Battle for the Soul of the California Republican Party

As the GOP’s most likely candidate for president, John McCain hopes to win California this coming November with the coalition of independents and moderates that re-elected Governor Schwarzenegger last year. But California’s Republican Party refused to allow independents to participate in the Super-Tuesday primary. Registration has now dropped to just 33% of those eligible statewide. In a letter to party leaders, Businessman Lawrence K. Dodge said, “[We are] eating our own in public.” He withheld 3-million dollars to pay off the party’s debt in hope that last weekend’s convention in San Francisco would adopt a more moderate platform.