The Reeps

The California GOP -- not so Grand but pretty Old -- heads to Sacramento for its spring convention with plenty on the agenda, including a new leader and a new strategy.

From the Fresno Bee's John Ellis: "The long and painful decline of California's Republican Party was capped last November with the loss of four congressional seats and supermajorities for Democrats in both houses of the Legislature."

"Fair or not, the party was slammed for being politically tone deaf and out of touch with an increasingly multicultural California. Party registration among voters has dropped below 30%."

"With that backdrop, the activists and party faithful who make up the core of the California Republican Party will gather this weekend in Sacramento. And, despite the depressing news that has beat down even the most hopeful Republican, some are finding a reason to be optimistic. "I think this is a turning point," said Matt Shupe, a Fresno State student and delegate who will be attending the convention."

If it's a turning point, a piece of the new strategy has got to be an outreach mode Latinos, who have been alienated for years by the party.

From Michael Gardner in the Union-Tribune: Count Oceanside Assemblyman Rocky Chávez as one of a growing number of Republicans who believe the party’s biting rhetoric on border security and immigration issues has driven off Latinos and lost elections."

“Republicans are seen (by Latinos) in a very negative light,” Chávez said in an interview. “Every time they start saying secure our borders that sends the message that we don’t want Mexicans here, or dark skins.”

"Republicans gather in Sacramento Friday for a political convention that will undoubtedly continue the soul-searching in the wake of election-year drubbings that saw Democrats seize super majorities in the Assembly and Senate."

Making overtures to ethnic groups may take some in the GOP into new territory and won't be easy, as shown by the flap over Harmeet Dhillon's bid to become the party's first female vice-chair.

From the Chronicle;s Carla Marinucci: "Dhillon, currrently chair of the San Francisco GOP, immigrated from India as a child and is a devout Sikh. She’s wrapping up a campaign to become the party’s vice chair, an election which will be held Sunday as the state GOP wraps up its three day convention in Sacramento."

"Vera Eyzendooren, the president of the San Bernardino County Federation of Republican Women— an official party group — slammed Dhillon in a recent Facebook post, which included a photo of an Islamic terrorist who beheaded two people."

“I was told by one of Harmeet’s friends that because of her religion, her loyalty is to the Muslim religion,” Ms. Eyzendooren wrote on Facebook. “So she will defend a Muslim beheading two men without any hesitation……she is not a Republican.”

Meanwhile, GOP political operative Karl Rove is coming to the convention, too -- but with some baggage.

From the Bee's Kevin Yamamura: "Rove is the big-name speaker at the three-day affair that begins today at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento. More than five years since leaving former President George W. Bush's White House, the strategist continues to draw attention after launching the Conservative Victory Project in February, an effort designed to help "electable" Republicans win U.S. Senate seats next year."

"Facing criticism over Republican losses last year in races in which his political action committee invested, Rove's latest move appears to cast blame on candidates whose gaffes drew attention to GOP positions on divisive issues such as abortion."