Struggling with Lingering Debts and Lackluster Fundraising, CRP Cuts Funding to County Operatives

At a regular scheduled meeting on November 16, the California Republican Party axed its counties "Executive Director" program because of the lackluster fundraising operation and the ongoing financial problems plaguing the organization.  When Ron Nehring (pictured right) took over the party's chairmanship in the aftermath of the '06 election, the CRP's treasury was in red, with nearly $4 million in debt left behind by Duf Sundheim.

As some may know, the CRP's county Executive Director program, with an annual cost of about $260,000, was created in part to pay for salaries of county executive directors for the purpose of cultivating more Republicans and maintaining an active GOP presence in the region.

With this latest decision from the CRP, county GOP parties around the state now have to raise more money in order to maintain their EDs and those that cannot raise the necessary funds will most likely lose their only employee. 

This unwelcoming news is certainly another setback for the current CRP Board of Directors, especially Chairman Ron Nehring, as they continue find a balance between pleasing the conservative base and going along with the Governor's liberal policies in exchange for cash.

The November '08 election is only around the corner and if our state party doesn't even have enough resources to keep some of the most basic employees on the payroll, I am skeptical that we will able to retain any of the competitive Assembly and Senate districts currently occupied by Republicans: AD 15 of Guy Houston, AD 78 of Shirley Horton, AD 80 of Bonnie Garcia, and SD 19 of Tom McClintock - yes Tony Strickland would be in the fight of his political life if the Democratic Party goes after this seat.

For more on this issue, click here to be directed to the AP article that covered this story.

Comments

It must suck to be Ron Nehring. This coming on the heels of two illegal immigrants resigning or being fired after he hired them. One of which has filed a frivolous lawsuit against the USA. How I Ron Nehric

Thankfully Ron Nehring figured it out and hired Bill Christiansen to run the show. These county offices will have their money in no time.

The CRP has raised money in crappier political climates. This is horrifying. Thank God for Bill. Finally, nehring has brought in someone with some skill.

[Andy Favor]

I think the fundraising problems stem from the fact that the Republican Party has lost its way. Take a walk down memory lane and soak in the arrogance that the Republican Party exhibited three short years ago in this New Hampshire Union Leader editorial:

"Had there been any doubts about the direction the Republican Party is headed, they vanished last week when Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie visited New Hampshire."

"During a cheerful and pleasant meeting (that’s the kind of guy Gillespie is) at the Union Leader offices, the party’s new chairman, energetic and full of vigor, said in no uncertain terms that the days of Reaganesque Republican railings against the expansion of federal government are over. No longer does the Republican Party stand for shrinking the federal government, for scaling back its encroachment into the lives of Americans, or for carrying the banner of federalism into the political battles of the day."

The piece goes on: "No, today the Republican Party stands for giving the American people whatever the latest polls say they want. The people want the federal government to tell states how to run local schools? Then that’s what the Republican Party wants, too. The people want expanded entitlement programs and a federal government that attends to their every desire, no matter how frivolous? Then that’s what the Republican Party wants, too."

"The party’s unofficial but clear message to conservatives is: Where else are you going to go? To the Democrats? Libertarians? They don’t think so."

The Democratic Party does not have a problem with fundraising so I have to say that the problem lies with the party itself.

I am surprised Republican leaders do not look at things such as John Howard's loss in Australia to see what lies ahead for the Republican Party.

But there is hope. Democrats, independents, Libertarians are re-registering in droves so they can vote for Ron Paul. (Even my wife will be registering Repubican in January.) Ron Paul offers the only hope for keeping a Republican in the White House.

What will you guys do. Will you keep alienating Ron Paul supporters guaranteeing a Republican loss, or will you embrace this man of principle that our country is so desperately in need of right now.

Ron Paul was one of only four Republican Congressmen to support Ronald Reagan in his first run for President.

Ron Paul has never been on a junket.

Ron Paul returns a portion of his office budget to the treasurey every year.

Ron Paul does not participate in the Congressional Pension Plan.

[MrWhipple]

There's a Republican Party in California?

Seriously?

[Andy Favor]

I meant to link to this video in my above post but at the time You Tube was down or something.

Anyhow, this is fantastic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIivoqLbeeg

[Missy]

I'm a partisan Democrat, but I also believe strongly in the two party system. Without the balance of the Republicans, my party would spin off into a far-left la-la land.

The problem is, as Andy points out, that the GOP has lost its way. It's partly their borrow and squander policies, intrusion into private lives, and expansion of government - but it's also because the GOP has become dominated by extreme conservatives.

The average voter, even people who are strong R's or D's, is a moderate. The more conservative the GOP has become, the more it has lost members and donors.

I didn't vote for Arnold and I don't like many things about him. But I think he's found the third way between the R's and D's that most Californians want. The more the CA GOP cultivates centrists like Arnold, the more successful it will be.

(Yeah, I know, you wish we had nominated Westly. Me too.)

[Dan Chmielewski]

and Ron Paul has a zero percent chance of winning the Republican nomination; [perhaps if he ran as the Libertarian Party candidate....)

[Wrong Ron]

Didn't Ron just raise 4 million dollars on the internet in one day? Oh yeah, that was Ron Paul.

[Tomahawk]

Why are you guys arguing about Ron Paul on this post?

[D. Morton]

If the choice was between keeping County Party staff and keeping CRP staff, then Nehring and the CRP ExCom made the wrong decision. County Party staff are infinitley more valuable than half the people who work for the CRP. I also can't help but wonder how much of the needed $260k could be recovered from the Chairman's personal expense account. I'd also like to remind the original commentator and other posters of this thread that blaming this debt entirely on Sundheim is incorrect because it was contrived by the entire previous ExCom; which included the current Chair as its Vice-Chair.

[Sandy]

Tony Strickland is going down in flames in his race. The Dems have a sharp, ruthless moderate running for them with the backing of the big players in Sacramento - Jim Dantona. As soon as they can get ultra liberal Hannah Beth Jackson out of the primary, it's balls to the walls to elect Dantona. Stop running losers like Strickland if we're going to have a chance.

[Strelniknov]

The CRP E-Board reminds me of the old Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Every year, their chief ideologist Mikhail Suslov, summoned the party faithful to Moscow for "values-clarification meetings". Punishments were dispensed gleefully and rewards sparingly, depending on the degree of "political loyalty" demonstrated by the party apparatchiks to the decrepit gerontocracy which ran the party. Apparently, Tvorasich Nehring learned nothing from George Santayanna. Accordingly, under his leadership, the CRP apparatchiks, will join the CPSU Politburo boys, both of which, as Ronald Reagan said, justifably deserve to be consigned to "dust-bin" of history.

Strelnikov