Longtime OC GOP Central Committee member and party activist Abie Garcia decided to do something after liberal RINO Lynn Daucher won the Republican nomination for the 34th Senate District. Garcia and his entire family quit the party that abandoned them, and registered instead in the party made famous by Minuteman Jim Gilchrist. Garcia and his family are now members of the Constitution Party. This is exactly what I thought might happen when I first heard that Daucher had been recruited by sellout “conservative” and State GOP Senate Leader Dick Ackerman.
Why would Garcia stay in the GOP? Not only did Daucher win, but Garcia’s friend Rosie Avila, a dedicated and faithful conservative, was blown away in the primary by a guy who was a Democrat candidate for the House of Representatives just two years ago. Tan Nguyen, the wealthy Republican who beat Avila, left the Democrats and spent over $300,000 for the right to face Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. Good luck Tan – I hope you have a few bucks left to spend in the general – because I know Sanchez will be unloading her warchest on you.
I have no idea what Nguyen stands for, except that he is against illegal immigration. Quite frankly, it worries me when an adult changes parties – is Nguyen sincere about the change? What made him a Democrat in the first place? What in the world does he stand for? So many questions, and so few reasons for a conservative to care about this candidate.
Daucher is of course a huge turnoff to conservatives. There are already rumors that the conservative she defeated in the primary, Lupe Moreno, will mount a write-in campaign in the general. If so, she just might cost Daucher any hope she had of defeating Lou Correa, the popular Democrat who hopes to keep the 34th in the Democrat column. Moreno may not even stay in the GOP as she is considering following Garcia to the Constitution Party. I can’t say that I blame her – the entire OC GOP machine supported Daucher even though her record is so completely liberal that she makes Correa look like a conservative by comparison.
Now that I am a member of the OC GOP Central Committee, I have to figure out how to energize Republican voters in the upcoming general, and for the life of me I don’t know how we can do that when we are stuck with candidates like Nguyen and Daucher. And don’t even get me started about our Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who thinks it is a great idea to raise the minimum wage, even though it is a fact that doing so costs teenagers jobs.
And what about all the Santa Ana voters who were offended by OC Sheriff Mike Carona’s endorsements of Nativo Lopez and John Palacio, not to mention his many scandals and friendships with mafiosos? Now they are sure to be upset as Carona goes about destroyng the life of his chief opponent, Lt. Bill Hunt. Good grief.
I don’t think that the OC GOP is going to make any headway in central OC until after the general. I have been saying this for years, and it still holds true – we need to go about recruiting and developing homegrown candidates in our area for local offices, such as city council and school board seats. Once we get them involved at that level, we will have viable candidates to run for legislative races. Take a look at the current crop of legislative candidates in central OC – one is a carpetbagger RINO from Brea (Daucher); one was a Democrat candidate two years ago (Nguyen), in Huntington Beach; and one came here recently all the way from Texas – and he is the only conservative-leaning candidate of the bunch (Ryan Gene Williams, candidate for the 69th Assembly District). Where is the home team?
It falls on OC GOP Chairman Scott Baugh to sort through this mess, and he has already made one positive move. When I spoke to him a couple weeks ago, I advised him to settle the lawsuit that Whitacre brought against him and the party. In fact when Baugh invited me to the party’s upcoming flag day event, I suggested that he might consider inviting Whitacre to the function. By the time we finished our call, Baugh was asking me for Whitacre’s cell phone number so he could call him and offer to settle the lawsuit in return for giving Whitacre a seat at his table at the flag day event. Today’s Total Buzz column reported that this deal went through after all. Well done Chairman Baugh! This is a good start in healing the rifts that were opened in our party during the primary.
Now Baugh needs to start looking ahead, past the general, and a good place to start would be putting together a list of potential GOP candidates for local offices in Santa Ana and surrounding cities in central OC. One way to get some new blood into the party will be for those of us in the 68th and 69th Assembly District caucuses to nominate new Republican faces to the Central Committee as our alternates. I have already asked Thomas Gordon, my co-blogger here at the Juice, to serve as my alternate. We also need to get involved with local Latino business owners, as Congressman Henry Bonilla did in his first campaign, in Texas. He won in a Democrat district, and so can we if we follow his example.
Baugh also needs to run interference in Carona’s attack on Hunt. He should ask Carona, for the good of the party, to back off and stop pressing contrived ethical charges on his opponent. Instead, Carona should ask Hunt to accept a reassignment to a lesser post. That is how these matters are usually handled.
