Posted on 12/02/2005 11:03:02 AM PST by NormsRevenge
We can discuss all of the details surrounding the bad run up to the election, the mistakes with drafting the initiatives and the battles within the horseshoe itself...but time calls for me to be short and to the point:
1. I'm still placing some 'blame' squarely upon the conservatives of the Republican Party. The "Tombots", along with the 'continual vendetta crowd' (you know who you are) never embraced Arnold. Simple 'pride' wouldn't let go of the 'sour grapes' they held as the party went for the win in the recall election (BTW: I still believe it was the right thing to do!). They eventually drove support, and voters away from Arnold's administration and his agenda.
Arnold was willing to stick his neck our on conservative issues, legislation, vetoes and a tough (not perfect) special ballot. He did accomplished some major successes for the Republican ideology. But in the end, the major loss surrounding the "Special Election" left him cold, he didn't feel the love from the conservative core, he got mad...so he has changed dance partners. He is now a scorned lover.
2. This administration's conservative agenda, whether fiscal or social, is over. Arnold has no direction and no 'trust' from any of the Republican leaders. He has decided to make his bed in the 'moderate center', and the liberal core socially. Yes, there are some encouraging words about Susan Kennedy's tough stance on the 'tax and spend' mentality of the Democrat majority, but I have little hope that we can escape tax increases in the next budget. Forget about our chances when it comes to "Same Sex Marriage" and conservative ideals as they relate to legislation. The only question that remains is how long Legislative Affairs Secretary Richard Costigan and Deputy Cynthia Bryant will call the horseshoe home.
3. I'm guessing a large, wide majority of the GOP will further sour on Arnold Schwarzenegger, this will cause him to move further and further to the left. He is a man who likes to be liked. I wouldn't be surprised if he announced himself as an 'Independent' for his second run as governor. No, not to mimic the position of Jessie Ventura (Arnold is not a Jesse, he's bright, intelligent and personally successful), but he might move to the Independent statements, if not the full party affiliation move, to make a statement to the populous of the voters in California..."I'm no ultra-conservative Republican, and I'm not a liberal Democrat, I'm my own man, and Independent of sorts." He came close Wednesday afternoon during the press conference.
4. The party needs to make a decision, do you run with this guy, or do you find another horse? Right now the party has no other option, and Schwarzenegger knows it, advantage Arnold, and Phil Angelides. It may be ten years before the GOP has another opportunity.
5. Finally, remember the "missed opportunity" here; we had a very conservative ballot, and a very conservative possibility for the state fiscally, as well as socially with Prop 73. We...we, the voters did NOT run to the polls as did the unions and the Democrats.
We, the conservatives should take one hard lesson from this disaster; when you have a chance to support a candidate that is 75% conservative, or an initiative ballot that is 60%, or even 50%, of what is needed and desired - we MUST support it with gusto. Increments toward the right, especially in California, are steps in the "right direction".
Now, because of vendetta on our part, and an ego that is looking to be loved on Arnold's part, the Republican Party is shrinking right along with the future of this state.
In summary; Governor Schwarzenegger we all lost the "Special Election", but with this nomination as Chief of Staff, you have lost me as a supporter of your administration. It is now a pitch-by-pitch scenario governor, and we are expecting a few curve balls, careful when and where you throw them
The "Home of the Recall" stands at a distance!
I, for one, would gladly support a condidate that is 75% conservative. Show me one and I'll vote for em.
You have spoken the truth of the matter, loudly and clearly!!!
Well, Mr. Hogue, I'm guessing you're right. Heck although it took you until the end of your article, even you have reached the same conclusion most of us have when you said, "Governor Schwarzenegger we all lost the 'Special Election,' but with this nomination as Chief of Staff, you have lost me as a supporter of your administration."
Thanks Eric for that brilliant analysis. It's all the fault of conservatives. Give it a rest.
This guy said it best this morning:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1532693/posts
I'm one of them.
Frankly, it's too bad that Rove and Parsky rammed this idiot into the recall process in the first place after the real conservatives managed the recall.
You lose me here, Cicero.
First, no one "rammed" Arnold into the recall process. He made that decision on his own because, without a primary to deal with, he saw it as an easy path to election. He was right. Subsequently, he has done everything he possibly could to keep the President and most Republicans at arms length.
Second, the recall was a huge mistake. I don't know the true background of who started it and why, but yes, its largest number of supporters were "real" conservatives of the type who make up the great majority of FR posters. However, even "real" conservatives are subject to the human condition. Even they make mistakes. The recall was a monumental one.
