Even Schroeder's friends say it was unwise of him to be the lead attorney for former Rep. Robert K. Dornan in his ugly battle with successor Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) over alleged voter fraud.
That put the state party leader out front on a topic of some sensitivity to the party--their failure to appeal to Latino voters. At the same time Schroeder was accusing Latinos of voter fraud, he was seeking to woo them and other minorities to the GOP.
"I thought that was a terrible mistake on his part," Brulte said. "That was not his job."
But Schroeder is unapologetic, insisting he made the right choice. Sometimes, he said, two goals--such as attracting Latino voters and rooting out voter fraud--"come into tension."
"I have had a history of taking on political causes I believe to be right pretty much without regard to whether or not the initial prospects of winning looked favorable," Schroeder said.
Two examples he cites: the campaign to recall maverick Republican lawmaker Paul Horcher, which succeeded, and the campaign to recall South Orange County Community College District Trustee Steven J. Frogue, which failed.
Schroeder said he got the state party involved in the Frogue recall because it was the right thing to do, given the fellow Republican's actions. Frogue was accused of anti-Semitism among other things, contentions he strongly denied.
The connection with Dornan did not prevent Republicans from greatly increasing their appeal to minority voters last November:
Schroeder said various exit polls showed 23% to 26% of the state's Latino vote went to Lungren, up from the 6% of Latinos who voted for Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole in 1996.
In the election post-mortems, it didn't help that Schroeder was viewed as a symbol of social conservatism.
Some say that message has led to defections of loyal GOP voters, as well as independents and moderate Democrats.
"It seems like they set out to see how many people in the state they could alienate, and they were pretty successful," said Ventura County party leader Bob Larkin, a pro-choice moderate.
Others insist the election was lost because Lungren ran such a lackluster campaign that many GOP voters stayed home.
"I don't think this election has anything to do with the repudiation of social conservatives," said Christopher Wysocki, a consultant who ran the GOP Assembly races.
Schroeder agrees. "'We didn't do well because there was a complete failure to communicate" a message, Schroeder said. "And our base punished us by staying home."
The debate is expected to rage this weekend at the party's biannual state convention in Sacramento, and Schroeder said that's healthy.
As he prepares to step down this weekend, moderate Republicans are seeking to wrest some control of the state party from their more conservative party mates.
Larkin, who is leading the moderates' effort, says a more inclusive party is the only way for the GOP to make a political comeback. The moderates are running a slate against Schroeder's allies.
"When the team loses, you fire the coaches," Larkin said.
