The struggle in the 34th State Senate District hints at a partywide problem in the O.C. GOP
O.C. Register editorial columnist Steven Greenhut did a great job of summarizing the state of things in the race for the 34th State Senate District, in today’s paper. His commentary, entitled “A competitive race in the heart of O.C.,” is available at http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/opinion/abox/article_993570.php.
My favorite paragraph explains what California State Senator Dick Ackerman, the ostensible leader of the GOP in the State Senate, is up to: “Unfortunately for Republicans, their chance to pick up a rare competitive seat is jeopardized by Ackerman, who is backing Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher, R-Brea. Ackerman has threatened to withhold party funds if Tran wins the nomination.”
I’ve said this before, and no doubt I’ll say it again before the upcoming elections are at an end: our party leadership in O.C. is surely under the influence of illicit substances, and we need to do some drug tests. Ackerman is leading the pack by backing the most liberal Republican in the O.C., but locally, in my city of Santa Ana, past O.C. party chair Tom Fuentes is backing a former Democrat against conservative Rosie Avila for the 47th congressional district, and most party leaders are backing the tarnished Sheriff, Mike Carona, and the union sycophant, Jim Silva, in their respective races. To say nothing of Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle and his ill-fated campaign to prevent a businessman from doing what he wants to do with his property.
What has happened to the Republican Party of Orange County? We’ve somehow lost focus and laid aside our principles in the process. What hope do we have statewide if we cannot get our own house in order? The race for the 34th is important, but it is emblematic of a greater struggle which has seen us circle our own instead of the enemy. Disaster can be the only outcome – until we clean our house of all the purported conservatives who worship power and money now instead of the truth and the principles that they used to believe in.
Welcome to the California GOP, Art.
We’re the minority party because we act like the minority party.
Ryan,
You’re too young to remember this, but some years back Curt Pringle was the head of the GOP in the State Assembly – and back then our party dominated the lower house, albeit briefly. How we have fallen since then.
Pringle ushered in an era of loss that only Scharzenegger was able to overturn, but now even he is succumbing to the malaise that is omnipresent in Sacramento.
We need to support Republicans who actually believe in our principles. Those who sell out to unions, or who mirror the anti-family policies of the Dems, or who favor overspending, new taxes or eminent domain, must go. In their place we need to elect men of principle.
There are a few such men in our party. Chris Norby and John Moorlach come to mind. Others are on the way. Hopefully some of them will prevail in the upcoming elections, and God willing you will be in their number.
Remember, political name tags mean nothing. It is fruitless to call yourself a conservative if you are going to act like Daucher, Silva, Carona, etc. Leave the grandstanding to them, and answer instead to the people who vote for you, and the ideas you share with them, and you will go far…
Art,
I remember reading some California politcial history before I entered the race. I knew Pringle was the Assembly leader, and even though I haven’t been out here long, I’ve quickly understood why we’re not the majority party.
I love this line… “Leave the grandstanding to them, and answer instead to the people who vote for you, and the ideas you share with them, and you will go far… “
Why do you think Texas, which is a minority-majority state, is still a Republican majority state? It’s where I learned my Republican principles.
Hey Art, can you propose a Resolution of No Confidence on Ackerman?
Even if it doesn’t get enough votes to pass, we just need a second for the debate.
That would be one amazing debate wouldn’t you agree?
Martin,
I was thinking the same thing today. I will check with my friends at YAF and CRA and see if we can make this happen…
I’ve been watching the OC Republican party implode for a while.
It’s a shame that people, like Daucher, who have paid their dues and been a member of the party for years are being kicked aside while newcomers like Tran are being promoted.
In the 34th, local Reeps are touting a kid who has no track record in any real political arena.
Is this really the best that the the OC Republican party can do for us?
Anonymous,
Daucher only was elected to the State Legislature after a bad law was passed allowing Dems to vote in the GOP primary. Since then she has been predictably liberal.
Tran may be younger than her – but he cut his political teeth working for Ed Royce, and then was elected in his own right to the Garden Grove City Council.
When Tran ran for the 68th Assembly District, he brought thousands of Vietnamese voters with him, from the Dem Party, making a huge difference for the GOP.
Furthermore, Tran’s Assembly district directly overlaps with the 34th State Senate district, whereas Daucher’s current Assembly District barely touches the northern tip of the 34th. She is a virtual unknown in Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana, which comprise most of the 34th.
Liberals in the 34th already have someone they can vote for – Umberg. They don’t need Daucher. If the GOP has any hope of picking up this seat, it lies in Tran, not the liberal from the north.