Kari Moran
February 23, 2009
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State Republicans held their convention this past weekend in Sacramento and the focus was on six GOP lawmakers who voted last week to increase taxes as part of the state budget. Some convention delegates had threatened to censure the six lawmakers who voted for the tax hikes, but they ended up adopting a watered-down measure. Carla Marinucci, a reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle, was at the convention and spoke with KPCC's Kari Moran about the measure that was approved.
Carla Marinucci: Well, eventually the Republicans decided by voice vote to deny money for campaign funding for these legislators. There was a lot of anger toward the six that helped Governor Schwarzenegger pass that budget, which Republicans said was the largest tax increase in state history.
But, you know, the party decided in the end to hold a little bit on the circular firing squad. It's really a symbolic vote, because only two of these legislators are eligible for reelection. At the same time, they definitely wanted to deliver the message that these Republicans strayed from the party fold over the weekend, and had to take the consequences.
Kari Moran: So Carla, how many of the six were actually at the convention?
Marinucci: I saw a couple of them. I can't vouch for all of it. I think the senator, Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria, I think he was the most interesting one to follow around at the convention, as I did.
He was the final vote that put the budget over the top, and just walking through the convention with him was like being in a demolition derby. He had to take shots everywhere he went. People were yelling out things to him about being a traitor.
At the same time, other people quietly came up to him and congratulated him. It took a little bit of cuts for these guys to come. I also saw Niello there from the Assembly.
I mean, they did get a lot of reaction, but many of them said, Maldonado said, look, it's America, they have a right to their opinion, and I had a right to do what I had to do on this vote.
Moran: And he's pushing the GOP to be the party of change. What about the poster, apparently, that showed the six lawmakers as losers?
Marinucci: This happened yesterday as, apparently unveiled in the hall, and quickly covered up again. There was a lot of protest and reaction all through the weekend – protestors wearing masks of Governor Schwarzenegger.
Lots of anger all the way around, and this is just one more example of how this party right now is rudderless, I think. Their love affair with Schwarzenegger is most certainly over. They need new faces and new themes, and we heard from some of the people this weekend who wanted to give the party those new themes.
Meg Whitman, who's running for governor, former CEO of eBay, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, and even former CEO of Hewlett Packard Carly Fiorina, who looks to be exploring a run against Barbara Boxer in the U.S. Senate.
All of them throwing out new themes, new ideas, saying the party has got to appeal to a broader swath of voters. It doesn't attract women and Latinos anymore in California, it's losing numbers, it's in freefall, and I think Republicans recognize something has to be done about that.
Moran: Did any of them really actually express any plans for how they plan to do that, Carla?
Marinucci: (laughs) This was the problem. The devil's in the details. We had a press conference with Meg Whitman. She basically sidestepped just about every question on how she would have cut the budget, even as she called for, you know, tough new fiscal policies, saying she could have handled it as a former CEO.
She really had no answers as to how she would do that. Neither did Miss Fiorina, and Mr. Poizner was equally sort of vague on this. It seems like everybody knows how to cut the budget, but delivering the details is another issue entirely.
And speaking to Maldonado, he said, look, I understand that all these folks are running for things, but I had to actually
vote on the budget, and here's the difference.
