GOP Party Infighting – Don’t Blame the Right

Restive GOP Activists May Stage Revolt
By Peter Nicholas

Republican activists disenchanted with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday that they will try to strip the governor of the party's endorsement unless he fires his new chief of staff, Democrat Susan P. Kennedy.

Restive Republicans said they would rally conservatives behind a resolution, to be offered at the state GOP convention in San Jose next month, that may give Schwarzenegger an ultimatum: Dump Kennedy by March 15 or the party will withdraw its backing of his reelection bid.

Rushing to Endorse Was the Real Mistake
The California Republican Party voted for an early endorsement of Governor Schwarzenegger’s reelection last year. The move was extraordinary because the party usually does not endorse prior to the Primary election, but some felt it was necessary to encourage Governor Schwarzenegger to run in 2006. Now that the CRP has put all of its eggs in the Schwarzenegger basket, a number of party delegates are regretting their extraordinary action.

The early endorsement of Arnold Schwarzenegger was not necessary in the first place, and clamoring about it now makes the party look bad. Perhaps there is a lesson here about jumping into drifting vessels. Maybe the party will learn to be more judicious in the future.

Don’t Blame Conservatives
One regret that I have over this party infighting is that it will be blamed on social conservatives by the mainstream media and later used by the left within the party as an excuse to dismiss social conservatives as destructive to party success.

The truth is, this quarrel is the making of those within the party, both conservatives and liberals, who tossed philosophy to the wind to “get a win.” They never vetted their candidate and now many of them, both liberal and conservative, are upset that their candidate is not who they imagined him to be. Those activists backed Arnold Schwarzenegger in the recall and also in urging the early party endorsement, and now they are angry. Blaming Arnold Schwarzenegger for being Arnold Schwarzenegger at this point is a little like cursing the sun for rising in the East.

Welcome to the hotel California!