Bush, a moderate Republican who likes to speak a little Spanish, needs Riordan. Bush knows Riordan can beat the unpopular Davis — who is uncontested on the Democratic side. Riordan shares Bush's clumsiness at the podium, but both are friendly and decent people when you get close to them. Davis is, by all accounts, colder than an Igloo full of dry ice.

So what does Davis do? He dumps $10 million on television ads against Riordan, something polite people would call unorthodox, as Davis isn't running against Riordan in the GOP primary. According to Davis, Riordan isn't conservative enough for the Republicans. And Republicans are buying this?

This treacherous hit job is intended to push Riordan out of the governor's race and let the far more conservative Bill Simon go to the general election against Davis. Of course, Davis will win. Simon is a hard-core conservative and that won't work here. So Riordan gets shut out, Davis beats Simon in November, and Bush can kiss California goodbye in 2004. Many GOP congressional runs will die with Riordan's defeat.

The sad thing is that California's fringe-right Republicans are more than happy to lose again. They love losing. They haven't won anything important in years.

Paul Haughton of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies sent out an e-mail the other day to far-right Republicans. Here's what it said:

"God willing, on Tuesday send Bush and Karl Rove a message that this Party is ours."

Sure, dude. Is Tom Daschle paying you enough? Enjoying the gift baskets from Barney Frank?

Losers. Dumbhead losers. Here he is, Richard Riordan, a Republican who can not only win in California, but who shows just what kind of Republican will win in the years to come.

Whatever, nuts. In the post-Sept. 11 era, more and more Democrats like me will be looking for smart, moderate Republicans. I look at Riordan and see a guy who owns a great diner in downtown Los Angeles and supported an ACLU Mexican named Antonio Villaraigosa as his successor. Riordan's wife is a Democrat and he personally doesn't like abortion but he's not going to push that on everybody else. He could've retired rich and happy in Malibu but he worked hard on America's second-biggest metropolis and made it better in real ways we can see every day.

And, at 71 years old, he biked the L.A. Marathon on Sunday. You've got to admire a guy who can do that while eating greasy breakfasts every day while supporting Latino candidates while doing Big Money real-estate deals. He loves L.A., as Randy Newman sang. He's a Republican embraced by Democrats in this most liberal of cities. He is the future of the California GOP, if the California GOP can get over its love affair with losing. And, as California historian Kevin Starr says, this state is "a prism through which the United States is glimpsing its future." One in eight Americans live here, and the political and racial makeup of this big weird state has a habit of spreading across the country.

Nothing against GOP candidates Bill Simon and Bill Jones — two smart guys who will never be elected as governor — but a primary victory by either of these guys will only ensure that Gray Davis gets another four years to muck up the state where I live.

I'm a lifelong Democrat. But I just happen to be a Registered Republican this time around, and I'll be voting for Riordan.

Ken Layne types from a shack behind his Los Angeles home. The author of trashy thrillers such as Dot.Con and the upcoming Space Critters, he has written and edited for a variety of news outfits including Information Week, the Sydney Daily Telegraph, UPI and Mother Jones. Since the Enron-like collapse of his Web paper, Tabloid.net, in 1999, he has been posting commentary to KenLayne.com.

Your attitude gave us Hillary. Now you tell me who is more likely to have supreme justices alligned with your opinion - Lazio or Hillary?

If you don't want an abortion, don't have one. To stay home and pout because your candidate is not 100% perfect is suicidal. Look who gets elected when people stay home. If Lazio were Senator now, (even with the Jeffords defection), Republicans would be in control of the Senate.

We put up one of the most liberal Republicans Tom Campbell up against Dianne Feinswine and it was a blowout. Now we have Dick Riordan who makes RINO Pete Wilson look like a John Bircher.

Riordan will get annihilated in November worse than Campbell. Bank on it. Bill Simon is our best bet right now.

...and Latino voters remember Republican Gov. Pete Wilson's attempts to paint them all as dangerous criminals trying to steal white babies and make them speak Spanish.

Not true and not humorous in the least. This article is a waste of space except to point out how ludicrous RINOs are.

ADDENDUM

And not only would Riordan lose, he would take down the entire ticket with him with many people staying home (not me, but I understand what happens when people feel they have no true choice). I don't enjoy being shut out, despite the claims of this opinion piece.

Riordan will get annihilated in November worse than Campbell. Bank on it.

And the proof is in the fact that Riordan is about to lose the Republican primary.

I originally expected Riordan to win the primary in a cakewalk. He had the money and the credentials and the name recognition, and he had a very appealing argument for a lot of desperate Republicans that he was the only one who had a prayer of beating Davis in left-wing California.

But Riordan has run one of the most incompetent and self-destructive campaigns I have ever seen. It's been amazing to behold, considering that Riordan is not a novice and has won two tough battles for Los Angeles mayor. Sure Gray Davis' heavy spending against Riordan had an effect, but it shouldn't have worked against even a modestly competent campaign effort.

Ignore ideology. I know that's hard, but set it aside for just a moment. If Riordan couldn't handle the Davis ad offensive now, then he certainly couldn't handle it in the November election. If Riordan could blow an enormous lead, and lose a primary that was his for the taking, then he obviously is too incompetent to stand a chance against Davis.

