Winter 2001 Newsletter

In This Issue:

Dan Walters To Address Placer Congress
Why New Party Leadership Is Needed
President's Message
Holiday Party Grand Success
Dan Walters: GOP Loses Out in Older 'Burbs
Notice of Bylaws Changes

Dan Walters To Address Placer Congress

The Placer Congress is privileged to have renown political columnist Dan Walters speak to us on the evening of January 29, 2001, at the Auburn Elks Lodge, 195 Pine Street, Auburn.

Dan Walters has been a journalist for more than 40 years, spending all but a few of those years working for California newspapers. At one point in his career, at age 22, he was the nation’s youngest daily newspaper editor. He joined The Sacramento Union’s Capitol bureau in 1975, just as Jerry Brown began his governorship, and later became the Union’s Capitol bureau chief. 

In 1981, Mr. Walters began writing the state’s only daily newspaper column devoted to California political, economic and social events and in 1984, he and the column moved to The Sacramento Bee. He has written more than 5,000 columns about California and its politics and his column now appears in more than 50 California newspapers. Mr. Walters has written about California and its politics for a number of other publications, including The Wall Street Journal , the Christian Science Monitor and the on-line magazine Intellectual Capital. 

In 1986, his book, “The New California: Facing the 21st Century,” was published in its first edition. The book has since undergone revisions and has become a widely used college textbook about socioeconomic and political trends in the state. He is also the founding editor of the “California Political Almanac” and is a frequent guest on national television news shows, commenting on California politics. 

Reserve Your Tickets Today! 

To confirm your attendance at this exciting event, please call (916) 632-7071. The cost is $15 per person, including hors d'oeuvres and refreshments. A no-host bar is also available. Tickets may be purchased at the door by cash or check or you may buy your tickets in advance by sending a check, payable to “Republican Congress of Placer County,” to P.O. Box 840, Newcastle, CA 95658-0840.

Why New Party Leadership Is Needed

Four years and three weeks ago, the day before the 1996 general election, Republicans held 90 of the 186 partisan offices in California. We had the Governor’s office, all but two statewide offices and the majority in the Assembly. We got to that point, while climbing out of a terrible recession, by running on basic Republican principles in 1994 that could be embraced by Republicans and Democrats alike. Led by Pete Wilson’s 20 point victory at the top of the ticket, we elected constitutional officers and legislators across the political spectrum because Republican men and women turned out at a 25 – 30 percent higher rate than Democrats. 

Four years and three weeks later, the Democrats outnumber us by 121 – 65 (women 44 – 6.) We have gone from near parity in partisan offices to being outnumbered almost 2 – 1! 

Party Leadership Much To Blame 

Republican Party leadership in California is much to blame for our losses in three straight general elections. Their single-minded focus on an extreme right social conservative agenda and financial mismanagement of Party funds, has resulted in historic lows in Republican registration and an acute fund raising problem that early last year saw the state Party in debt more than $300,000. Worse still, the image of the Republican Party in California has been damaged to such a degree that it will take extreme efforts by new leadership to repair it. 

One survey showed that when voters were asked about core Republican principles of local control, personal responsibility and fiscal conservatism – without the pollster saying they were “Republican” principles – a majority of voters favored our approach. But, once told that these were principles that Republicans espoused, a majority of voters turned unfavorable toward those same principles! This is a serious image problem that has much to do with the messages coming out of the current Party leadership.

Brooks Firestone For Party Chairman 

It’s time for a change in the Party leadership so that we may arrest the decline in our Party statewide and begin building a majority coalition again in California. We need a leadership team that embraces the basic Republican Principles that unite all Republicans and win over those swing Democrat and Independent voters that can carry us to victory. The job of the California Republican Party now is to elect a Chairman and a Board of Directors made up of positive people who will work to elect all Republicans. We need leaders with a track record of supporting Republican candidates who fit their districts and can win elections.

