California Republican activists gathered for their spring convention last weekend in the state capital and batted around a variety of ideas for revitalizing the party.
Pick one: Stick to base principles about the economy and social issues, or adjust the party's principles to broaden its appeal beyond older white voters - or merely adjust the way the party expresses its principles to sound less divisive? Mount an all-out challenge to Gov. Jerry Brown in the 2014 election, or focus instead on strengthening the party's farm system with better candidates in municipal and district races? Rebuild methodically from party finances on up, or (as Karl Rove, the campaign guru for former President George W. Bush, told delegates in a speech) "Get off your ass" and fight back aggressively?
California Republicans must pick one and then rally around its familiar principles of fiscal restraint.
California needs a robust Republican Party to serve as a foil for free-spending Democrats. But the GOP here is anything but robust now.
Republicans hold no statewide offices. They are weak in the Legislature against Democrats' two-thirds supermajority. They lost ground here in the 2012 congressional election. The state party is heavily in debt.
These are all symptoms of the broader problem: Republicans' share of the state voter rolls has shrunk to 29 percent (vs. Democrats' 44 percent). The GOP's even-worse numbers
among younger generations and the growing Latino population suggest it must change to be a party of the future.Most younger Californians - not to mention most slightly older Californians - don't want a party that wants to run their private lives, so they're turned off by conservatives who are fixated on gay marriage. Latinos won't join a party that doesn't seem to welcome them and their families, so a GOP that makes a priority of hard-line immigration policies isn't likely to win them over.
But younger Californians envisioning a prosperous future, and people who come to this country to share in a strong economy, will recognize the value of a GOP that makes a priority of promoting responsible fiscal practices.
It's not a matter of abandoning conservative principles on other issues - it's about acknowledging differences of opinion on social principles and then emphasizing Republicans' most popular principle.
State voters can get behind an opposition party that stands ready to keep Democrats honest in Sacramento on spending issues.
There were positive signs at the state GOP convention. Along with new chairman Jim Brulte, of the Inland Empire, the party elected vice chairwoman Harmeet Dhillon, of San Francisco, the first woman and the first Sikh in that position. The California Log Cabin Republicans reported more party leadership candidates than ever sought support from the gay and lesbian group.
Maybe most encouraging, top Republicans spoke of emphasizing the party's libertarian streak on economic and social issues. A fiscal focus by Republicans will be best for the party and, not coincidentally, best for the state.
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