Schwarzenegger focuses on McCain at GOP meeting

[Ron Burgundy]

California Republican leaders say they have a lot to feel good about these days.

They got a boost this month from the national GOP convention in Minnesota — both to their egos and the party's coffers. Some are even crowing about the record-long budget stalemate in Sacramento this summer, in which they fended off appeals for higher taxes.

But the party's base remains sharply at odds with its most prominent elected leader, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who made only a brief appearance Friday night as delegates gathered to watch the presidential debate during the opening of their fall convention.

The governor arrived nearly an hour into the 90-minute debate, and organizers turned off the sound to welcome him. Delegates clapped, then shouted, "Turn the sound up!" and resumed watching the debate.

Afterward, Schwarzenegger addressed the roughly 300 party members and supporters in the room and said it was great to be "back here with my Republican friends."

He avoided divisive issues and kept his remarks focused on GOP presidential nominee John McCain. The governor vowed to campaign hard for McCain through Election Day and asked delegates to do the same.

Schwarzenegger, who recently emerged from a bruising budget dispute lasting nearly three months, said the Arizona senator is the only candidate who "understands math."

"He's the only one that recognizes when you don't have enough money, you don't go out and spend more money," Schwarzenegger said to cheers.

Never a party die-hard, the governor averted further damaging his relationship with the GOP base, as he did last year when he appealed to the party to reach out to moderate voters or risk "dying at the box office."

The Republicans who have a strong hand in guiding party doctrine are especially angry over the governor's proposal to temporarily raise the state's sales tax to help close California's $15.2 billion deficit. Schwarzenegger said he was trying to broker a compromise, but the idea never gained sufficient support.

His frequent references to the extremist ideology infecting the Capitol, perpetuated by gerrymandered electoral districts, also hasn't helped his relationship with the party faithful.

He recently told the German magazine Der Spiegel he has almost no contact with those who run the California GOP, "because they're just so out there."

The strained relationship isn't particularly surprising, given Schwarzenegger's self-styled "post-partisan" philosophy, but this weekend's convention comes with an added dimension: Party delegates will decide whether to endorse one of Schwarzenegger's top goals for his last two years in office — redistricting reform.

If approved by voters on Nov. 4, Proposition 11 would establish an independent commission to change the way the state draws boundaries for state Senate and Assembly seats. The party declined to endorse the measure at its spring meeting.

"The governor is not pushing publicly or privately for the California Republican Party to endorse this measure," said Julie Soderlund, a spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger's campaign committee. "Proposition 11 has never been about one political party or another."

Still, Schwarzenegger singled out party leaders Friday night, thanking them for hosting fundraisers for the initiative.

While many Democrats see the proposition as a GOP power grab, its success could backfire on Republicans by taking away some of the legislative seats they consider safe.

Schwarzenegger has complained that non-competitive districts, where one party has a lock on power, send hyper-partisan elected officials to Sacramento and lead to political gridlock. The proposition does not apply to congressional districts.

The governor arrived at the convention's opening night a bit more scarred than in previous years.

He has seen his public approval ratings slide as the budget impasse dragged on and faces a recall threat from the politically powerful union representing state prison guards, which is upset over contract negotiations it's been conducting with the administration. A conservative offshoot of the state GOP, the California Republican Assembly, is scheduled to vote Saturday on whether to endorse the recall drive.

Schwarzenegger won office in 2003 after voters ousted Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in a recall election.

source: AP - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080927/ap_on_re_us/california_gop_convention [link]