Republicans and the Recall

Posted: September 12, 2003

by SHAWN STEEL

Uniting to Win the Governorship

It wouldn’t be a California election without the Republicans
poised, once again, to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Shawn Steel is immediate past chairman, California Republican Party, and
Davis Recall co-founder.

Five veteran political writers and Party leaders consider, from a variety of perspectives, the question: How should Republicans approach the October 7 recall election? The authors are Rush Limbaugh, Assemblyman John Campbell, Senator H.L. Richardson, ret., William E. Simon, Jr., and Shawn Steel. Under the heading “Equal Time,” CPR reprints portions relevant to the recall of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s August 6 announcement that she would not run.

This recall presents California Republicans with an historic shot to reclaim the helm of state government as it teeters on the brink of insolvency. Gray Davis’s mendacity and incompetence combined have produced what the political and media cognoscenti a few weeks ago maintained could never happen: the all-but certain recall of a sitting governor. Golden State Republicans have been given that rare thing in politics: a second chance of ballot box victory.

But it wouldn’t be a California election without the Republicans poised, once again, to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

The populists who created the recall would lose any chance of restructuring state government if Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante were to eke out a victory. Bustamante is supported by the same special interests as Davis, special interests that have terrorized our economy and obstructed reform movements.

Because Bustamante is on the ballot, the electability of one of the top three Republicans should be our foremost consideration. It may gall my fellow movement conservatives to admit as much, but it is the truth. After all, the point of this recall is replacing Davis with a reform governor who will push goals of economic growth through lower taxes, less spending, business-friendly rules, and real workers’ compensation reform.

The qualities the winning Republican candidate must possess are no mystery: He must have voter appeal that flows across party lines.

The winner this fall will need to adopt Ronald Reagan’s skills in communication, voter empathy, and visionary leadership.

An attractive persona fused as a brilliant communicator is another key factor. The recall’s compressed time frame gives voters much less time to get to know the candidates. The nature of this election favors the candidate best able to forge quickly a genuine connection with voters.

The voters who created the recall must believe the candidate sincerely comprehends the reasons we see a massive outflow of fellow Californians fleeing our state for a better living environment. The candidate must understand what it will take to encourage the middle class to stay and help rebuild.

Even after Davis is recalled, the winner will actually have to govern. The heavily liberal Democrat Legislature will remain. Therefore, voters must consider which of the top candidates commands the necessary charisma, craftiness, clarity of purpose, and force of will to push the Legislature in a new direction.

Should the recall succeed, the new governor’s most urgent task is restoration of the state’s economy. If we elect a governor lacking the political and communication skills to leverage sufficient Democrat votes — or absent that, the ability to obtain reforms directly from the people via initiative — California’s economic train wreck will continue, albeit with a new politician driving the train.

Visionary leadership will be crucial. Our next governor will have to assemble a cabinet of economic- growth specialists. Davis proved that simple-minded “experience” can be the most harmful formula for running the state. Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush have demonstrated the value of visionary leadership surrounded by able, supply-side economists committed to economic expansion.

Finally, we need a governor willing to invest significant effort and resources into rebuilding his Party and sweeping Sacramento clean by electing pro-business legislators.

I can’t recall a time when the stakes have been so high for the California Republican Party. The recall movement itself has invigorated a demoralized citizenry, among whom political interest now runs at fever pitch. Recent polls show that 82 percent of Californians believe the state is headed in the wrong direction. A recall victory must mark the beginning of a political renaissance, or else our efforts will be mostly in vain.

In other words, we cannot afford to blow this — or else federal biologists will try to list us as an endangered species.

The top tier GOP candidates — Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom McClintock, and Peter Ueberroth — po ssess all or most of the qualities of a winner — but the painful truth is that if all three stay in the race for the brass ring, they make it nauseatingly likely Cruz Bustamante will snatch it for himself.

All three candidates are dedicated to their state, and their distinctive gifts would make them fine governors. But we are rapidly approaching the moment when we must confront the reality that splitting the ticket three ways will prove disastrous — not only for our Party, but for our state. California is literally at a cross roads. A five-year binge of liberalism ruined the most dynamic state economy in the nation. Our most productive citizens are once again fleeing, taking jobs, and opportunity with them.

A Bustamante administration will give California’s economy a final shove over the cliff. His hare-brained, Jimmy Carter-esque embrace of gasoline price controls alone shows this professional liberal’s zero comprehension of how free markets function.

Besides the return of gas lines, Governor Bustamante would bring higher taxes, more regulations, skyrocketing workers compensations costs — and a state economy ready for the morgue.

Clearly, this is no time to let grudges and internecine fighting come before victory. It is no time for GOP factions to play Henry Clay, the man who preferred being right to being president. No faction will get everything it wants, but by uniting behind the strongest candidate in the field, every Republican will get 70 percent of what he or she wants.

It is imperative that every faction of the California Republican Party — and the standard- bearers they have embraced — to assess the situation immediately and objectively and coalesce around the candidate most likely the defeat Cruz Bustamante.

Bill Simon, in an elegant act of statesmanship, took a hard look at circumstances and withdrew for the good of the Party. October 7 draws inexorably nearer, and the window for similar acts of partisan sacrifice by the remaining GOP candidates will soon slam shut. Here’s hoping that ego does not cost our Party the opportunity to lead a California renaissance.

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