THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

This past weekend I attended the California Republican Party State Convention in Indian Wells, California. Indian Wells is somewhere Past Palm Springs, unless one is driving from the other direction, at which point it is past something else.

I had so much fun this weekend that I needed to fast for 24 hours on Monday just to cleanse my system. Of course, that may be more because of Yom Kippur.

What makes state conventions so enjoyable is that virtually every organization is represented. The Republican Women’s Federated, Young Republicans, College Republicans, Log Cabin Republicans, the California Republican Assembly, and virtually every other right of center group desiring low taxes and dead terrorists showed up.

The highlight for me was that I had the honor of being on a panel about politics and media with my friend Larry Greenfield of the Claremont Institute.

http://www.claremont.org/scholars/scholarid.487/scholar.asp

It was well received by several ladies of the Republican Women’s Federated, who basically represent most of the only opinions in my existence that matter.

(Sorry guys, but there is nothing like spending time with lovely Republican Women.)

Another panel featured Andrew Breitbart, Evan Sayet, and Tom Del Beccaro.

Andrew Breitbart is the brains behind Big Hollywood, but right now he has a not so cold war going on with ACORN. They have decided to sue him because they are corrupt, and he has the audacity to help expose that corruption.

http://bighollywood.breitbart.com

Evan Sayet has been doing his Right to Laugh series of conservative comedy in the Los Angeles area, and now he is going nationwide with upcoming appearances in new York.

http://www.evansayet.com

Tom Del Beccaro is the Vice Chair of the California Republican Party, and appears to be headed for the top job at some point. He is also the author of the “New Conservative Paradigm,” which has been praised by Mona Charen.

http://www.politicalvanguard.com

Gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman, Steve Poizner, and Tom Campbell were all in attendance. I had the chance to meet all three of them, and listen to Ms. Whitman speak at a luncheon featuring Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard. I am officially neutral in the race, but leaning toward one of them.

With regards to the Senate race to fire Barbara Boxer, Chuck DeVore was in attendance. I have met him many times, and been an undercard at more than one of his events. He and his wife Diane are fabulous. Chuck DeVore is not just a good conservative. He is also a very likable individual that is very good with the new technology.

(Ms. Whitman invented some of it as the CEO of Ebay, but Chuck has taken it to a new level.)

http://www.chuckdevore.com

People representing Carly Fiorina were in attendance, but Ms. Fiorina was not there herself. I have no more to say about that since I would rather cover people that were there.

Pete Kesterson and Dana Walsh were in attendance. He is running for Congress against Jane Harman while she is running for Congress against the Pelosiraptor.

Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana spoke at a dinner. I had the honor of hearing him speak at the National Young Republican Convention in Indianapolis. He lit the place up, and it was nice seeing him again. Congressman Buck McKeon was in attendance as well.

One particular person that I was thrilled and honored to meet was former California Governor Pete Wilson. I came to California in 1990, and was proud to watch him defeat Dianne Feinstein by a razor thin 51-49%. I told him that I remain a Pete Wilson Republican 20 years later. I look forward to interviewing him soon, and still think I picked the right primary candidate for the 1996 Presidential race. Had he not had throat surgery, he may have become President.

In a bizarre personal twist, I met my girlfriend at the last convention, and we broke up as soon as this one ended. I guess things do come full circle. It would have been nice to have broken up before attending a conference with gorgeous Republican women, but life does not work that way. It is not easy to get hundreds of GOP women in the same room. I know they do not come to my home for dinner.

Anyway, In the coming days I will have more regarding the convention, but for now I wish to link to many of the various new friends I made.

Three people in particular that made this a great weekend were Greg Poulos, Thaddeus Taylor, and Don Genhart.

Greg Poulos runs the Contra Costa GOP. Thaddeus Taylor, who in an irrelevant fact that amuses only me looks like actor Jeffrey Tambor, runs the Inyo County GOP. I know nothing about Inyo, but if Thaddeus is there, count me in.

Don Genhart is a guy who runs a pet service among other things. He also was one of the major forces behind the Log Cabin Republicans 30 years ago. More importantly, the man dresses in ways that I can’t get away with. Miami Vice style suit jackets are no problem for this guy. One night is what Pink, then purple, and finally, something that is either teal, turquoise, aquamarine, or something that I used to call a shade of light bright sky blue.

Personally I do not think it is fair that only gay men get to dress that way. I love the ladies, but would wear any of those suits if I was not in finance. I can’t pull it off. All hail Don Genhardt.

Matt Robbins, a political director for the party, is another guy that has been great to me. With guys like him, it is no surprise that the party is improving.

Paul Mize does his part for the troops.

http://www.yellowribbonamerica.org

At the last convention in February people were dispirited. At this convention the energy was palpable. Republicans are energized.

The next state convention is in 2010 in Sacramento. I am already getting ready.

eric

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 1:08 pm and is filed under POLITICS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.