SACRAMENTO — California Republicans cast about for ideas to revive their ailing party on Saturday, but struggled to define a clear vision for expanding their appeal beyond the dwindling ranks of older white conservatives.
At a glum gathering of Republican faithful, GOP leaders hewed to the party's traditional call to scale back government, even as many voters demand just the opposite to stop the economy's downward slide.
At the same time, the GOP leaders lamented their party's failure to win over more women, Latinos, African Americans and younger voters, a shortcoming that points toward more defeats ahead for a party long relegated to firm minority status in California.
"Right now the party is pretty aimless," said state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, a candidate for governor in the party's June 2010 primary. "It's got no strong leadership, and that's got to be fixed."
Poizner and his top rival in the primary, former EBay chief executive Meg Whitman, were supposed to be the main attractions at the state party's weekend convention near the domed Capitol.
Instead, fury among Republicans over the $12.5 billion in tax hikes approved by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature led to fratricidal maneuvers to punish the six GOP lawmakers who voted Friday for the state budget.
While Poizner and Whitman each sharply denounced the tax increases, delegates went further, crafting a plan to censure the legislators for damaging both the California economy and, not incidentally, the party's "brand name."
In the end, a party committee scratched the censure but voted to deny party money to any of the six lawmakers who might seek reelection.
The panel also rejected a proposal by a few delegates to extend "a heartfelt and sincere apology" to former Gov. Gray Davis for promoting his 2003 recall. Schwarzenegger, the delegates said, has "proven to govern as a tax-and-spend politician precisely similar to the one he campaigned to replace in the recall election."
Disapproval of the party's own governor was a major theme at an event with little of the festive atmospherics usually on display at party confabs, apart from a life-size cutout of Sarah Palin that proved to be a popular photo stop.
"Arnold Schwarzenegger is like passing a kidney stone, and we've got another year to go," said blogger Jon Fleischman, a vice chairman of the state party.
