CRP Convention Post-Mortem: Arnold Gets What He Wants, Not What He Needs
My first GOP convention was in July, 1966, held in Sacramento. I got to walk along a parade route next to the car of Lt. Gov. candidate Bob Finch in the searing heat of a Sacto summer. It was held in the old War Memorial building.
There have business like events, quiet, loud, energetic and some not so energetic. This convention was more business like and not very energetic. Saturday night for instance, there were only two hospitality suites–both nice.
People spoke in the lobby and in the convention–but not as much about the 2006 election, but about many other things.
Governor Schwarzenegger needed to have delegates leave the convention highly energized — but they weren’t. He needed them to be going back to their communities with a new resolve, they didn’t. The Governor needed a convention that was loud, energetic and screaming for the victory of the Governor and the complete GOP team — but folks left saying they would campaign with the new tools given them in material and technology, but on a business like basis. Campaigns are won on emotion, as well as organization — you need both. I would also note that few reporters attended the convention, just a handful…great reporters, many are good friends, but many of the “usual suspects” stayed home or were elsewhere.
Policy wise, the Governor got what he wanted; only two bonds endorsed, a resolution opposing illegal aliens passed, and no mistakes. He got what he wanted, but not what he needed. While the polls show that 85% of Republican support him, the trick is to get those folks out to the polls. Support and votes are two different things. Activists will always vote. Real people need a reason to vote. See my piece from last week for the reasons. But none of those reasons create a highly energetic, motivated electorate–instead, it is a rationale to support the Governor. Real people need a real reason and they need to see consistency.
Again, the governor got what he wanted from the convention, not what he needed.
I had the opportunity of meeting with Congressman Bilbray of San Diego. He will have a hard race in the 2008 primary. The same forces that defeated Joe Schwartz in Michigan, an incumbent, in the primary, appear to be gathering to do the same to Bilbray. Brian is trying hard not to be “Schwartzed”. To do that he will have to vote better than his original votes, keeping earmarks, something he campaigned against. He can do it, but it will take a different agenda, one that makes him a leader in an issue that matters to his district.
Lot of workshops were held, seminars that educated the novice, as well as the experienced, in new techniques and ideas. As always, these were the highlight of the convention, because they are positive, productive and something you can take back to your local club or headquarters.
I need to congratulate the Schwarzenegger Administration, as I did earlier today, for moving from 50% GOP appointees for judges to 70%–though Democrat governors appoint their own Party members in the 90% range. Still, passing the resolution asking the Governor to appoint more Republicans at the February convention was important. As a friend once said, “Your actions speak so loud, I can’t hear a word you say”
That phrase speaks to the decisions made by the convention on the Initiatives. The Guvs team worked very hard to make sure that the “body” supported the $19 billion transportation bond as well as the levee bond. In fact, the Governor’s Team could pass or defeat anything they wanted at this convention. They controlled the Committee’s, so what came out is what they wanted.
Though the Governor had endorsed the housing bond (which gives a portion of the money to housing for illegal aliens), the over $5 billion water bond, and the education bill–none were supported by the California Republican Party at this convention, by vote. If they wanted to, the Guvs people could have had the CRP support all the bonds, but as best I can tell, except for transportation and levees, the Team did nothing to help put the Party on record in support of the other bonds. For that, we need to thank the Governors Team for listening to the membership. Conservatives believe all the bonds should be defeated, but this says that among bad bonds, there are really bad bonds.
Even with the endorsement of the two bonds, in all probability none of the bonds will pass in November. We are heading into uncertain economic times and the voters will not want to take on even more debt, while the State is still running a massive deficit each year.
The Party did go on record in opposition to illegal amnesty, and anything that promotes illegal amnesty. Some try to make this the position of the President or the governor, it is not. They support guest worker programs, which we all know is an amnesty program for those who have already violated the law. So, the Party passed a resolution making it clear, NO TO AMNESTY..not in some forms, not in all but one form, no exceptions, NO AMNESTY.
Jim Gilchrist showed up to the convention and received a very warm welcome for his efforts and those of the Minuteman project. I can honestly say I heard not a moment of discussion favoring illegal aliens, benefits for them or even emotional support for them. The Governor made it clear he supports a limited presence on the border of the National Guard, while Angelides wants none.
A Pro-Family rally was held on Saturday afternoon. The theme of the event was asking the Governor to veto three anti-family bills the Democrats were going to put on his desk.
