Posted on 02/08/2002 1:49:47 PM PST by Richard M. Nixon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 8, 2002
Former State GOP Chairmen: Riordan Unacceptable as Republican Nominee
SAN JOSE - Three former chairmen of the California Republican Party - John Herrington, Michael Schroeder and John McGraw - today issued the following statement concerning the candidacy of Dick Riordan:
"For the past few months, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has campaigned across California asking Republicans to support him in the upcoming state Primary Election. As former chairmen of the California Republican Party, we feel it is our duty to weigh in on the unusual candidacy of Mr. Riordan.
"After careful review of Mr. Riordan's record, both prior to his announcement as a Republican candidate for Governor, and through his statements on the campaign trail, we feel only one conclusion can be reached: Dick Riordan is no Republican.
"While we as a Republican Party will individually disagree on one issue or another, we are bonded together by a common commitment to a limited, less intrusive government and the belief that every citizen should have the freedom to achieve his or her dreams.
"Mr. Riordan's record has put him at odds with our core beliefs time and time again. While we believe this Party is more than willing to accept differences of opinion and a healthy exchange of ideas, we believe Mr. Riordan's countless endorsements and financial contributions to Democrat candidates, which began long before he became mayor of Los Angeles, have amounted to nothing more than outright betrayal of our basic principles, something we can never accept.
"Moreover, Mr. Riordan's statements on the campaign trail have not only put him at odds with the majority of California's Republicans on social issues, but his statements supporting tax increases and increases in the size of state government stand in sharp contrast with our core beliefs as well.
"Further, Mr. Riordan has shown a genuine intolerance for Republican candidates and grass-roots leaders possessing other view points and an unfortunate interest in his own political career over the interests of his 'fellow' Republicans. We believe these traits make Mr. Riordan particularly ill-suited to serve as the nominee for our party's top position, as Mr. Riordan is likely to engage in a selective support strategy to enhance his own personal motives that will leave many Republican nominees at every level out in the cold.
"As former chairmen of the Republican Party, we are forced to conclude that Mr. Riordan's Republican credentials extend no further than a check in the box of a voter registration form.
"In contrast, Bill Simon has demonstrated in the past months that he is not only committed to up-holding the core Republican belief of limited, less intrusive government, but has also shown a genuine appreciation for Republicans of every stripe. He has spent months campaigning across the state, building a solid, genuine grass-roots organization that will be of the utmost benefit to our state party in the General Election. He has also pledged whole-heartedly to support every GOP nominee in November.
"Bill Simon is clearly the candidate who should represent the California Republican Party in the General Election."
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I think that in the People's Republic of Kalifornia, there are LOTS of closet conservatives and moderates leaning right. They just need a cause for which they believe to be sufficiently serious to justify "coming out of the political closet" and 9-11 is going to be IT.
Just like the miracle Patriots....perhaps it is possible that there are enough liberal Americans who still consider themselves to be REAL Americans to want to support the new initiatives the rest of the country seems to be embacing (see the President's POLL numbers!) with a fervor only found by a country gripped by war.
Sorry it proves my theory , becuase both LOST big time .. Lungren lost to Davis and Fong to Boxer.......
Does anybody have anything definitive on the gun stance which would be taken by Simon? It's not enough these days to say he's a tried and TRUE Republican...too many of them have sold their souls on this issue. California needs to repeal many of the anti-gun laws passed and reinforce their anti-terrorism stance by giving a wider acceptance to the issue of state level concealed weapons permits. Any signs that Simon would be agreeable to this? How accepting would he be to the concept of state level reciprocity for concealed weapons permit holders from other states? This is critical legislation to the anti-terrorism efforts as well as being generally anti-crime.
*Go Simon Go*
If this is true, why would anyone who is first a conservative, and only then a Republican, favor the election of a Republican? As far as I am concerned, a Republican should be supported only if there is evidence it will advance the conservative cause.
Lol.... I didn't know CA had a republican party
As a reader of this thread, two points:
There is a known bug in the software, resulting in posts being placed in breaking news without that being sought.
The appearance of the rest of your post is that you, by attacking the Mormon religion, and flaming without being even mentioned in previous posts, are attempting to disrupt the forum, by explicitly breaking rules posted by Jim Robinson in the last 24 hours.
It is not the end of the story, however, as there is still an election to be run. So, these a-hole, old-fart Republicans are in the process of giving Davis a whole bunch of ammunition. Who is better - Davis or Riordan? The answer is Riordan, hands down. But these jerks cannot butt out of the primary. It is a Republican primary. Fine, come out and say you support Simon, but don't pee all over the other candidate(s) and make it impossible for yourself to then back that person if he wins the primary. Just the usual dumb Republican crap.
If its Riordan and Davis, we're voting Libertarian-- and I'll bet more than a few other Pubbies will also. When things get bad enough, even idiotic California might give Simon a chance. Ronald Reagan, after all, carried New York and Massachusetts not once, but twice.
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