Major donor pushing GOP toward center

The California Republican Party once again faces an identity crisis heading into its annual spring convention, and this time a major donor is calling on the party to become more inclusive.

Businessman Lawrence K. Dodge delayed writing a check to help the party pay off $3 million in debt and wrote a scathing analysis of the party in a private letter, raising concerns similar to those cited by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger when he said Republicans were "dying at the box office" last year.

The internal strife comes as state records show the party continues to suffer a decline in registration and carry a debt incurred to help Schwarzenegger win re-election in 2006.

Taking place in San Francisco, where GOP registration is a mere 10 percent, this weekend's Republican convention lacks the relative star power of recent state party meetings. The last three featured presidential candidates John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney. Schwarzenegger also will be absent due to scheduling issues, according to spokesman Aaron McLear.

McCain, the almost certain GOP nominee, hopes to capture the same Republican, independent and moderate Democratic support in California that Schwarzenegger received in his two gubernatorial victories. But the state party, Dodge noted in his letter, has alienated independents and moderate voters in recent years.

In the letter to party Chairman Ron Nehring, Dodge wrote: "Two-thirds of the voters of this state refuse to be members of our party as it is. We do not need to alienate them further, either by the positions we take or by eating our own in public."

Delegates will decide this weekend on a new platform for the state party. Moderates and conservatives have been lobbying Republicans in recent weeks to support their respective versions.

The moderate platform follows through on Schwarzenegger's call last year for a version that concentrates on fiscal responsibility and low taxes with centrist positions on social and environmental issues.

"I think people are ready for a cohesive, unifying platform, and that's what ours is," said Virginia Chang Kiraly, 44, a Menlo Park Republican who is spearheading that effort. "It's not offensive, it's not strident, it's not divisive, and I think that's why we've had such broad support."

The conservative proposal likewise is heavy on fiscal responsibility. But it also has strong language opposing the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, condemns Roe v. Wade, defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and declares that government documents should be printed only in English.

Mike Spence, head of the conservative California Republican Assembly, said of the moderate proposal that "Hillary Clinton could say every word in it and agree with 80 percent of it." He also called Dodge's letter, particularly his call for a toned-down platform, a "blackmail threat."

Nehring, the party chairman, said he has spoken to Dodge since receiving the letter dated Jan. 31, and he believes Dodge will follow through with a $3 million payment in the next few weeks. Dodge did not return a call for comment.

In the letter, he laid out several problems with the party's structure, ranging from a lack of donor input in decision-making to a need for more professional management.

"We've been having discussions not only about retiring our 2006 debt obligation, but also making sure we have all the pieces in place to compete in California this fall," Nehring said. "We have something now that we didn't before, which is a presidential candidate who says he intends to compete here in California."

Records show Republican registration in the state has dropped from 35.6 percent to 33.3 percent since 2004 as more voters seek independent status unaffiliated with any party. Democrats suffered only a 0.2 percent decline over the same period.

Nehring downplayed the latest slide in GOP registration. He said Republicans in other Western states have suffered similar declines, which he blamed on a national movement against the GOP in 2006. "What we saw following the 2006 elections was a negative voter registration trend that followed poor national performance," Nehring said.

Dodge also took issue with the party's decision to block independent voters from the GOP presidential primary earlier this month. Democrats allowed those voters to participate in their contest.

Jon Fleischman, a party vice chairman, said the party is stronger for having a closed primary. He is proposing a rule change that also would block independents from state primary contests, though GOP sources said the proposal is unlikely to pass.

Fleischman said the closed presidential primary will help the party unify, because GOP voters can be assured that only Republicans chose McCain. "I think John McCain is a stronger, more legitimate Republican nominee because he showed he could win votes from Republicans in California," he said. "I know a lot of Republicans would be less excited about backing him if he had won because of crossover votes from decline-to-state voters."

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• Call Kevin Yamamura, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5548.