For Riordan to lose the primary for any reason whatsoever destroys his fundamental rationale that he would have been the best hope Republicans had for beating Davis.

Gee, let me see if I have this straight: You are a life long Democrat who thinks that Gray (Red) Davis is a lying slime bag who has run CA into the ground.

Gee, for a Democrat, you seem to have a firm grasp of the obvious. But have you happened to notice that your party does not feel that way? No Democrat is willing to take on Red Davis.

The Democratic party is hopelessly corrupt. The solution is NOT to have the Republican party espouse Democratic principles. We have already seen where that takes a party: it has leaders like Clinton, Gore, Daschle, Gephart and Davis. We don't need another party like that.

The solution is to throw the Democrats out of the Republican party. No more RINO's. I would rather lose with Simon than win with Riordan. Because Riordan is really a Demoncrat, espousing Democratic priniciples and positions, who will continue the Democratic tradition of running CA further and further into the ground.

Eventually, things will get bad enough here that people will demand a change. Republicans can only offer that change if they stand for something different than the Democrats. That doesn't happen with a Riordan nomination.

A fairly skilled piece of propaganda, but when you read it closely, it depends entirely upon a set of assumptions that cannot be proven, and are at best suspect. On the other hand, it fails to appreciate--it totally fails to appreciate--that there are probably at least a couple of million conservative Californians, who would never even consider voting for an ex-Mayor who picked an ACLU type as his successor--whether Mexican or not.

What I am basically saying is that this is only propaganda. In no sense does it show any serious analytic capacity. For serious analysis, you do not limit your references to only those factors that suit your hypothesis; and that is precisely what Layne has done.

William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site

>> Golden, If you believe Riordan to left of Davis then I understand. Have fun with your newly re-elected Demorat Governor Davis. <<

Since you think RINOs are so much better, I'll trade you our OUTGOING Governor here in Illinois, George "safe roads" Ryan.

He's just like your boy Riordan on every issue. Been in bed with liberal Democrats for years but claims to be a Republican.

If you like taxpayer-funded abortion, gay marriage, tripling state taxes, doubling state tolls, free drivers licenses for illegal aliens, making out-of-state gun ownership a felony, Jesse Jackson promotions, Clinton bedroom sleepovers, taxpayer funded trips to give "humantarian aid" to Fidel Castro, and a governor who is a rubber stamp for Mayor Daley (he even said he's voet for Daley in a heartbeat) then "Republican" George Ryan is your man. He has a 20% approval rating and he's already buddies with Gray Davis (when they appeared together on CNN, Gray had just heaped on praise for George abolishing the death penalty in Illinois) Then again, so is Dick Riordan (guess where Gray got most of "donations" to fund his campaign in '98?)

Whatta say, Davis for Ryan? Wanna swap? At least Davis ADMITS he's liberal.

You guys in California just don't get it!

Check back in another 4 years.
If Gray Davis has continued on the same fiscal path as Governor (blowing an approx. $10 Billion
state surplus, and letting the state budget get an additional $10-$17 Billion further out
of balance)...then the sheeple might arise.

I never believed that Riordan was a shoe-in if he won the primary.
Democratic-Socialists, given the choice between a true Democratic-Socialist (Gray Davis)
and a moderate Republican (Riordan) will pull the lever for the Democratic-Socialist...
unless their house is falling down around them.

If Gray runs the state any further into the hole in the next four years...with a large
Democratic-Socialist majority in the state legislature...then the sheeple will look for a fiscally-responsible savior.

Check back in four years. That will more likely be the time of a total Simon landslide.

Listen, trying to out liberal a liberal is a recipe for losing. The conservative base stays at home. That means they aren't voting for GOP Congressmen.

Name an example of picking a moderate over a conservative in the primary has served the GOP well? When a lefty has 2 choices of lefties, they usually pick the Democrat.

My fellow FoxNews blogger Rand Simberg disagrees with my take on the California primary. He brings up Mike Huffington, who ran as a moderate Republican and lost. First, California's demographic has changed a lot since then, and second, nobody knew what to make of Huffington (not even Huffington, who ditched his wife and quit politics).

Anyway, there's a good discussion going on at Simberg's site. From it, I've also learned the FreeRepublic folks are chewing up my piece. Chomp chomp.

Food for thought perhaps? Or just faning the flames. It's early, and not too long ago Simon didn't have a chance against Riordan.

Once again, reality kicks you people in the a$$. Does anyone remember a guy named Schundler? You know, the great, "real" conservative who got his a$$ kicked in NJ? The guy all of you were so damn sure would wake everyone up to the greatness of conservatism? The guy who is currently out of a job, all while handing NJ to the Democrats?

So, now that Schundler and those like him destroy my party on "principle", the Democrats are winning more and more elections.

You losers want EVERY SINGLE Republican to be the next Reagan, or they just are not good enough. YOU F@!#$^G PEOPLE MAKE ME SICK!!! Why are you so damn set against people who differ in their views? Are you so much in a hurry to lose?

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