Time for New Leadership

In the months following the primary election, I have sat in countless meetings with the Schwarzenegger campaign and CRP leadership. During these meetings, the campaign hierarchy assured conservatives that the Victory ’06 program would help down ticket candidates. The CRP leadership, including Duf Sundheim, addressed conservatives’ concerns by stating that Tom McClintock, Tony Strickland, Chuck Poochigian and others would all benefit from the governor’s campaign. Around midnight on November 7th, we realized that we had been lied to, not just once, but repeatedly.

In the days and weeks leading up to the election, conservatives expressed our frustration that Victory ’06 and the governor were not in fact focused on “the team” but on re-electing a man who continues to search for his core values. I can’t tell you how many fellow Republicans I talked to who said that they would not set foot in a Victory ’06 center because of their distrust of the governor’s self-centered agenda. Many told me that they refused to enter Victory ’06 HQ because when they entered, they were forced to use the Arnold-only scripts when calling voters. Conservatives are rightly concerned about the governor’s behavior in office because he has sold out the fundamental Republican principles of lower taxes and less government intrusion in our lives.

There’s not much that the Republican faithful can do about Schwarzenegger now that he has used us to achieve his goals (i.e., become a Hollywood governor with high box office, I mean, approval ratings). And he has used Republicans—he has no loyalty to the party that has worked so hard to elect him. Schwarzenegger actually said the Democrats’ win is “healthy” for U.S. politics. True, it is “healthy” that our democratic republic has elections where the people can decide on government leadership. However, the governor then went on to say “I think it is good that there are new ideas and new blood because Washington was stuck. They could not move forward, not much was accomplished; I think it was terrible." First of all, as a voter, I didn’t hear any “new ideas” in the Democrats’ campaign. All I heard was a lot of complaining. In fact, Nancy Pelosi has admitted that the Democrats are “finding solutions.” The Democrats’ campaign drumbeat was that they had the answers to solve our problems. Also, the Democrats who will run Congress are not “new blood.” Ted Kennedy and the rest of the Democratic leadership have been in office for decades. Second, if you are truly committed to Republican principles, you communicate those ideas and support candidates and policies that will implement those principles. Criticizing Tom McClintock in the week preceding the election for remaining steadfast to Republican principles on the bond issue, that hurts the movement.

However, the good news is that Schwarzenegger will be gone in four years. Our immediate concern—for the sake of the party—is to ensure that the CRP leadership is committed to our party’s principles and not to personal power or Schwarzenegger’s fleeting approval. As a Republican, I am outraged that the chairman of our party is committed to one candidate, not even a true Republican, over the platform of our party. Duf Sundheim actually had the audacity to say: "What we saw and felt is that this is not the year you get a bunch of Republicans holding hands on the stage saying, vote for us, we're Republicans, we're a team. Part of Gov. Schwarzenegger's appeal is that he's not part of that team." How dare the chairman of the Republican Party sell out his candidates and his party for the governor. Mr. Sundheim, you lied to the party you were elected to serve. Sundheim also said that “From my perspective, based on what other people told me, this was the best coordinated campaign between the governor and the down-ticket that they had ever seen.” Really? Did Schwarzenegger coordinate with McClintock when he said that McClintock was “wrong” on the bonds? That quote was used in a robo-call against McClintock the weekend before the election.

The CRP desperately needs new leadership. We need leaders committed to the Republican principles that will return California to a land of economic prosperity and personal liberty. We need leaders who will stand up against candidates and elected officials who seek to use us as a vehicle for their personal gain. November 7th was a wake-up call for the Republican faithful. Now, more than ever, California needs us to take a stand and start communicating the ideas that citizens must hear. The CRP can proudly boast that we elected the Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan. When we start following his example by simply articulating our message and then sticking to our principles, we can be that party again.