Finally, any future voter registration activities by the OC GOP in central OC need to be honest and ethical. We cannot allow contractors to lie to voters in this area by changing their registrations to the GOP without their consent. Baugh also needs to have the party contact everyone who got their registration changed under false pretenses and make sure that they have a chance to stick with the Democrats if that is their choice. It is not enough to let the OC Voter Registrar’s office handle this. We created the mess and we need to deal with it.
I am saddened that Garcia left the GOP. I am not ready to follow suit. I may not be happy with the candidates we are stuck with going into the general, but my beliefs and principles will always hew to the GOP, and I would rather stick to the party and try to change it from within. We can do it – but this will take time and effort and we will have to stand for the values that are at the core of the Republican Party. We already have a party for liberals, let’s not let them have our party too.
Art is pissed because Rosie got her ass spanked by an Asian with no political experience (and he was one of her advisors). Remember when Art said
Art–You write ” Quite frankly, it worries me when an adult switches parties.”
So you would have been worried when Ronald Reagan switched parties? How about the big crop of Democrats that switched parties in Orange County during the 80’s?
Garzastrip,
We know why Reagan left the Dems. But why did Tan leave them? I have not seen this addressed in his mailers.
As for the 12:40 poster, I would be happy to debate you if you could possibly stick to the issues. Your own post is full of errors. Tan had no political experience? I seem to remember that he ran for the House as a Dem two years ago. And I was never an official advisor to Rosie. She had plenty of advisors. I had my hands full helping Lupe Moreno.
Why am I writing about Tan? Because I can. So there.
Every OC Republican has to be a little bit schizophrenic. On one hand you’ve got to tell any Democrat who wants to run for office, including non-partisan office, that they need to change their registration to Republican in order to win (See Hanson, Sheila, et al). On the other hand you’ve got to berate anybody who actually does (See Nguyen, Tan, et al).
Gila,
Don’t include me in that number. I would be quite happy if Dems stayed Dems and Republicans stayed Republicans. What I am questioning re Tan is his motivation for changing parties. I think it is a valid question. What if he is just some power-hungry egomaniac?
I am told by Dem insiders that they got sick of Tan and were quite happy to see him go to the GOP. I would be curious to know more about that.
Tan’s the do-what-you-can-to-get-elected type. He’s focused his campaign on the issue of the week, grandstanding on what he thought was hot. Switching parties was something he had to do to get elected.
Unlike Art, I don
Art,
Let me invite you to join any other party. I’ll ask Baugh to get the reg. form for you.
The above anonymous comment was brought to you by the errand boys of the Orange County GOP, whose motto is “Resistance is Futile.”
Let’s all move on from the primary and support are party candidates.
It does us no good to bring up the past, let move forward with what we have.
We need the OC Republican, The Lincoln Club, and the New Majority group to immediatly fund a massive voter registration drive that targets Vietnamese voters. Doing this now will go along way to unseat the person that we all want to say goodbye to…Loretta.
Let’s start this “Beat Loretta” campaign.
Art doesn’t have to change parties.
With his crowing about Lou Correa and open support of a Dem as well as his constant browbeating of party candidates like Daucher, it won’t be long before they throw him off the Central Committee.
That’s the beauty of a free country, Art. If you’re not happy with your political party, get out.
Just don’t invest so much effort into damaging it for the rest of us, and then pretending you’re actually doing something good.
Many of us who post here think that Loretta is the BEST thing to happen in OC politics in the last 20 years.
Without Loretta Sanchez, would we have:
A “Safely Democratic” Assembly District in Central OC (AD 69)
A “Toss-up to Leans Democratic” State Senate District in Central OC (SD 34)
Two Democrats on the Anaheim City Council
Two Democrats on the Garden Grove City Council
A “Toss-up” Supervisorial District in Central OC with a Democratic incumbent
A Democratic majority on the Santa Ana City Council
Democrats in City Councils and School Boards throughout OC
Our country’s first pair of related women in Congress with Congresswoman Linda Sanchez
Loretta is owed tremendously for proving that OC is not the GOP stronghold it once was, and giving an alternative to the thousands of OC voters who vehemently disagree with the extreme conservatism of so many local politicos.
Lest any of my colleagues read the preceding post and keel over, there’s only one Democrat on the Garden Grove City Council. Just me.
Did anybody else notice what a farce campaign contribution limits were in this election? Between self-funded candidates and independent expenditures, the limits were worse than meaningless. If large donors could give directly to candidates, at least the candidates could be held accountable for the campaign literature put out supporting them. I hope the next Board of Supervisors takes a long hard look at TINCUP.
