Turning Point for the GOP

Re “Republican Party’s Future Needs to Center on Moving Away From Far Right,” by George Skelton, Feb. 11: Last weekend, Bill Simon stated that the upcoming Republican gubernatorial primary “is about the heart and soul of the Republican Party.” I agree with him, but not with his reasoning. What use are rhetoric and ideology when they cannot be implemented through the election of public officials?

As a recent college Republican chairman at USC and current student at Yale Law School, I can assure you that the true heart and soul of any political party is to win elections. Neither Simon nor Bill Jones stands a chance against Gov. Gray Davis this fall. Dick Riordan, however, has Davis’ pens shaking in his pocket protector. While Riordan may not completely toe the party line, his pragmatic approach to politics is just what the Republican Party needs to regain control of Sacramento.

The ideological blinders of last weekend’s convention attendees (not to mention the former party chairmen who shortsightedly say they will not vote for Riordan) risk dooming the rest of California’s Republicans to a fate we would rather not endure: four more years of Gray. I’d like to return to California after I graduate law school, so please, be smart and vote for Riordan this March.

Andrew Escobar

New Haven, Conn.

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I am a 23-year-old PhD student at UC Berkeley and recently attended the California Republican Convention in San Jose. I am part of a group of progressive young Republicans at Berkeley who want the party to be more inclusive. The reception we got at the convention, however, was tepid at best. As a young Republican, I feel very disenchanted with the party’s response to and interest in the voice of my peers and myself. The only capacity it seems interested in, in us, is as envelope-stuffing automatons.

Party leaders should be reaching out to the future leaders who will fill their roles in the next few decades. This is anything but the case, however. As a conservative in Berkeley, I feel the party has written me off, even though I have observed a definite untapped conservative current among students here who are looking for leadership from the party. It is very unfortunate that the Republican leadership seems to have forgotten the conservative youth here at UC Berkeley who want to be heard and respected by the party they support. Come election day, do not be surprised if we forget the Republican Party.

Richard L. Brutchey

Downey