In February, we will have the opportunity to elect Brooks Firestone Chairman of the Party, along with an outstanding Board. From the snows of New Hampshire until November 7th, Brooks worked for, donated funds to, and raised funds for, President-Elect Bush. He helped Republicans of all political persuasions and spent the weekend before the election phoning for Congressmen Jim Rogan and Steve Kuykeydahl. Leaders like Kurt Pringle and Jim Brulte know that Brooks has always been a team player and his word is his bond. 

Brooks showed us in 1994 how to run in a district that had 9% more Democrats than Republicans and still win by a 10% margin. He was re-elected to the Assembly two years later with a 20% margin when the Republican candidate at the top of the ticket lost by 20%! He did that by emphasizing the Republican Principles that unite us, rather than fight over the issues that divide us. Electing Brooks Firestone will send a message to the mainstream majority that we want them back! 

Note: Election of the Chairman and Board of Directors will occur at the California Republican Party Organizing Convention to be held in Sacramento from February 23 – 25, 2001. All Congress members are encouraged to attend to support Brooks and the Mainstream Majority Coalition candidates. For more information, please contact Paul Hrabal at (916) 797-2862.

President's Message

It is an honor to be elected the second President of the Placer Congress. I look forward to working with our new Board in guiding the Congress into the largest, most influential Republican volunteer organization in Placer County. 

We could not have a better foundation on which to continue our work. Under the leadership of Charter President Glenda Freeman, co-founder Murriel Oles, 1st VP Tom Jones and 2nd VP Connie White, the Congress has made a significant contribution to Republican strength in Placer County since our founding in August 1999. 

Accomplishments in 2000 

Congress Board members and volunteers were responsible for key aspects of the Victory 2000 campaign in Placer County, an effort that resulted in a 23% Bush margin of victory - the highest in recent memory by a Republican presidential candidate. 

The Congress also registered more Placer County Republicans this past year than all other GOP groups combined. The most prominent Republican officials in California spoke to our membership this past year, including both candidates for Chairman of the Party – Shawn Steel and Brooks Firestone – as well as the California Co-Chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign, State Senator Jim Brulte. 

The Congress also launched a PAC to recruit and support mainstream Republican candidates running for partisan office. In just four months, we have raised thousands of dollars for this effort. 

Our Mission Going Forward

We will continue our mission of:

      1. Educating the public on political and public policy issues

      2. Strengthening the Republican base through voter outreach

      3. Supporting mainstream Republican candidates for partisan office

Members can look forward to terrific speakers to provide insight into the political events of the day as well as newsletters offering political commentary and updates on Congress activities.

Get Involved Today

You can also count on numerous opportunities to get involved and help strengthen the mainstream Republican base in our community. Members are encouraged to become active in our efforts by attending our general meetings and volunteering for key committees. We have positions available on the Membership, Finance, Voter Outreach and Events Committees – all critical to our initiatives in the coming year.

Whether your skills are in registering voters, speaking to high schools, stuffing envelopes, raising money or putting on events, there is a place for you. Just give me a call at (916) 797-2862, or email me at paul@paulhrabal.com, to let me know of your interest.

Don’t Miss Dan!

Lastly, I would like to encourage all members to not miss Dan Walters on January 29th. If there is only one meeting you can make all year, this one is it! Be sure to RSVP to (916) 632-7071.

Holiday Party Grand Success

The annual Placer Congress Holiday Party was held on December 12, 2000 at the home of newly elected President Paul Hrabal. The 35+ members in attendance enjoyed great food and drink provided by our Hospitality Committee of Murriel Oles and Sandy Hoffman.

Click here for more photos of the event!

Dan Walters: GOP Loses Out In Older 'Burbs

(Published November 10, 2000)

Between 1982 and 1990, there were eight top-of-the-ticket elections in California – for President, Governor or U.S. Senator – and Republicans won seven of them. Between 1992 and 2000, there were also eight such high-profile contests in California, and Republicans won just one.

Something, obviously, has happened to the political landscape, and with every passing election, it takes on an air of semi permanence. Republicans can no longer assuage themselves by reciting the dirty tricks played on GOP Senate candidate Bruce Herschensohn in 1992, or Bill Cinton’s charisma, or Ross Perot’s vote-splitting presence, or Dan Lungren’s inept campaign for governor in 1998. Nor does the oft-chanted mantra about expanded Latino voting explain Republican woes, although it contributes.