At the same time (lots of activity between 4 and 6pm on Saturday) the Republican Jewish Coalition had a large meeting, with what appeared to be millions of speakers (I was one of them). Candidates, party officials, political leaders all spoke to the group. The RJC has shown itself to be a growing and significantly more important part of the GOP family (disclosure, I am a member of the RJC).
Congratulations also go to the Arnold Team for its outreach efforts to the Evangelical community. Michael Finnegan of the LA Times noted in his article on August 18 that the Schwarzenegger Team and the GOP had hired Ben Lopez to outreach the evangelical community. Ben is a long time lobbyist for Rev. Lou Sheldon and the Traditional Values Coalition. His specialty appears to be lobbying, according to the article, against the homosexual community and for the pro-life community. This is a major signal that the Governor wants to cooperate and communicate with the People of Faith in California. Finnegan noted that there is going to be a gathering of about 200 evangelical ministers this Wednesday in the Sacramento area, organized by Lopez, for the Governors re-election. (On Sunday the Guv spoke at the First AME church–the home of Democrat candidates on the Sunday before the election–great move!!)
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romeny spoke to the convention Saturday night, but first spoke to the County Chairs, then to the California Republican Assembly. He was impressive to many and is in the first tier of potential GOP candidates. On Friday, former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore spoke to the Executive Committee. He is also a potential candidate for President. Also, this being said, it still looks like a race between McCain and Giuliani for the nomination at this time.
Along with the presidential race, a couple of other races were discussed during the convention. To replace Ron Nehring as Vice Chairman (he will go on to be our next Chairman) we have Tom Del Beccaro, chair of Contra Costa and chairman of the County Chairs Association and Tom Bordonaro, former legislator and current County Auditor in San Luis Obispo. This is a battle of the “Toms”.
Del Beccaro has over 650 signed endorsements, several legislators and leaders in support of his efforts. Bordonaro has several legislators and a few leadership type endorsements (full disclosure–I am supporting Del Beccaro in this race, and have great respect for Bordonaro). While neither openly campaigned at the convention, each made themselves available to the delegates.
In another race two close friends of mine are running against each other–and I have not made an endorsement in this race. Warene Wall (San Diego County) is the appointed incumbent as Southern vice chair for the CRP and a vice chair of the San Diego GOP. Warene is putting her list of endorsements together. Her opponent is Jon Fleischman (Orange County), former Executive Director of the CRP and the publisher of the Flashreport. Jon appears to have the endorsement of a majority of the legislators in the region, the support of the chair of Riverside and Orange County, while the San Diego chair is currently not endorsing either candidate. This is a fast moving race–Fleischman already has the endorsement of the California Republican Assembly, the Young Republican Federation of California and the California Republican Lawyers Association.
You get out of a convention what you put in. Many showed up just for Friday, others, just for Saturday. While we had a quorum for Sunday, not all the delegates attended that session, which is normal. Now the real work begins. Campaigns are not won by conventions, they are won by absentee ballots and in the precincts. That is where the workshops come in–they gave use the tools needed to be more effective and efficient in our grass roots efforts. On Sunday morning we all were told about the illness of Ann Whitney, the long time friend of every Republican in the State and tremendous activist and worker for the CRP. We all need to remember her in our prayers daily, not just the Sunday of the convention.
I know that my friend Jon Fleischman is going to put out his “winners and losers” of the convention later on this week, and I will not compete with him on that. Instead allow me to suggest an unsung hero of the convention. This person is very, very quiet, is in the background and shadows of the convention. She gets the speakers, puts together the workshops, make sure all parts connect. If you need information or want something, she is the go to person. No one knows the CRP or politics as well (she also serves as the Chairman of Cal Plan). She can keep a confidence and give solid advice. A CRP convention without Lorelei Kinder at the helm could be a disaster. To me, the winner of the convention was Lorelei–things appeared to run smoothly, speakers knew where to go, volunteers were treated well and all this without any yelling, shouting or threats! Lorelei Kinder is the California Political news and Views winner at this convention.
It is impossible to mention everything that happened at the convention–I can’t put everything in one article. Please, if you attended the convention and want to put your views on the convention for all to see, share them. Do you think we should even hold conventions any more? Did you think this one was valuable? Let others know your views.
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Steve Frank is the publisher of California Political News and Views and a Senior Contributor to CaliforniaConservative.org. He is also a consultant currently working on gambling issues and advising other consultants on policy and coalition building.
Read more of his work here or at his blog.
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