The California Republican Party--Insolvent Financially and Bankrupt with California Voters

What was an 8.5% gap in registration in the last general election is now a 10 point gap, with Democrats holding a 43% to 33% advantage. On top of that, Democrats are turning out at the polls like never before in recent memory, excited about electing a Democrat to the White House. And the growing independent (or Decline-to State) voters in California side with Democrats on key issues. Polls from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) and the California Field Poll show this—and there is the potential for a Democratic blowout in November.

Dodge has been a big backer of Arnold Schwarzenegger. What do some in the party do? They complain about Schwarzenegger, biting the hand that feeds them. Their legislators, not one of them voted for AB 32, the landmark greenhouse gas global warming reduction law passed in 2006. None supported the Governor on health care.

Think they may have changed? January 30, 2008 they led the charge against a bill simply adding global warming to the list of environmental topics to be covered in California’s K-12 education curriculum. Take a look at the floor debate on SB 908 (Simitian) and you’ll see Republican Senator Tom McClintock oppose the bill because it did not require the teaching of those who deny global warming is caused by man’s activities. He attacked Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Al Gore by name. Mind you, the bill did not mandate or exclude teaching anything in particular about global warming, just that it be covered as a topic. The bill passed but 13 of 15 Republican Senators voted against the bill, the only ones to do so. They must be charter members of the Flat Earth Society.

And so, it was Arnold Schwarzenegger who warned the Republican state convention last August that the California party was being marginalized by their extremism:

“Where is the party today?

“In California, as you know...our party is losing numbers. An astonishing 30 of the 32 Republican Assembly districts lost registered Republicans this year. Since 2005, we've lost 370,000 registered Republicans statewide. In just the last eight months, our numbers have declined by 120,000.

“In movie terms, we are dying at the box office. We are not filling the seats.” [Emphasis added]

In that speech, he told the party faithful that they were losing the middle and weren’t going to win elections. He criticized those in the Republican Party who did not want to allow independents to participate in Republican primary elections, saying “Research shows that the party you vote for in the primary is usually the party you vote for in the general election.”

And he specifically mentioned global warming in this passage:

“According to the polls, nearly three-quarters of our own party support the global warming bill that I signed last year. They want this party to do something more about climate change than simply doubt it. If it is the policy of the Republican Party to ignore the great majority of the world's scientists...to ignore the views of 80 percent of the young people who believe the same...then that party is at odds with the future. The Republican Party needs once again to be the party of Teddy Roosevelt conservationists.”

So what does the party that cannot win elections do in California? For all the current talk about delivering the state for John McCain in the November election, they know they cannot win California’s Electoral College votes. They resort to trying to change the rules in the middle of the game. They at first denied responsibility for the tawdry attempt to change the Electoral College system in California for this election. Later, as a party, they voted to support it. It went nowhere with the voters of California, polling miserably. When it failed to get sufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot, they blamed the lack of financial resources.

Well, there are some Republicans in this state smart enough not to waste their good money following the bad.

When Jerry Brown wins election as Attorney General by a landslide margin, the CRP ignores the will of the voters and files a lawsuit to try to keep him from taking office. That was thrown out by a judge. At that time, we wrote:

“This is the second time that a lawsuit by those active in the California Republican Party have lost in their attempt to disqualify Brown. Three weeks before the General Election, and way behind in the polls, the Chairs of the Republican Party in Yolo and Contra Costa County tried and failed to have Brown declared ineligible to run and that suit was tossed out of court. We reported on this first political stunt then and predicted the lawsuit would be going nowhere.

“It is ironic that yesterday's court hearing and decision in Sacramento came at the same time that the lead plaintiff, Thomas Del Beccaro was running for statewide party office at the Republican state convention in the same city. Former State Republican Chair, Mike Schroeder, argued the case for him. This was not lost on Brown, who commented:

"It's a profound disrespect to the judicial system to subsume it into his campaign to be vice chair of the state Republican Party. ... It's a frivolous case. It's unfortunate that they're not listening to Gov. Schwarzenegger's call for `post-partisan politics.' This is what I call `Neanderthal partisan politics ...' All they're doing is abusing the judicial process for raw political gain."

Of course when Brown takes office, Republican Senators hold up the California State Budget in an attempt to get laws enacted to prevent Brown from enforcing California's environmental laws--ones passed and already on the books that they don't have the votes to repeal.

Rob Long, producer and writer for the TV series “Cheers,” had it right when he said:

“About the best thing you can say about the California Republican party is that it is not dead.

“No, not dead, but it is sitting in the day room, staring out the window, waiting for the nurse to bring its meds. It's trying to remember exactly who it is. Or was.”

A long ways from Teddy Roosevelt and Hiram Johnson, that's for sure.