Republicans Want to See GOP-TV in the Picture

Orange County Republicans want their GOP-TV.

If the party gets its way, local cable companies will soon carry “Rising Tide,” the 3-month-old weekly program produced in Washington that showcases the party’s leaders and offers a Republican spin on the news.

Although some have been approached, no local cable company has yet agreed to run the show, so the party is launching a letter-writing campaign in a further effort to persuade them to do so, said David Arnold, precinct director for the Republican Party of Orange County.

The counterpunch: Two cable companies have contacted Democratic Party leaders in Orange County to offer them equal time should the companies decide to run the GOP program, said county Democratic Chairwoman Dorianne Garcia, who is mulling over strategies to counter the Republican effort with other party leaders.

Companies dotting Southern California from Santa Clarita to Pasadena and San Diego are running the hourlong program, and more than 100 cable access systems carry it nationwide, said Chuck Greener, director of communications for GOP-TV.

But so far, the California county where Republicans probably feel most at home isn’t one of them.

“We have talked to about four or five companies. None of them have been very receptive,” Arnold said. “They’re having a big problem because they don’t want a partisan show. They want to appeal to the entire community. But Orange County is the most conservative county in the country. I would think viewers would love this show!”

The GOP is not giving up, however. Earlier this week, this month’s Orange County Young Republicans newsletter landed in mailboxes with a letter to cable companies printed inside and an urging to readers to snip it out and mail it in.

“We want to put balance into what our organization perceives as bias in the broadcast networks,” said Kurt English of Newport Beach, newsletter editor for the Orange County Young Republicans. “I sent my letter earlier this week.”

Arnold said the Young Republicans effort is the first of several letter-writing campaigns the party plans to promote.

GOP-TV was launched in January from a basement studio at Republican National Headquarters in Washington. The program aims to broaden communication with the party’s grass-roots, raise funds and attract new members, the party says. National party Chairman Haley Barbour, who hosts the show, spent about $1.5 million in donations to set up the studio. To keep it going, Barbour has vowed to spend $500,000 a year from contributions.

GOP-TV just supplied a copy of last week’s show to Orange County Republican headquarters so the party can peddle the program to local cable companies, Arnold said.

The show featured a discussion of upcoming gubernatorial races, interviews with several Republican governors and a segment highlighting the week’s “GOP newsmakers,” among other things, Greener said.

Next week, “Rising Tide” will broadcast live from San Francisco and feature a discussion of immigration, crime, taxes and defense cuts in California. Among the scheduled guests: Orange County Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez.

And if Orange County Republicans could pick one cable market to crack first?

“Santa Ana,” said Arnold,. ‘if I had to pick . . . because that is probably in the most liberal part of Orange County. That would be a great way to let the people there know what’s going on, and maybe get them to switch parties.”

Democrats have pricked up their ears.

Although the party leadership in Orange County has pooh-poohed the lavish spending on GOP-TV, the prospect of equal time has them talking.

“We will take action,” Garcia said. “It may be something totally different than using cable, but we will do something to counteract what they’re doing.”