Mark Rosen
(Garden Grove City Council)
Ha, Ha Art..An Asian BEAT YOU!!!!!!
I’m sure you did have your hands full with Lupe. What were you doing, feeding her? (that must have been a full time job) 5 kids by the age of 22, what an impressive bio for Lupe. You sure know how to pick them Art!!!!!
anon 6/09/2006 9:58 AM
You’r nuts if you think that Loretta help elect those people.
They helped themselves and the people believed their message.
Loretta star power doesn’t have much punch, ask Armando De libertad and you will find out?
Interesting, how the only acheivements you could cite were ones that she did not help. THat’s the question.
What has Lorretta done in that past compared to what TAn Nguyen in the future?
I asked this question to the “know it all” bladeruner and he avoided the answer.
Given that Tan share’s the same party memebrship with the house and senate majorities I think it would be unarguable that any democrat could say that Tan Nguyen could bring home more money than Lorretta.
So Tan, that’s your campaign them “Show us the money” Show us that you can bring more of our taxpayer money home than Lorretta.
Truer words were never spoken Art. Keep telling it like it is. I think you should have gove after Norby harder though for endorsing Daucher. You seemed to give him a pass and people like him are part of the problem.
There are plenty of reasons why Armando didn’t win and it has nothing to do with Sanchez endorsing him or not. Just as plastering signs all over the place doesn’t win campaigns, neither do endorsements.
As for Tan Nguyen, he in fact told the Dem Party leaders two years ago that his mission was to be a member of Congress. He had no true message. If you read what he says to reporters, it is just regurgitated GOP talking points. That may be fine if that is what you believe, but he hardly does. His campaign is all about him and not what he will do for the voters. And if that is the candidate he is going to be, then Sanchez is going to b!tch slap him like no other.
And BTW, Art, you live in the district and got all of his mailers. I think there were 5 to 7 of them. A voter needs to hear or see the name of a candidate 7 times before they vote for that person. I think Avila was arrogant enough to believe that her base would come out and vote for her, when Tan Nguyen has been sending out his propoganda since January. $269,000 in loans to himself and counting…
To my knowledge, Tan migrated from Vietnam to San Jose and then settled in San Marcos.
Although you don’t have to live in the Congressional District, it would be nice if you knew your constituants – and perhaps lived in the same county.
This guy was shopping districts 2 years ago and had a hissy fit when the Democratic Party did not immediately do a kow tow when he jumped into a Congressional race; he had no idea what district he ran in two years ago and never responded to invitations to come and speak. According to my sources this year, he has been a total no show in the district he says he now wants to represent.
To anonymous 9:58am – since when does a Orange County Republican Representative “Bring Home the Bacon”? I think it is againt their principles. It is a rare occurance at best. Somehow, I do not think your new hero will be responsive to anyone in the 47th. Vanity campaigns just plain bother me.
Loretta Sanchez is always active in her district and she is there for ALL of her constituents. How many of us can say our Representative comes home every weekend? I would venture to say, Congresswoman Sanchez is one of our hardest working elected officials in the county.
How soon can we look forward to the blight of all those ugly political signs coming down?
2:20,
Yes, I got a lot of Tan’s mailers, but they were nonsensical. The only issue he seemed to raise was illegal immigration. I still don’t know what the heck he stands for.
Apparently Art wasn’t too busy with Lupe’s campaign since she took a good whoopin’.
At least the Dems drew their line in the sand w/Tan, whereas the Reps just rolled over.
I’m back Art and I’m still waiting for your definition of a “real Republican.”
Art, since you are worried when adults switch parties and happy if Dems stayed Dems and Reps stayed Reps, are you going to throw back Mark Leyes and take back Loretta?
7:57,
I have written about that before – and I ripped Tony back when he first hired Claudia. And I have not voted for Tony in several elections…
To the pour unidentified soul who believes Tan can do more for OC then Loretta—-
1) It’s purely a theoretical question since Tan won’t win. Go find a theoretical soulmate to speculate your life away.
2) If we used your argument about electing Tan because he’s in the majority party and can bring home more for his district then loretta then I guess you’re supporting Paul Jacobs over Van tran, Michael Glover over Chuck Devore, Irene Lachance over Todd Spitzer, etc, etc,. After all the Dems are in power in Sacramento and Paul, Mike and irene can be counted on to bring home more bacon then their GOP incumbents.
3) The GOP won’t be in the majority in the House come January 07.
4) I already posted things that Loretta has done for the OC. If you want more info go to Loretta’s web site or pay her office a visit.
And I dont know it all nor have I ever claimed to. I’m out of this thread.