Norm, it is worth fight for, but we've just been doing a breathtakingly stupid job of it, and for far, far too long.
Frankly, it's too bad that Rove and Parsky rammed this idiot into the recall process in the first place after the real conservatives managed the recall.
Goes to show that Parsky and Rove hate Conservatives! (see Toomey, Shundler etc) I won't mind if Ahnol -D loses reelection since Maria has her eyes on the White House, & I hope Simon challenges him in the primary! Never vote for Kennedys...you only get what you deserve.
Frankly, it's too bad that Rove and Parsky rammed this idiot into the recall process in the first place after the real conservatives managed the recall.
Goes to show that Parsky and Rove hate Conservatives! (see Toomey, Shundler etc) I won't mind if Ahnol -D loses reelection since Maria has her eyes on the White House, & I hope Simon challenges him in the primary! Never vote for Kennedys...you only get what you deserve.
Yup Eric. I still remember the 3 times he did this.
1) He reinstituted a General Fund subsidy of a hated tax transfering the burden to the next generation.
2) He vetoed legislation that would have provided a wealth of taxpayer supported benefits to illegal aliens.
3) He vetoed an attempt to mainstream deviant behavior.
How brave he was. Standing up to the liberal establishment. Never mind the mob that was poised to stick him in the butt with a pitchfork if he didn't.
These props didn't pass because the Unions pushed hard to get them defeated, the conservatives turned out in good number but there just isn't that many of us. So stick your stupid opinion up you a** where it belongs. Arnold sold us out and before he made Gray Davis's favorite pet his own.
Girlie man is toast.
I predict here and now that McClintock will receive the same or less support in his campaign from the official Republican Party apparatus as Jones did in his Senate run vs. Boxer. That is to say, nothing even noticeable.
The Republican Party sees CA as nothing but an ATM for their national agenda, and doesn't give a damn about promoting a Republican agenda at the State level. They don't seek strong candidates and they don't support the ones they do run. They compromise constantly with the status quo, as long as the gerrymanders preserve their own little fiefdoms, while settling for the permanent minority status that preserves. And it will stay that way as long as the Riordan/Wilson/Drier types hold sway. Arnold Schwarzenegger's candidacy at the last moment in the recall was a blatant powerplay by that wing, at the expense of the grass roots conservatives who got it going.
Don't be naive. Schwarzenegger was a political protege of Richard Riordan, and there was a publicly reported agreement between them that one was going to jump into the recall. If you think it was a spontaneous decision by Arnold on Leno's show, you're gullible. It was a ploy by the established powerplayers who saw that the other machine candidates weren't gaining enough traction. That's why they all stepped aside for Arnold shortly after his announcement.
I remember the agreement. When I said Arnold made that decision "on his own," I didn't mean in a vaccum without consulting with his closest confidants. I meant he made it without influences from outside the state, specifically Karl Rove. Schwarzenegger has kept President Bush and others in the administration as far removed from his own political career as he possibly could.
The Republican Party sees CA as nothing but an ATM for their national agenda, and doesn't give a damn about promoting a Republican agenda at the State level
The R party is different in the state than nationally. You seem not to know that they are different apparatti.
Further, nationally, the money that is raised in CA stayed in CA. This was especially the case in 2000.
You're analysis is also useless as you fail to recognize that you _are_ the party - and if you decline to be part of it, you only hurt your own ability to influence the process that you are so critical of.
So what did you personally do for Jones other than write a check (maybe) and vote for him?
I just love the reference on that other thread to "The French Wing of The CA Republican Party!" Ha Ha Ha!!! Purrrrfect!!!
Yeah. It'll be interesting to see what comes of this next year, politically as well as fiscally.
I don't think it was a decision of Rove. I think it was a decision of the pro-status quo Republicans here in CA. It certainly wasn't a decision he made on his own.
Yeah, I was just imagining those Presidential fundraising events. And I must have missed the Jones for Senate advertising blitz.
So what did you personally do for Jones other than write a check (maybe) and vote for him?
Not a damn thing. Maybe one day the CAGOP will see fit to run a candidate I can be enthusiastic about, instead of empty suits like Jones and Fong. One that actually agrees with me on more than 50% of the issues. One that takes commited and loud public stances based on conservative principals.
More Wilson than Riordan, in the person of Bob White.
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