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Michele Bachmann heading to California in September By MAGGIE HABERMAN | 7/25/11 2:40 PM EDT Michele Bachmann is planning a trip to California in September, headlining the state GOP's convention: Bachmann's presence is sure to electrify the three day gathering of more than 1,000 California GOP activists from September 16-18 at the JW Marriot in LA Live, Los Angeles. "She is total energy,'' said state GOP chair Tom Del Beccaro, when we asked him this morning about Bachmann's decision to come to the nation's most populous state for a major 2012 campaign gig. "She'll be a rock star. She'll ignite...

California GOP rejects divisive open primary plan SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California Republicans on Sunday approved a compromise that leaves in place the current nominating system for GOP candidates in 2012 and will let party members use mail-in balloting to endorse candidates for office starting in 2014. The party was beset by infighting at its weekend spring convention in Sacramento over how to respond to Proposition 14, the voter-approved ballot measure that was intended to produce more moderate candidates for office from both political parties. Under that system, the top two candidates advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. The GOP...

State GOP convention: Blowup, outgoing chair accused of "thuggery" Republican State Sen. Sam Blaskeslee of San Luis Obispo, leading the charge against a conservative move to revise the party's endorsement of candidates, sharply criticized the outgoing GOP chair Saturday as a failed leader who has "resorted to thuggery." Blakeslee made the comment after walking out of a heated meeting of the state GOP Rules Committee at the start of a 3-day day statewide Republican Convention which brought 1,000 delegates to the Sacramento Hyatt. His comments come on the heels of efforts by outgoing GOP chair Ron Nehring, who has lead...

(The Ron he refers to at the beginning is Ron Nehring who is running unopposed to be elected the new California Republican Party Chair this morning. He is described as working with national anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, according to the Associated Press. Norquist is famous for his quote: "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." ) Arnold Schwarzenegger: Thanks, Ron, for that great introduction. You have a tough act to follow but everyone here knows you will be an outstanding party...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger described himself as a "proud Republican" in a speech Friday night at the state's Republican convention, where party conservatives are fuming over the governor's not-so-conservative agenda. Receiving polite applause, Schwarzenegger said he would continue his theme of "postpartisan" cooperation by searching for the middle ground on the state's key issues but insisted he would never discard his Republican values. In a speech peppered with examples of GOP-centric issues he is pursuing -- building more dams, adding new prison beds and holding schools more accountable -- he also gave a nod to his critics within the party. "We...

While Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger worshipped with a mostly Democratic congregation Sunday morning, his political party rejected two of five bond measures he's supporting on the Nov ballot. Conservative activists had urged the California Republican Party to reject all five of the $42.6 billion in bond measures during its three-day convention here. "By passing these bond measures, we are passing the buck to our children and grandchildren," said Jon Fleischman, former California Republican Party executive director. But behind-the-scenes negotiations produced a compromise that led to the party rejecting two of the measures, endorsing two and taking no position on one. The...

LOS ANGELES -- The latest, hottest, and most unanticipated rumor to emerge from the State Republican Convention at the Century Plaza Hotel here was that former Virginia Gov. and Republican National Chairman Jim Gilmore would enter the 2008 Republican presidential sweepstakes. Talk of Gilmore-for-President began as the former governor and staunch conservative arrived in Los Angeles to address the state GOP's top officials. In a fighting luncheon speech, Gilmore call for securing the borders and a Republican agenda of "security, safety, and long-term civil values and freedom." Recalling his stint as head of the RNC in the first Bush Administration,...

LOS ANGELES -- Reminding his wide-ranging Republican base of the alternative this election year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used his state GOP convention speech Saturday to attack Democratic challenger Phil Angelides for proposing tax increases and opposing the state's use of National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico border. In his 19-minute speech at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, the governor called for charter schools and English-language instruction for immigrants while engaging the luncheon crowd in a chorus of "noes" in opposition to big government. Schwarzenegger took credit for reducing the state's budget deficit and creating new jobs since becoming governor in...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to narrow his rift with conservatives Saturday by casting himself as tougher on illegal immigration than his Democratic challenger, Phil Angelides, but failed to quell a Republican revolt over his call for billions in borrowing for housing and school construction. The Republican governor told party loyalists at a state GOP convention in Century City that he had put National Guard troops on the Mexican border — as demanded by President Bush — to help federal authorities "get their act together." "My opponent wants to pull the National Guard off the border," Schwarzenegger told the crowd of...

