GOP Delegates Defy Lungren, Pass Resolution on Late Abortion

In a snub of the party’s gubernatorial front-runner, GOP activists Sunday adopted a resolution seeking to punish any state candidate who fails to oppose so-called partial birth abortions.

The symbolic measure, akin to a controversial proposal rejected last month at the national level, was adopted by delegates to the state party convention in defiance of party leaders--among them gubernatorial hopeful Dan Lungren--who opposed adopting any such “litmus test.”

“We’re not talking about a litmus test,” delegate Greg Hardcastle said before party activists approved the resolution. “We’re talking about a values test.”

The symbolic resolution urges the state party to change its rules to deny financial support and withhold other benefits to any candidate who does not support legislation outlawing the late-term abortion procedure. The measure passed soon after Lungren, now the state attorney general, staved off embarrassment by securing the formal party endorsement by acclamation.

Lungren, running without serious opposition in the June 2 primary, was backed by a roaring voice vote of several hundred convention delegates--a chorus of harmony that belied the behind-the-scenes maneuvering needed to pull it off.

A buoyant Lungren responded by delivering a peppery partisan address that attacked--without naming any Democratic rivals--the efforts of party candidates to package themselves, in the fashion of President Clinton, as reconstituted, middle-of-the-road New Democrats.

“The slogan may be different. The label may have been altered. The wrapping modified to a more popular shade of voter preference,” Lungren said. “But it’s still the same old-time religion of the ‘60s and ‘70s.”

The endorsement was the first time the state GOP has given its formal stamp to a candidate in the primary, a move that seemed clear-cut given Lungren’s virtual assurance of winning the party nomination.

But the Lungren campaign was slow to solidify support--heading into the convention the candidate himself said an endorsement was no sure bet--and the hesitancy provided an opening for dissenters eager to promote their agendas.

While some moderate party members and conservative gun owners have expressed unhappiness with Lungren, antiabortion activists were the ones most eager to exploit the opportunity.

Lungren has long been a staunch opponent of abortion. But he antagonized some party members by opposing efforts--at both the state and national levels--to deny party support to candidates who fail to oppose late-term abortions. Abortion foes, in turn, threatened to scuttle Lungren’s endorsement at Sunday’s wrap-up session.

At a meeting Saturday night, conservatives discussed their differences with Lungren and walked away believing that they had reached an understanding: The candidate would receive the endorsement without a hitch and allow delegates to approve the abortion resolution unimpeded.

“There was an understanding it was critical to get Lungren’s endorsement before the partial-birth abortion vote,” Lungren campaign director David Puglia said. But, he added, there was no explicit trade-off.

The resolution, adopted 297 to 253, will be revisited at the state party’s next convention in September. At that point, delegates will decide whether to adopt a binding change in party rules.