Posted on 02/04/2006 10:34:55 PM PST by Amerigomag
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he heard the message in November when voters rejected his package of reform initiatives. He responded, in part, by appointing a Democratic chief of staff and outlining a $222 billion plan to improve streets, schools, levees and jails.
But some among his Republican base have become disillusioned by his latest political swing. On Friday, they unveiled five proposed resolutions critical of the governor, to be considered when the state GOP holds its San Jose convention in two weeks. These critics say the governor cannot win re-election in November if he doesn't shore up support among grass-roots Republicans, and they complain that his latest moves are dulling enthusiasm in the GOP.
Schwarzenegger spokesman Adam Mendelsohn said his boss welcomes the opportunity for dialogue. However, the governor has given no indication of backing off from the moves Schroeder and others have found most offensive. He has ardently defended the appointment of Democrat Susan Kennedy as his chief of staff, which is cited in Schroeder's resolution as the reason for withdrawing the endorsement. He also may be slow to reconsider the other moves targeted by the proposed resolutions.
Newport Beach's Buck Johns, a Republican delegate and a member of the GOP Lincoln Club, isn't yet sold on Schwarzenegger's public works bonds or his plan to increase the minimum wage, and is open to debating those issues at the convention. But he sees no place for the idea of withdrawing the party's endorsement.
Even state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, who was Schwarzenegger's chief GOP rival in the 2003 recall election and who has been critical of many of the governor's moves, has written convention delegates to urge support of the incumbent.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
Excerpt:
"That's why, when I hear rumors that some delegates are planning to use the upcoming Republican Party convention to attack the Governor and his proposals, all I can do is shake my head.
Like many of us, I too have disagreements with some of the Governor's proposals. These differences, however, do not justify the abandonment of our party's responsibility to work tirelessly to reelect this Republican governor and to elect our GOP candidates to statewide and legislative offices.
For this reason, I view any effort to attack Governor Schwarzenegger as an attack on my own candidacy and those of every Republican seeking partisan office in 2006.
The measure of an effective statewide party is not our ability to pass resolutions scolding our own. Rather, it's whether we wisely use the next ten months to organize and train a grass roots army in fifty-eight California counties.
That's why I strongly urge the party to take the following advice for our February convention:
1. Our party has endorsed this governor for re-election. While I am not in favor of pre-primary endorsements for any partisan race, once the endorsement is given, it must not be rescinded. Let's leave this issue alone.
2. Put aside the plans that would cause strife and division among our party and instead focus on those things that unite our party and divide the Democrats.
3. Focus every minute of every hour at this convention on planning to recruit, train and deploy a vast grass roots army that will successfully impact our election results in November.
Please join me in calling for a productive, united convention that will lead to the Governor's re-election as well as the election of our statewide ticket of talented Republican leaders. And join me by rejecting any misguided effort to divide us by rescinding the party's endorsement of our Governor.
I believe it is critically important to all of our Republican candidates to have an effective, unified party convention that sets the course clearly toward building and equipping our grassroots army to deliver a great Republican victory this November."
Sorry McClintock, but I'd rather a Democrat raise the minimum wage than a Republican. I don't want us to dilute our principles. Economics 101 says that raising the minimum wage increases unemployment for people looking for their first job. Increasing it therefore betrays a lack of principle. There is nothing that would destroy the Republican Party than an unprincipled leader.
Arnold reformed workman's comp, he refused to raise taxes, despite the Dem pressure, Dem. gov candidate Angelides already promised tax increases. Arnold pushed the reform propositions full of conservative, Republican "principles" and the fine "principled" conservatives stayed home or even voted against it, with the Democrats.
And now you are advocating that we should give back full control to the Democrats. You are advocating defeat of Republicans. Please explain how total defeat of Republicans in CA will strengthen the Republicans.
I forgot to include the link to the article about the workers comp reform.
CA: Workers' Comp Savings Detailed (rates back to 1996 levels and lower than FL and TX)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1571806/posts
"The report commissioned by the state Department of Industrial Relations found that workers' comp premiums paid by businesses and nonprofit organizations, which soared as much as 200% in the early part of the decade, have been almost cut in half since July 2003.
What's more, rates in California, the highest in the nation in 2004, have dropped to 1996 levels and now are lower than those in other big states such as Texas and Florida, the report said. "
This is a DIRECT result of Arnold's reform.