Tan is a front for Van Tran. This is just a precursor to a Tran versus Loretta matchup in the future. The problem is that Van probably will end up running against Correa for the congressional seat and get his head handed to him.
bladerunner,
perhaps you meant Paul Lucas and not Paul Jacobs.
Art,
His mailer had 5-6 bullet points following a caption that says “Tan stands for…” Can you not read or do you just enjoy making stuff up. In case you didn’t receive his mailer Tan stands for…securing our borders, handling our illegal immigartion problem, re-importation of medicines, protecting workers pensions, and keeping jobs here in America. Art you are an idiot who is upset because Tan spanked your canidate “Rosie.” Get over it!
2:26,
I never saw that mailer. I only received perhaps three of Tan’s mailers.
Let’s take a look at Tan’s issues, as per your post:
1. Securing our borders – that seems laudable.
2. Handling our illegal immigration problem – Same as #1
3. Re-importing medicines – Silly – the pharma companies will just cut supplies to our neighboring countries.
4. Protecting worker pensions – and how exactly is Tan going to do that? If anything, we need to take on the unions who are driving city and county governments bankrupt with their pension and health insurance demands.
5. Keeping jobs in the U.S. – another strange goal for a Republican. Personally I feel that if an industry cannot compete, then it needs to go away. We should not subsidize sectors that cannot keep up with the times. CEO’s must embrace change and look for new opportunities.
If these are all of Tan’s issues, I am unimpressed. He seems to be some kind of dimwitted populist.
Yeah,
But Rosie “The Bible-Thumper” Avila would have been a better alternative. Give me a break Art. You really are an idiot…
Anti-Art posters –
Calling Art an idiot and a hypocrite doesn’t accomplish anything.
I was delighted to read that Art was pleased I was released on bail. At first I thought Art’s comment was an attempt to be humorous, but my attorney informs me otherwise. Wouldn’t you know, there are attorneys that specialize in these matters. Apparently the internet has spawned a crop of lawyers that exclusively deals with these matters.
Oh, my.
Keeping jobs in the U.S. – another strange goal for a Republican. Personally I feel that if an industry cannot compete, then it needs to go away. We should not subsidize sectors that cannot keep up with the times. CEO’s must embrace change and look for new opportunities.
Outsourcing is becoming a huge problem in this country as many high-tech jobs are leaving. It’s fine to “embrace change” but try telling that to a person whose kids are about to enter the workforce.
To pretend that the loss of jobs in this country is not a problem is just as absurd as it is to say that uncontrolled immigration is not a problem.
Prada Girl,
Thanks for the defense, and for the good news that there are now lawyers defending the anonymous. I’m sure the guys at OC Blog will be quite pleased with that legal development!
Gila,
My opinion is colored by my own experiences. I have worked in graphic design, advertising, marketing,and sales. I have also worked as a project manager and estimator in construction, and now as a safety professional.
I owe $55,000 for an undergraduate and a graduate degree. I will probably start another degree in safety within the next few months.
There are a lot of opportunities in this country – you just have to avail yourself of them. And yes that does mean that sometimes you have to shift gears from one profession to another. There is nothing wrong with that…
How pathetic is the GOP in the 47th CD that a former DEM and loser in the 46th CD 2004 primary can parachute into the district, build a lame web site, send some fliers, post some silly signs, bypass endorsements, skip the debates, avoid the English/Espanol media and win by a wide margin over a long-time SASD board member endorsed by three County Supervisors?
The fact is, I dont believe anyone really took Rosie Avila, or Lupe Moreno seriously. When a candidate poses their platform on one spiritual reasoning, it does lead to abnormal thoughts. One at least would find it strange in politics, if every answer was, God told me to.
The moral of the story, according to Luis, is to run a campaign based on nothing instead of one spiritual reasoning, and you too will win like Tan Nguyen. Voters in that district should be insulted but I guess they don’t care.
God is telling Lupe to move to Redding. What about Rosie? Guatemala?
So Abie is joining the Constitutional Party, AKA the American Independent Party AKA the party of segregationist George Wallace. That is something to be proud of!(Note sarcasm) I am sure Jesus Christ is looking down and smiling at Abie’s wonderful decision. The guy is such a schmuck.(Yes the Holy Spirit speaks yiddish)
God is an illegal immigrant- didn’t you know. He is doing the job no one else would ever want to do.
Anon,
Quite the opposite. If a person wants to win an election, extremist religious positions should be kept out. It has only worked for the president, other than that cant think of anyone.
Rosie and Lupe have no shot at large scale public offices.