Republican Party Urged to Shape Up

* The historic embarrassment of the November elections on the part of the Republican Party in California can be traced to one single event: the recall of Doris Allen.

When Allen became speaker of the Assembly, state GOP Chairman Michael Schroeder, Assemblyman Curt Pringle and the other titular heads of the party conspired to dethrone her.

They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to recall a legislator who would have been term-limited out of office just 10 months later. This unbridled hatred and vindictiveness spread to Fresno as well, where state Sen. Rob Hurtt, Pringle and gang unseated Assemblyman Brian Setencich in the June 1996 primary by running Robert Prenter as a stealth candidate. That effort cost the party a few hundred thousand dollars as well.

Those lost funds contributed tremendously to the loss of the Republican majority in the Assembly, where several races were decided by razor-thin margins. Those races could have gone the other way, had the Republican Party contributed that same amount of money and not gone after Allen and Setencich. However, Pringle’s dream of being speaker was short-lived, due to his shortsightedness and wasteful spending of critical funds.

And now we see that after the November 1998 elections, under the Schroeder leadership of the California Republican Party, we are at a greater deficit in the state Senate and Assembly, and were practically shut out in the statewide races.

Pringle lost his bid for state treasurer, Hurtt was upset in his Senate race, and Prenter was defeated in Fresno in what was classified as revenge for 1996.

While the Republican leaders scratch their heads, wondering what happened, they should consider this: They had it coming to them.

Their arrogant, conceited ways reached a limit with the voters, and the reaction will have a thunderous effect for California. It is time for these so-called power brokers and know-it-alls to go away, and allow a new breed of leaders to take over and work to regain what has been thrown in the toilet. Until that happens, the Democrats will be in control for some time.

STEVEN N. BRODY

Santa Ana

* Thank you for the hilarious post-election analysis by Hugh Hewitt (“The State of the GOP: Local Party Still Packs Power” Orange County Voices, Nov. 15).

What color is the sky in Hewitt’s world? The spanking the state and local GOP suffered Nov. 3 can be directly attributed to the high jinks concocted by the triumvirate of county GOP Chairman Tom Fuentes, Michael Schroeder and Curt “Poll Guard” Pringle.

Where is this impressive GOP minority outreach of which Hewitt speaks? Is he referring to Ruben Barrales, who had to get out of Pringle’s way in his quest for the controller’s office?

Perhaps he is referring to the other “rising Latino GOP star,” Gaddi Vasquez. Oh, I forgot, he resigned. Barrales even got clobbered in Orange County!

As a Latino Democrat, I couldn’t be happier these guys are still running things for the GOP. However, Hewitt must face up to the fact that the GOP was beaten like a pinata at a Sunday picnic.

DAVID A. PEREZ

Fountain Valley

* It was nice to see columnist Hugh Hewitt eat a little crow over the Republicans’ poor showing in the midterm elections; after all, this is the guy who predicted Dan Lungren would be elected governor in a walk.

But Hewitt is still wrong about one more thing. Republicans did in fact have central themes in this election: guns, tobacco and bigotry. The lesson he seemed to miss was that there are many conservatives in Orange County and elsewhere who do not share his support for these values.

Finally, his statement that Curt Pringle will be on the sidelines “only for a time” betrays Hewitt’s preference for partisanship over morality. By now all Orange County voters know Pringle as exactly the wrong kind of man to wear any responsible party’s label.

TOM CHAMBERS

Huntington Beach

* Your article Nov. 6 in which so-called Republican leaders criticized the state party for aiding Bob Zemel’s mayoral campaign in Anaheim illustrates their own shallow thinking.

In the first place, Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly is one of the most powerful and influential Democrats in the county. Are Republican “leaders” like Haydee Tillotson and Brea Mayor Bev Perry unaware that spending $100,000 to defeat Daly this year is less expensive than spending $500,000 to $1 million two years from now, when Daly challenges Republican Assemblyman Ken Maddox?

The liberal Republicans of the “New Direction” movement, such as Tillotson and Perry, promote an issueless “big tent” whose sole agenda is to offend no one except conservatives and the antiabortion movement.

Unfortunately, the national Republican leaders were of the same mind-set, and good Republicans like Zemel and state Sen. Rob Hurtt were caught up in the voter backlash; Daly is now free to pursue his climb up the political ladder.

The lesson to be learned from the Nov. 3 election is that a national party that attempts to offend no one pleases no one, and therefore gives voters no reason to support them.

This is especially important in states like California, where Democratic voters are in the majority. It’s so typical that liberal Republicans now wait to blame Zemel, Tom Fuentes and state party Chairman Michael Schroeder for their own failures and misunderstanding of the public’s needs.

If the New Direction liberals take over the county Republican party and succeed in ousting Fuentes as chairman, then who will speak for me on the issues of crime fighting, abortion, low taxes, less government intrusion and, oh yes, jobs?

Certainly not the critics of Zemel, Fuentes and Schroeder. They will be too busy imitating Democrats and then wondering why they have no support at the polls. Our country needs to debate the issues of the day, not run and hide from them.

BILL LEWIS

President

Orange Unified Board of Education

* I think the Republican Party should seriously reconsider the issues it stands for.

Somewhere in the middle of the game of political power struggle, Republican Party officials had tried to stretch themselves too far and too wide. This has not only resulted in the weakening of their influence but has also resulted in the loss of perspective of the ideas they once stood for.

The term “Republican Party” no longer symbolizes a bright and wonderful future, filled with prosperity and opportunity. Now the term reminds people of aggression; prying into private affairs; the old, dull, conservative elite; and the underdog to the Democratic Party, which hopes for a positive image only due to the mistakes of its opponents.

If the Republican Party intends to make a comeback for the 2000 U.S. Senate and the 2002 governor’s seat, the party had better give itself a cleaner and fresher image--starting now.

PEI-HAN YEN

Lake Forest

* It was with the usual sinking feeling that I reviewed Orange County votes. For the most part, regardless of the merits of candidates or issues, it was the same old party line.

It’s the same mind-set that reelects embarrassments like Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and dirty-tricksters like his buddy, Assemblyman Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach).

It’s the same mind-set that allows developers to destroy the remaining open space and demean further the quality of life in Orange County.

It’s the same mind-set that allows toll roads to be slashed through our beautiful countryside to pave the way for even more development. Toll roads, termed “private,” will cost the taxpayers dearly because of the wool the developers and their political minions have pulled over the voters’ not very bright eyes.

So I presume that Republicans will continue their knee jerks as their utterly uncaring, cynical and greedy puppet masters pull their political strings.

W.W. WOOD

Costa Mesa