"Schwarzenegger, who had made reform of the state's workers' comp system a top priority during his campaign, called a special session of the legislature to address the matter. He threatened to place a reform bill on the November 2004 ballot if lawmakers refused to support his plans and failed to take action by March 1.
"If modest reform is all that lands on my desk, I am prepared to take my workers' comp solution directly to the people and I will put it on the ballot in November," Schwarzenegger said.
As the March 1 deadline passed without agreement in the legislature, the governor publicly expressed his support for the Committee for Workers' Compensation Reform and Accountability, which was sponsoring an initiative to place the "Workers' Compensation Reform and Accountability Act" on the ballot.
The legislature finally passed legislation to reform the system on April 16.(2004) The governor signed the bill three days later. "
I'm split on this. I mean, I understand the criticism, but Arnold is in a tough spot. What's he supposed to do?
The only thing that would make Amerigomag and his cronies happy, is if the Dems would completely take over CA, that's why they are attacking Arnold.
He's either a conservative or a liberal. His in-the-middle won't make it. I say he pack up, let the dems destroy the state & make movies & smoke cigars with Teddy.
The CAGOP executive committee knew what a leftist POS Schwarzenegger was when they gave him his backroom endorsement. It's hypocritical to pretend otherwise now.
Obviously you don't live in CA and aren't familiar with its demographics.
CALIFORNIA VOTER AND PARTY PROFILES
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/JTF_VoterProfilesJTF.pdf
"The Democratic Party currently has an advantage of 1.4 million voters over the Republican Party (7.1 million to 5.7 million) or 9 percentage points (43% to 34%), according to the Secretary of State.
Among those most likely to vote in this year’s elections, Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 7-point margin (44% to 37%), while 15 percent of likely voters are registered as independents.
... the fact that independents are more likely to lean toward Democrats than Republicans (42% to 28%) tends to work to the disadvantage of the GOP in statewide elections."
Which is PRECISELY why Arnold lost every ballot referendum in his taxpayer funded "special" election. Democrats outnumber Republicans. You can whine all you want about evil "conservatives voting with the Democrats" and "lack of Republican turnout". You can have all the turnout you want of the Republican "base", and Dems "base" will still outnumber your "base".
This is why blowing zillions of dollars on a taxpayer funded special election to "get out the Republican base" is a stupid idea doomed to failure in California. You can only pass referendums with the help of swing voters and conservative-leaning independents in a GENERAL election.
Thanks again for proving MY point!
This entire philosophy here among others in the CAGOP and some, this thread, is that Republicans in the state must adopt liberalism and forego principles otherwise, "to win."
That's the ONLY motivation and incentive I read from that letter and elsewhere that advises Republicans to "vote for Arnold"..."to win". Inorder to do so, we have to endorse and vote for liberalism, and abandon principle and politics otherwise.
The CAGOP, by this attitude, is responsible for killing off Republicans in CA, not the Democrats. If the CAGOP would remain faithful to principle, they'd have principled conservatives and Republicans voting for the conservative candidate.
Instead, they are chasing Republican voters away by this attitude of "win" above all else.
I'd like a Republican in the Governor's office and in our State legislature as much as anyone else. I don't think the way to do that is to promote a liberal candidate by the CAGOP and then reprimand Republicans for being disenchanted.
I'm still surprised that the Lincoln Club Republicans are even tolerating this, much less contributing to it. I had higher hopes for them as Republican leadership.
What doesn't make sense to me is that cost of everything has gone up, price of cars, homes, food, utilities etc etc etc.
Shouldn't wages increase along with cost of living? Especially in California? A 1200 sq ft home costs over $350k+ Apartments are $1200+ minimum wage could affect more than just first time workers. There are the uneducated young adults who need to live somewhere, eat and survive.
Yes I have heard the arguments that the small business person couldn't survive if the minimum wage were raised, well first of all what about free market idea? Get govt out of telling businesses what to do in the first place and allow the market place to make their own decisions when it comes to paying their employees.
"He's either a conservative or a liberal. His in-the-middle won't make it."
But being a conservative in California WILL make it?
The ballot initiatives lost because the Dems and especially the unions threw $200 million on ads. The way for conservative ideas to win in California or anywhere is that once you're in power, you use the bully pulpit to push your ideas, and even if you get defeated in passing the law, educate the public.
By ditching principles, and actually signing the other side's bills, you give the opposition moral cover that their ideas are winning because they convinced us they are good, not because they have more people in the legislature. This is a battle of ideas after all. Gingrich did not win back the House by accepting liberal ideas, even though for a long time he was in the minority. A principled minority can become a majority if it sticks to its principles and waits for when the party in power becomes arrogant. Then the minority can win and win with a mandate. That mandate allows the minority to push laws.
