State GOP seeks to find ways out of political wilderness

SACRAMENTO (AP) — California Republicans gathered for a round of soul-searching over the weekend at their spring convention as they seek to restore the party's luster after years of election defeats.

The state GOP is in debt and lost seats in the state Legislature and California's congressional delegation in November. Democrats hold all statewide offices and won supermajorities in the Assembly and Senate last fall.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield joked that the good news for California Republicans is that they cannot get any lower. He urged Republicans to fundamentally restructure the party's operations, modeling the effort on President Barack Obama's re-election campaign last fall, which he called a "wake-up call to the California GOP."

"The political operation that this president has — communicating, identifying and data-mining — is by far superior to anything that Republicans have," McCarthy said during a gathering Friday of the Sacramento Press Club. "And if there's a place that we should learn it, and if there's a place we should engage in it, and if there's a place we can apply it, it's right here in California."

He urged Republicans to deliver a message of optimism and "embrace a little bit of our libertarianism." If Republicans can turn around their fortunes in California, they can do it anywhere, he said.

Despite McCarthy's appeal to embrace libertarianism, there is little appetite among the party faithful to revisit the party's conservative platform, which includes opposition to gay marriage, abortion and universal health care. McCarthy said "California has spoken" on gay marriage, and he personally believes marriage should be between a man and a woman. He was also asked to weigh in on legalization of marijuana, a topic he said draws more attention online than any other, even in the midst of an economic crisis. He said he does not believe legalizing marijuana is the answer, but he is open to discussions on changing current laws.

"I do think there's a role somewhere, though, that government should not be in every single part of our lives," McCarthy said. "And I think there's things that we can look at, things that we can talk about."

A slim majority of California voters also said they support allowing marijuana to be sold and taxed like alcohol, the Field Poll reported this week.

McCarthy, the House GOP whip, is among those who have tried to turn around his party's fortunes, with limited success. He leads the party's candidate-recruitment program and backed several candidates nationwide last November.

In California, a few of the candidates his group backed won election to the Legislature, but the party failed in its attempt to unseat Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney despite heavy spending.

He said he believes his group laid the foundation for future success and that 2012 was not the year they could win, given Obama's massive campaign infrastructure nationwide. McCarthy said that helped Democratic candidates at all levels.

Yuba-Sutter bucks Democratic trend

Fewer than 30 percent of California voters are registered Republican, continuing a 20-year decline. The party has lost support among the fastest-growing segment of the electorate, Latino voters, who have shunned the GOP in California since 1994, when Gov. Pete Wilson championed Proposition 187.

By contrast, registered voters in Sutter and Yuba counties tallied 44 percent and 39 percent Republican, respectively.

That ballot initiative prohibited illegal immigrants from using public health care programs, education and a variety of social services. The law was later overturned by the courts but has left lingering resentment among Latinos.

California voters banned gay marriage with the approval of Proposition 8 in 2008, and the US Supreme Court will take up a challenge to the law later this month. A Field Poll released last week found that six in 10 Californians now say they approve of gay marriage, including 71 percent among those who are not affiliated with either of the two major political parties.

— Associated Press