Special Report from the CA Republican State Convention State Senator Tom McClintock, Republican candidate for Lt. Governor, was the Master of Ceremonies of Friday’s dinner highlighting the GOP statewide ticket. The event was part of the California’s Republican Party’s State Convention taking place in Century City. McClintock received a standing ovation himself before he introduced the GOP’s down-ticket candidates one-by-one. Moments later, he responded to the Democrats charge this week that they are somehow more united than Republicans. “Let’s savor the irony of the moment,” McClintock said. “Bill Lockyer has been bragging that he voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger in the...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, seeking to shore up support among conservatives, told the state GOP convention Saturday that he would be tougher on illegal immigration than Democratic opponent Phil Angelides. "My opponent wants to pull the National Guard off the border. He wants to give undocumented workers California drivers licenses," Schwarzenegger said, as a few in the lunchtime crowd at the Century Plaza Hotel hissed. "His policies are disastrous." Angelides, in a conference call with reporters, accused Schwarzenegger of using the issue to divide Californians and said the governor was "stirring up his anti-immigrant right wing base." But the state treasurer...

The state's Republicans are partying hard this weekend at the California Republican Party Convention in Los Angeles, no doubt doing their best to cultivate a unified front for the November elections. A commendable and necessary goal, to be sure, but it's going to take more than hand-rolled cigars and cognac to sway party conservatives, some of whom are still trying to figure out exactly where their GOP stands on the tough issues. Apparently the convention's unofficial theme -- don't rock the boat, get Arnold re-elected -- doesn't cut it for the party's true-blue conservatives who are looking for definitive answers...

LOS ANGELES — Not quite certain what will be on the menu today, delegates to the state Republican Party convention — in the main, a conservative bunch — got their serving of red meat on Friday night. The party's core conservatives hope to maintain their delicate truce with a Republican governor who is not one of their own when Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at today's luncheon, but the first night of the convention belonged to the candidates who stir their political souls. The down-ticket GOP slate took center stage Friday night, and it features some of the conservatives who help keep...

As Arnold Schwarzenegger addresses hundreds at the California Republican Party convention in Los Angeles Saturday, Democrats are doing their best to plumb the governor's sometimes uneasy relationship with his own party. It's a cynical attempt by Democrats to pry a wedge between the governor, his allies and their voters, Republicans assert. The governor is raising tons of cash for other statewide candidates and up to $25 million for the party, which will pay for joint mailings and phone banks. California Republican Party chairman Duf Sundheim said Schwarzenegger has been "a tremendous asset" helping the party raise money for its turnout...

With President Bush down in the polls, gasoline prices on the rise and the electorate dismayed by the lack of progress in Iraq, California Republicans gathered here Friday for their final statewide convention before the Nov. 7 election. Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore urged the party faithful to focus on the domestic issues of taxation, government spending and education, rather than the national security. But he was optimistic the GOP could win in California and praised Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for resisting tax increases. "One state where we have the best chance to bring us back is California," he said....

Sacramento -- Newport Beach (Orange County) Councilman Richard Nichols won't be among those cheering when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger takes the stage this weekend at the state Republican Convention in Los Angeles. Like a lot of conservative voters, the 66-year-old Nichols said he's disillusioned with the governor's recent efforts to recast himself as a political moderate in order to curry favor among Democrats and independent voters. Schwarzenegger's new strategy, which has boosted him in the polls, has also attracted criticism from both ends of the political spectrum that the governor has reversed position on key issues -- like education spending, the...

When the California Republican Party meets in convention this weekend in Century City, the delegates will consider several resolutions on illegal immigration. Instead of complaining about the federal government's failure to secure our borders, most of these resolutions focus on state policies that can be improved to solve the problem. The first resolution discusses local government housing vouchers that are often used to provide “affordable housing” at taxpayer expense to illegal aliens. The City of Los Angeles is the largest offender. The second resolution demands that California begin enforcing its own laws for payroll tax withholding, workers' compensation, job safety,...

In his State of the State address in January, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger promised he'd do a better job of listening to constituents. I hope he was listening Sunday. That's the day delegates at the California Republican Assembly endorsement convention in Bakersfield sent Schwarzenegger the following message. Want our vote next election? Then throw us a bone. Not even a heartfelt request from state Sen. Tom McClintock, candidate for lieutenant governor and favorite son of the CRA, could persuade delegates to endorse a Schwarzenegger/McClintock ticket. Not yet, anyway. An endorsement from the CRA -- the state's largest, oldest and likely most...

Despite misgivings about Schwarzenegger's direction, many of the GOP rank and file said they still viewed him as the party's best hope for exerting influence in Sacramento, where Democrats hold unassailable margins in the Legislature. In a floor speech, Michael McSweeney of San Diego told delegates that "winning is more fun than losing" and described the attempts to distance the party from Schwarzenegger as misguided. "It's about how can we spank the governor and form the circular firing squad," he said. When asked about infighting in the GOP, he paraphrased a saying of former President Reagan. "If 80% of people...

“What are greater: the differences among us as Republicans or the difference between us and the Democrats?” Three years ago, in one of the highest voter turnout elections in California history, the Republican candidates for governor received a combined 62 percent of the vote to the Democrats’ 31 percent – literally two votes to one. Now that’s a fact. And it’s an important one, because it’s a fact that we have the opportunity to repeat – and then some – less than nine months from now. Three years ago, Californians knew that their futures were on the line – they...