SACRAMENTO — Last March, California voters granted themselves a bigger say in state politics by approving a mix-and-match system of primary voting that diminishes the power of party insiders and political activists.
On Saturday, Republican Party insiders and political activists, gathered in Sacramento for their state convention, talked about ways they could--and whether they should--try to snatch some of that power back.
At issue is Proposition 198, the so-called open primary law approved by 60% of California voters. The measure, vigorously opposed at the time by Republican and Democratic party leaders alike, would allow voters to ignore party labels and vote for any candidate in partisan primaries--just as in the general election.
Both parties are fighting the measure in court, on constitutional grounds. But on Saturday, the incoming state GOP chairman, Mike Schroeder, an Irvine lawyer, went a step further. He said the party would consider changing its rules so Republican nominees are chosen in a closed system, either at a statewide convention or at local party caucuses.
Calling open primaries a "perversion of the Constitution," Schroeder insisted that the process would sap the creativity from politics by punishing candidates from the ideological wings of the party and favoring those of the more moderate, and mushy, middle. "It's a question of allowing for a competition of new ideas, and Proposition 198 prevents that," he said.
Schroeder, who represents clinics and doctors as a lawyer and is owner of the National Chiropractic Council, an insurance-buying group that helps provide malpractice coverage for chiropractors, had been the GOP vice chairman for the past two years.
Schroeder, 40, who has worked his way up through the GOP, is the former president of the California Republican Assembly and was a delegate to the 1992 Republican convention.
In Orange County politics, Schroeder launched a campaign to discredit Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, also a Republican, for investigating alleged election law violations by Republican Assemblyman Scott Baugh of Huntington Beach. He also played a role in the political downfall of former Assemblywoman Doris Allen, of Cypress, after she broke ranks with the GOP leadership.
Open-primary advocates disagree, arguing that Proposition 198 will reward pragmatism and place problem-solving ahead of ideological skirmishing, addressing one of the major frustrations of voters turned off by partisan sniping.
