It is being reporting in the Washington Times today by FR friend and veteran reporter Ralph Hallow that the McCain for President Campaign, through former California Republican Party Chairman Duf Sundheim, is advocating (behind the scenes) for the California Republican Party to change its existing Rules, which currently require that you must be a registered Republican to vote in the upcoming Presidential primary. According to the Times’ story, Sundheim supports allowing non-GOPers (specifically independent voters) to be able to cast ballots in the GOP primary.
Such a change is not supported by Sundheim’s successor, newly elected California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring, who told me this morning, “We just completed our last state convention before the RNC’s June deadline for states to submit their delegate selection rules. Those rules are set as far as I’m concerned. Candidates should focus their efforts on persuading California Republicans they are the most qualified to provide the vision and leadership to carry the party’s banner in 2008.”
This morning I had a chat with a senior official with the McCain campaign back East, and he assured me that the McCain Campaign was not involved in any such effort change the California GOP’s system that is in place currently, telling me that, "this is something that California Republican Party members must decide."
This issue becomes much more significant in light of two other factors, both new for California politics. The first is that the Presidential primary is likely to move to February, meaning that for the first time in decades, California Republicans may play a significant role in selecting the Party’s nominee for President. The second is that for the first time since before Ronald Reagan first ran for President in 1976, California’s GOP delegates will NOT be awarded to the statewide winner of the GOP primary. Instead, delegates will be awarding on a "winner-take-all-by-district" method where the candidate with the most votes in each of California’s 53 Congressional Districts will be awarded three delegate positions.
For most Republican leaders to whom I have spoken on the issue of whether non-Republicans should be able to vote, there is understanding of the tactical advantage that exists when you gain the vote of an independent in the primary, in terms of that person "sticking with" the GOP in the Fall. But that said, virtually every one of them opposes such a move, for a variety of reasons. The most prevalent of which is the notion that the purpose of the primary is for the Republican Party to choose its nominee, and that, by definition, independent voters have chosen not to be Party members. The idea that they would decline to be in the Party, but want a role in selecting the Party’s nominee, is anathema to most GOP activists.
Of course, there is also the idea that if it is widely accepted that, in the absence of registering with the party, you may still enjoy a franchise in the primary, there is little incentive to stay in the GOP. There is a notion that the ability to participate in selecting our nominees should be an important marketing tool to attract and retain Republican voters. Several people have also talked about the ability for mischief to reign where more liberal independent voters (surveys show that Decline-to-State voters are from all across the political spectrum) would vote in the GOP primary to influence the selection of the candidate they feel would least be able to compete in a General Election.
Anyways, the bottom line on this issue is that currently the rules are set, and since the Chairman of the Party does not support a change, it is extremely unlikely that advocates of such a change would be able to muster the votes among the activists that make up the 1600-member California Republican Party State Committee, at their convention this September.
As the Southern Vice-Chairman of the Party, I am opposed to making any change. As a matter of fact, I would support expanding the current policy as it pertains to the Presidential Primary, to say that to vote in the Republican Primary for Statewide Constitutional office, Congress, or the State legislature, you must be a registered Republican voter.
**Please note that Duf Sundheim responded to this commentary, and you can read his response here.**
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