State Republicans Rally Around Bush

When all of their conventioneering was done, California Republicans this weekend had settled on the perfect salve for their self-inflicted wounds: George W. Bush. Or, as he was known at the state party’s Anaheim gathering, The Nominee.

No matter that he isn’t yet, or that the Texas governor didn’t bother to show up. Both moderates and conservatives--two groups who have spent years clashing with each other over issues big and small--saw Bush as a unifying force, the candidate best able to help them paper over their differences and project optimism for a party that its own officials privately admit has a big image problem.

But beneath the enthusiasm that both sides say a Bush candidacy would generate, problems remain.

The party has only begun talking about doing the long and difficult work of attracting those voters increasingly important in California--women, high-tech workers and minorities.

While Bush--if he does become The Nominee--could attract those voters to himself, it remains to be seen whether they will stick with the GOP in other races.

Delegates to the weekend gathering were pessimistic that the party’s conservative Senate candidates will be able to seriously challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein--at least in part because the party has not made the inroads Bush has among voters who have abandoned Republicans in the past.

“Have we bottomed out yet? I don’t think that we have,” said one party delegate and campaign veteran, who spoke on condition of anonymity and predicted more Republican losses to come.

There were tentative signs that some party officials would like to heal ideological wounds before next year’s presidential and Senate contests. One came when Assembly Republican leader Scott Baugh of Orange County said that he would press in meetings this fall to toss out the 37-page party platform and replace it with a one-page statement of principles.

While party platforms are scoured by only the most dedicated of activists, the state GOP’s inclusion of an anti-abortion plank has been a chief source of internal tension for years.

“The party should stick to principles that unite people together instead of policies that have the effect of dividing,” Baugh said.

But even as the prospect of compromise was being raised, there was a reminder of how difficult it would be to pull it off. Presidential candidate Alan Keyes, who spoke at the convention’s Sunday morning session, blistered those who would play down the importance of abortion and other moral issues--as party pragmatists have long advocated.

“Since Ronald Reagan, we have insisted on sending forth champions who don’t want to engage in this debate over moral questions,” he said.

“You elect another mediocre equivocator who will not stand forthrightly upfront and address the issues . . . and we will lose and we will deserve to lose,” Keyes added, to applause from several hundred delegates.

Keyes’ remarks notwithstanding, the appeal of Bush in both camps reflects a truism about presidential politics in general and California politics in particular: Candidates, not political parties, attract voters.

“More than anything else, from everything I’ve seen, people want the nominee to rally around,” said Darrell Issa, the Vista businessman and delegate who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 1998. “Republicans are very hungry for that.”

And is Bush “the nominee”?

“He’s the only one that’s trying to put a welcome mat out in every direction,” Issa said.

As of now, Bush has so dominated the Republican side of the presidential race that he has rendered the state GOP irrelevant. His fund-raisers have scoured California for a big chunk of his $52-million--and counting--bankroll; party activists and campaign officials say that many donors are simply giving to Bush and ignoring the party’s requests for cash.

Bush has spurned invitations to the last two party conventions, pleading scheduling conflicts. Both candidate Steve Forbes, who spoke to the convention Saturday, and Keyes on Sunday insinuated that Bush had insulted the delegates with his absence.

It seemed not to matter to most of the delegates. Business at an information table set up by the Bush campaign was brisk throughout the weekend; some other tables, notably one on behalf of candidate Elizabeth Dole, were barren of both workers and interested delegates at times. Bush stickers and buttons dominated the delegates’ lapels, and the Texas governor won 75% of the votes taken by the party’s Asian American and African American caucuses.

But several Republicans were troubled that few of the party’s potential candidates for 2000 races seem to be following in Bush’s footsteps by attempting to directly appeal to the women, Latinos and independent voters whose support can dictate success or failure.

While Bush has played down divisive issues like abortion and gun control in favor of matters like education, state Sen. Ray Haynes of Riverside suggested that his campaign for U.S. Senate would lean toward the more divisive themes.

“The Republican coalition is motivated by taxes, by life and by guns,” said Haynes, who Saturday announced his candidacy against Feinstein.

U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell, a social moderate and fiscal conservative, is talking with supporters about a Senate bid. His profile mimics that of former Gov. Pete Wilson, the only state Republican to win the governorship or a U.S. Senate seat in California since 1987. Several delegates said in interviews that Campbell, or another somewhat moderate candidate, is the party’s only realistic shot against Feinstein.

A win against Feinstein by one of the conservative candidates “would be almost impossible,” said Ventura County delegate Bob Larkin.

State party leaders, faced with delivering good news in the wake of the worst performance by Republicans in 40 years--the 1998 drubbing at the hands of Democrats--insisted this weekend that things are looking up.

They played down a $337,000 debt, saying they had raised $1.3 million this year, about the same as in past off-election years. And they said they were confident that Republicans would unite behind the nominee, who most believe will be Bush.

“I just think this is a normal cyclical thing,” party Chairman John McGraw said about the infighting and concerns about money. “We have an early primary and we’re going to see people coalesce.”