I don't agree with the parenthetical. Each time a conservative has run in California, they have been closer to winning than most RINOs. They have been pushed into the losing circle not by the democrats or the electorate, but by the big-government RINO crooks who stab their "own" fellow Republican in the back at the eleventh hour. Analysis after analysis has been posted on FR proving the above but somehow your parenthetical keeps getting repeated as if it is fact. Purge the big-government cronies from the 'leadership' of the party and put one nth the effort behind a campaign that was done for Meg or Carly and California could have conservatives in leadership. Instead of accepting the RINO mantra of "they can't win", these RINO scumbags need to be exposed and thrown out on their tails. JMNSHO
CalCowGirl, both of us have watched decent candidates get eaten up by the election process here in California. Bill Simon is a perfect example.
I guess I should actually backtrack a bit here, because the process isn’t what defeats our people. It’s the California Republican Party leadership that costs us elections.
If it’s a person like Schwarzenegger or Whitman, the leadership recruits them, fawns over them, and helps them every step of the way. If it’s a guy like Bill Simon the party leadership acts like a spurned wife, who isn’t talking to her husband on general principles.
Simon beat out Riordan in the primary. He wasn’t supposed to be able to do it. When he did the party leadership stomped out of the room never to return.
Simon ran his campaign on a few million dollars. While he was being driven in his campaign bus to campaign stops few and far between, Gray Davis was being whisked around in a corporate jet. Simon spent a few million dollars for his whole campaign. Davis spent between $10 and $15 million, perhaps even more.
Simon was showing up at rallies of his and his team’s own devising. The party wasn’t helping. The national level Republicans who came out to help him were few and far between. It was like pulling teeth to get any support. Bush made one very quick in and out visit. I’m not sure if he even attended a big fundraiser for Simon. I tend to doubt it.
Gray Davis on the other hand, had full Democrat party support. His party team here in California pulled out all the stops. Big affairs in San Francisco, Los Angeles and other places were attended by big names in the state, and some of the biggest national names as well. Presidential candidates showed up to support him. People from Capital Hill showed up. No stone was left unturned to make sure Davis was given every chance to win.
After all this, the lack of support, the lop-sided way things were run on the campaign trail, Bill Simon lost by 5%. That sounds like a big spread, but the fact of the matter is, a 2.5% plus one shift in the vote, and Simon would have won.
The Democrats pushed their get out the vote drive to the max. Simon, not having much funding, simply couldn’t compete.
Davis spent a huge sum on television spots. Simon couldn’t afford to. The local media gave glowing reports of Davis campaign adventures, and cut down factual reports about Simon’s. Simon not getting any support, few flashy names, and less spectacular venues, appeared to be running a poor campaign. Can’t remember how many times I heard Republican say they couldn’t support him because he couldn’t even run a successful campaign, completely missing the point that the Cal RP leadership was AWOL.
On election day there were 6,703,291 votes cast for governor. Simon lost by 363,689 votes. Only 181,845 votes would have had to shift from Davis to Simon, for Simon to have won this election.
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2002_general/gov.pdf
Did he lose the election on the issues? No. He lost the election because nobody, no matter how good they are, can win an election playing the role of the Lone Ranger.
I don’t care who you are, there are bedrock issues that speak to you. Taxes, employment, safety, crime, education, sound fiscal management, Simon came within a whisker of winning the election without the Republican party leadership in or out of the state.
It is not a factual claim, that nobody but a RINO can win in California. It is factual to state that nobody but a RINO will get the Republican party’s support in California.
When you start looking at the registration figures for California, you quickly realize how desperate the voters are for better leadership. Despite the lopsided registration in the state, 44.6% Democrat and 35.21% for the Republicans, Simon was still able to draw within a 2.5% swing vote margin.
The only people Simon couldn’t win over, was the few people at the helm in the Republican party in-state. His message was good enough. He was not denied due to his Conservative message. He was denied, because he was not funded so that he could get his message out.
Remember, Davis was recalled less than a year later. If Simon had been funded and able to get his message out, the recall would have been unnecessary. Schwarzenegger would never have been governor. Our state would be in a better fiscal position today. Brown would likely have not even run this years.
I went back to 2002, because that’s the last time we’ve had a real Conservative in the general election.
Simon’s treatment made it quite clear what future Conservatives could expect if they dared try the same thing in state.
It saddens me to see folks buy off on the idea that Conservatism is dead, or it just won’t sell anymore. That is not born out by the facts. The truth is, we have very few salesmen for Conservatism these days, and if you’re not making calls, you’re not making sales.
Don’t blame Californians for not voting for Conservative tenets, when they haven’t heard them expounded upon for going on a decade.
When a conservative actually wins as governor of CA or NY (or MA) I will concede your points. Arnold is a super-RINO. Even in the mid 90s during the Republican tidal wave the governorship and Mayor of NYC both RINOs broke those Democrat strongholds. Same with Romney and Brown, both RINOs in MA, And in MD RINO Ehrlich beat Kennedy for governorship for only one term (see below point), but when we in MD nominated a REAL conservative Salbrey for governor (I sent her money), she lost.
Liberals don't (almost never) vote in conservatives, and conservatives don't vote in liberals.
This is all off the main point of my comment about how Democrats beat RINOs by using Alinsky political tactics against them : they attack RINOs for acting like them (Democrats).