 This week’s California electorate was three-quarters Anglo, according to exit polling data, about what it has been for several elections, and Latinos were still a fairly negligible bloc at about 14 percent. Detailed exit polling data for the 2000 election and its recent predecessors, and an examination of county-by-county voting patterns, indicate that California’s voters are becoming highly fragmented along ethnic, gender, geographic, economic, generational and lifestyle lines. 

Texas Governor George W. Bush, exit polling showed, won slight majorities among white and Asian voters in California, for example, but was trounced among African Americans and Latinos. An even more dramatic sociological split developed between married and single voters. The former preferred Bush to Vice President Al Gore by a 52 percent to 43 percent margin, while single voters opted for Gore 2-1.

In geographic terms, California is becoming two political states, as demonstrated not only by the presidential vote but results of congressional and legislative contests. Coastal and urban California is strongly Democratic and becoming more so with every election. But interior California, both rural portions and newly minted suburbs, are becoming more Republican. 

Tuesday’s voting left just one, very lonely, Republican holding a legislative or congressional office in the Bay Area, Contra Costa County Assemblywoman Lynn Leach. The county’s Republican state senator, Richard Rainey, was ousted and Democrats picked up a congressional seat and an Assembly seat on the San Francisco Peninsula that had long been held by the GOP. 

The Democrats’ march through affluent, older suburban communities is not confined to Northern California. The same phenomenon is evident in Southern California suburbs, such as the string of communities in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Once solidly Republican, these leafy communities have moved to the Democrats – the incredibly expensive duel between Republican Congressman Jim Rogan and Democratic State Senator Adam Schiff being just one example. 

The shift in political allegiance in these older suburbs, rooted in both changing demographics and evolving issues, more than offsets growing Republicanism in fast-growing interior valleys, which was demonstrated in Bush’s almost total sweep of non-coastal counties and strong Republican showings in interior legislative and congressional contests.

Education, gun control, abortion rights and other visceral issues have become winners for Democrats in the older suburbs, while the old Republican issues of crime and military preparedness have faded. Indeed, given the overall dynamics of the year, including their paucity of campaign funds, Republicans were fortunate not to have fared worse in down-ballot contests than they did.

And with Democrats poised to redraw legislative and congressional districts, it’s time for California GOP leaders to do some serious thinking about their predicament.

Notice of Bylaws Changes

Pursuant to By-laws Article XIII, the Board of Directors proposes the following By-laws amendments for consideration at the general meeting on January 29, 2001.

ARTICLE V - BOARD OF DIRECTORS, OFFICERS and EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Section 5.6 - C Second Vice President

Add final sentence to read: Shall perform all requirements of reporting and record keeping as required by the California Congress of Republicans (CCR). 

Rationale: Will transfer these duties from those enumerated for the Secretary and bring our by-laws into conformance with the CCR’s by-laws. 

ARTICLE V - BOARD OF DIRECTORS, OFFICERS and EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Section 5.6 - E Secretary

Delete final sentence making reference to reporting and record keeping required by the California Congress of Republicans. 

Rationale: Transfers reporting duties to the 2nd Vice President and Membership Chair, bringing our by-laws into conformance with CCR’s by-laws. 

ARTICLE VI - COMMITTEES
Section 6.2 - Standing Committees

Delete . . . “Finance, Hospitality, Parliamentary, Voter Registration/Precinct, Get out the Vote, Newsletter and Audit” and substitute “Finance, Hospitality, Voter Outreach, Events and Audit”.

Rationale: This amendment will reflect the actual standing committees as recommended by the 2001-2002 Board of Directors.

ARTICLE VIII - MEETINGS
Section 7.2 - Regular Meetings

Delete “shall be held bi-monthly” and substitute “quarterly”.

Rationale: This amendment will reduce the number of yearly meetings from six to four. Will allow the Congress to put on events of higher quality by focusing resources on fewer events.

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