It is instructive to see what happened to the Republican party in Illinois. We were the majority for a long time until we became too liberal and too corrupt. We accepted that liberralism and corruption. Now we lost almost everything in Illinois, and the remaining leaders are so liberal as to be indistinguishable from the Democrats.
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DING, DING, DING -- "once you're in power". THAT's the catch.
Exactly. FIRST you have to get elected. Running to the right of Buchanan isn't going to elect anyone dogcatcher in CA. The ONLY way to get elected was with a moderate position, like Arnold, who is still facing an overwhelmingly Dem Legislature and powerful unions. He is governor, not emperor.
The way to take Republican power back is to slowly get more and more Republicans elected, NOT by attacking our own, and help the Dems take full control of CA again, including the governorship.
"This entire philosophy here among others in the CAGOP and some, this thread, is that Republicans in the state must adopt liberalism and forego principles otherwise, "to win." "
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Do you claim that Tom McClintock, the conservative icon is proposing that Republicans must adopt liberalism?! (See his letter further up the thread.)
YOU are the one who is fighting to get Democrats elected, by attacking the Republican candidates.
To quote Tom McClintock:
"Like many of us, I too have disagreements with some of the Governor's proposals. These differences, however, do not justify the abandonment of our party's responsibility to work tirelessly to reelect this Republican governor and to elect our GOP candidates to statewide and legislative offices.
For this reason, I view any effort to attack Governor Schwarzenegger as an attack on my own candidacy and those of every Republican seeking partisan office in 2006. "
The CAGOP, by this attitude, is responsible for killing off Republicans in CA, not the Democrats. If the CAGOP would remain faithful to principle, they'd have principled conservatives and Republicans voting for the conservative candidate.
Instead, they are chasing Republican voters away by this attitude of "win" above all else.
I'd like a Republican in the Governor's office and in our State legislature as much as anyone else. I don't think the way to do that is to promote a liberal candidate by the CAGOP and then reprimand Republicans for being disenchanted.
Excellent points Miller Creek, and shame on you for FO for atacking fellow republicans! What great "rally-the-troups" rhetoric you have FO .....no, wait a minute, your rhetoric is divisive. Are YOU from the democratic party? You sure operate like a divide and conquer liberal.
Any decent conservative would take what MillerCreek said to heart, after all, the leadership needs the grassroots to walk precincts. But you FO, you give no clarion call to action....NO! You insult those who disagree with you, even though it is YOU who break Reagan's eleventh comandement. The CAGOP does not need people with your attitude.
Look, I really find these personal attack messages on FR and anywhere else to be entirely non productive.
I conclude what I conclude based upon what I read, hear and see. I read McClintock's letter and he's trying to shame people to voting for someone even he admits is not a conservative, as a Republican, and doing so with his identified incentive of if we don't vote for that (Schwarzenegger, a liberal registered as a Republican) that we're then responsible for a bad outcome, the "loss" of the office to the GOP.
But he chastises Republicans to vote FOR a liberal candidate as a Republican, which means we are being "advised" that we "need" to abandon our ideals and issues as voters for the mere and only incentive of "winning" by electing yet another liberal to office.
I find McClintock's statement troubling and I don't agree with his failed reasoning there.
I also did not vote for McClintock and after reading this letter of his, won't be at any future time.
I believe the CAGOP has and continues to pursue a bad methodology here, by holding "winning by becoming a liberal but you get to keep your Republican registration" advice as methodology, they literally defy conservative principles upon which MOST OF US REPUBLICANS have believed is incentive to be voting (and registered) as a Republican in the first place.
Draw your own conclusions but please stop pointing fingers at other voters when and as we exercise conscience over for who and how we vote. The animosity implied does more to discourage Republican voters than you seem to be able to accept.
I'm going to continue to vote for candidates that are ethical, who I find as believable as possible and who represent conservative values and ideals.
I won't be voting for Schwarzenegger and I won't consider voting for McClintock after reading that letter. If that makes me someone despicable to the "we're liberals but we're the CAGOP anyway" crowd, so be it.
I am very disappointed, as I wrote earlier, that the Lincoln Club leadership isn't confronting the obvious contradiction of terms here, however. I really had higher expectations of them, knowing many members in my lifetime -- and I can't imagine THEM as individuals not shaking their heads in disgust at McClintock's letter.
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