California Republicans who consider themselves the party's conservative "conscience" will consider bucking their own party's governor this weekend to endorse the proposed recall of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The board of directors of the California Republican Assembly will gather during the state party's convention in Anaheim for the recall vote.
"It's one of those issues that we need to talk about," said Mike Spence, the president of the arch-conservative organization and consistent Schwarzenegger critic. "The governor has been a failure when it comes to fiscal issues of California."
Earlier this month, the well-heeled state correctional officers' union filed paperwork to begin the process to recall Schwarzenegger. So far, the governor and his political team have derided the recall as the pet project of a special interest looking for a raise.
"I will not be intimidated by anybody that is demanding more money than the state can afford and that demands deals more than the state is wanting to give," Schwarzenegger has said.
The state's prison guards have been working without a contract for two years and are seeking higher salaries, among other concessions, from the Schwarzenegger administration.
"This recall is about one group and one issue," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Julie Soderlund. "We feel confident that the California Republican Assembly shares our opposition to a union's demand for an additional $1 billion in taxpayers' money."
But the governor's argument becomes harder to make if the ranks of those backing the recall expands.
A CRA endorsement of the recall is far from a sure thing, though he group has had strained relations with Schwarzenegger since 2003. That year, the organization endorsed Republican Sen. Tom McClintock over Schwarzenegger in the recall of then-Gov. Gray Davis.
An endorsement would require a two-thirds vote of the board of directors of the California Republican Assembly. The more than a half-dozen directors (out of more than 60) surveyed by Capitol Alert were split on the issue.
Karen England, a board member and the executive director of the Capitol Resource Institute, a nonprofit that pushes socially conservative causes, said she was "leaning towards" supporting the recall.
"He may have an 'R' next to his name but he certainly doesn't stand for Republican principles," England said.
"We need to stand up and tell people, this guy doesn't stand for me," said Tom Hudson, a CRA board member and chairman of the Placer County Republican Party.
But Steve Frank, a conservative activist and board member, can't get past the fact that the California Correctional Peace Officers Association is sponsoring the recall drive.
"This is a silly attempt by a union that is so corrupt that it shouldn't be taken seriously," Frank said.
Even those CRA members likely to oppose the recall endorsement have few kind words for the governor.
Roberta Wright, a Redding Republican, said she is "very disappointed in the governor but I would not be in favor of a recall."
Sandra Gray, a CRA vice president, said a recall is "very, very expensive" for the state and "by the time you would get signatures and an election...he would be almost out anyway."
Not that she's a Schwarzenegger fan.
"I think," she said matter-of-factly, "he's not a Republican."
The recall itself is also far from reaching the ballot. The prison guards union still must draft its petition and collect more than 1 million signatures to qualify for the ballot.
At the union's convention in Las Vegas last week, President Mike Jimenez asked members - in reference to the governor - if they were ready to kick "kick his ass."
"Hell, yes!" they shouted back.
But signature gathering is expensive.
"We have a finite budget we are not the bottomless pit of political action. We recognize that this is a very powerful man," CCPOA spokesman Lance Corcoran said. "We are going to put the necessary resources in order to get this done."
Asked why his GOP group would consider joining forces with a union to take on a Republican governor, Spence said, "We supported the recall of Gray Davis because of the way he mismanaged his budget. Over the last five years we have more debt, more spending and a bigger structural deficit."
The organization's board of directors is set to meet on Saturday in Anaheim.
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