CALIFORNIA GOP CONVENTION : Bitter Ending as Delegates Battle Over Gays, Taxes

State Republicans swept aside pleas for unity Sunday and, as they closed a discordant three-day convention, demanded that Gov. Pete Wilson veto a gay rights bill.

Signaling deep divisions on the hot-button issues of gay rights and taxes, delegates also rebuked U. S. Sen. John Seymour, who was appointed by Wilson this year.

As Seymour began to address the delegates, half of the 600 people in the convention hall bolted from their seats. The senator stood as they moved noisily outside to chant slogans in support of Seymour’s 1992 primary opponent, U. S. Rep. William Dannemeyer.

Later, Seymour played down the protest.

“I thought I was going to get pelted by tea bags,” he said, alluding to convention grumblings about mounting a “Tea Party” to protest tax increases supported by Wilson and the Legislature.

Although conservatives held more sway than in recent party gatherings, Wilson did come away with strategic victories. Members of the Republican right failed in two attempts to force changes in party rules. Both were efforts to remove President Bush and, indirectly, Wilson from key national-level party appointments.

But the protesters managed to put Wilson’s forces and Seymour on the defensive on several issues, chief among them gay rights. The delegates made their opinions known through the resolution that demanded a veto of AB 101, a bill passed by the Legislature that would ban employment discrimination against homosexuals.

Wilson earlier indicated he might sign the bill, but late Friday said he was undecided and would not address it until negotiations over reapportionment are concluded.

Party Chairman Jim Dignan won sustained applause Sunday when he asked the crowd rhetorically, “Do you agree with me that the governor should veto AB 101?”

“Yes!” most of the crowd screamed.

The resolution approved by the delegates called the bill “anti-family” and said it does “great harm and insult to legitimate minorities.”

“The homosexual lifestyle has made a direct and leading contribution to the epidemic spread of the AIDS virus, resulting in the deaths of thousands of U. S. citizens,” it added.

The resolution, which also expressed support for a referendum to overturn AB 101 if it becomes law, was adopted by voice vote without discussion. Dozens of other resolutions were approved, including one opposing the inclusion of homosexual Republican clubs in the party structure.

In indirect swipes at Wilson, the delegates lauded other Republican governors who had balanced their budgets without tax increases and commended former GOP Assembly Leader Ross Johnson, who had feuded with Wilson over taxes.

Wilson has been supportive of homosexual rights, including those of gay activists within the Republican Party. As he considers AB 101, however, Wilson is caught between socially conservative Republicans and more liberal gay activists.

A purported representative of one gay rights group has threatened to “out”--or publicly reveal--allegedly gay members of the governor’s staff if Wilson vetoes the bill. The threat came in a recent phone call to the governor’s office, but the name of the caller was not available.

“There’s basically a rush for all of us to get married right now,” cracked James Lee, Wilson’s representative at the convention.

Lee said Wilson’s reaction to the threat was simple: “Ignore it.”

Seymour, while insisting he abhorred discrimination, dodged the specific concerns of gay activists and, according to two accounts, reversed his stand on a homosexual rights issue.

On Saturday, he refused to take a position on whether the U. S. military’s ban on gay enlistees should be lifted, or on the pending anti-discrimination legislation. He also denied a newspaper report that he had expressed regret about opposing a stronger 1984 anti-discrimination bill, AB 1.

But Frank Ricchiazzi, executive director of the Log Cabin PAC, a political fund-raising organization for gay Republicans, said he heard Seymour recant his opposition to AB 1 and pledge to support similar legislation in the future.

Ricchiazzi said he and other gay Republicans would ask to meet with Seymour to determine his current position. He insisted that he was not troubled by Seymour’s refusal to publicly support legislation banning discrimination.

“Why dignify a zoo?” he asked, gesturing to the delegates. “They really have some problems and they’ll be on the couch again Monday.”

While Seymour was the target of an organized protest Sunday, he and Wilson shared the spotlight throughout the weekend. The glare was enough to dismay their political allies.

The more colorful traditions of conventions--the buttons, balloons and flyers that are meant to add to the flavor--also served this weekend to reflect dissent within the party.

Disgruntled bumper stickers slammed the governor: “One-term Pete: The Michael Dukakis of the West,” one read. Buttons touted Republican Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren for governor in 1994, when Wilson presumably will be seeking his second term and possibly warming up for a 1996 presidential bid.

Few politicians, even usual Wilson allies, were pounding the podium in defense of the governor.

On Friday night, an exception came in the person of former President Richard M. Nixon, who recorded a message to Wilson that was played before the governor’s speech at the Nixon Library--Wilson’s only official appearance before convention delegates.

“Our great state could not be in better hands,” Nixon said. “No one has performed better in the critical early months of an administration.”

Some present-day politicians were less supportive. Neither Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, Saturday’s speaker, nor Seymour on Sunday so much as mentioned Wilson’s name in their addresses.

But despite what has become a traditional convention wrangle over taxes and sensitive social issues, there appeared little the delegates could do to express their dismay other than to embarrass Seymour and Wilson.

As expected, the convention easily defeated a proposal to take away President Bush’s authority to appoint members of the California delegation to next summer’s Republican National Convention in Houston. Wilson is expected to have a strong hand in forming the delegation.

The proposal called for shifting control of the delegation to the state party. The delegates, rallied by Wilson Administration officials, also turned down a bylaws change that would have given the party the power to pick California’s two members of the GOP national committee.

One senior Republican strategist--initially concerned that the convention could boil over into a political crisis for Wilson--later declared it “disappointly mild.”

Lungren, echoing calls for unity, said Republicans should stem their fratricide and see Wilson as an ally.

“What’s the alternative, for God’s sake?” Lungren asked. “Are people going to break from Pete Wilson . . . and then open the way for a Democratic leader who would not worry one whit about any spending cuts? . . . We live in a real world out here.”

Lungren and others throughout the weekend emphasized the political bounty that Republicans hope to collect next year, when two U. S. Senate seats, an estimated 10 to 15 open congressional seats and much of a reapportioned Legislature will be up for election.

To underscore national attention on California, Gramm announced that the Republican senatorial campaign committee will spend $5 million next year on the two Senate races. It will be the largest sum ever spent in a single state, he said.