Brulte Steps In to Steady Course of State’s GOP

SACRAMENTO —  Few have noticed, except for political junkies. But the future Republican presidential nominee has just gained significant strategic ground in California, long before any votes are cast.

If that nominee turns out to be Texas Gov. George W. Bush, as is widely presumed, this makes the strategic move all the more significant.

Bush’s point man in California, state Senate GOP Caucus Chairman Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga, has stepped away from his presidential campaign role and assumed control over key money-raising and spending at the ridiculed California Republican Party.

The California GOP has been likened to an alcoholic, who, before he can recover, must admit he has a problem and voluntarily seek help. This sick party now has done precisely that and asked for Brulte’s unquestioned expertise.

First, as often is the case, there was an “intervention” by concerned family members. Continue down this destructive path and the party will wind up flat broke with no friends, state Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush and Secretary of State Bill Jones bluntly told new GOP Chairman John McGraw, a far-right, rich, Silicon Valley businessman.

In fact, the state GOP already was at least $300,000 in debt, in contrast to the state Democratic Party’s stash of $2.5 million.

The Brulte move--strongly encouraged by Bush--changes the tactical battlefield in California. Potentially, it could place Republicans on par with Democrats, whose nuts-and-bolts operation has been far superior to the GOP’s ever since President Clinton’s victorious 1992 campaign here.

“Our party infrastructure has been falling to pieces,” says GOP consultant Ray McNally. “I haven’t been this confident about our operation in a decade.

“This is a huge message that’s being sent: We’re going to put our first string on the field. We’re not going to have a bunch of sycophants and hangers-on out there anymore.”

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It now becomes more likely that the Republican presidential nominee will run all-out in California, thereby helping each GOP candidate, from Congress to the state Assembly. It’s always tempting to ignore California, as then-President George Bush did in 1992. The state is expensive and intimidating for outsiders.

They look at polls and project investment returns. If a nominee believes he can get more for his millions in smaller states, he’ll spend there. But at present, California polls show Bush in a tight race against either Vice President Al Gore or Bill Bradley.

If the Republican candidate believes the California GOP knows what it’s doing--for example, can field an effective grass-roots operation--he’ll be more inclined to invest time and money here. Especially since there’s virtually no way a Democrat can capture the White House without carrying California.

The California GOP has been in disrepute for some time. Last year it may have hit bottom, as symbolized by Dan Lungren’s inept campaign for governor. “People contributed a lot of money to Lungren and the party and felt they’d poured it down a rat hole,” McNally says. “They swore they weren’t going to contribute any more to losing causes.”

Business interests also objected that the party’s main causes seemed to be unpopular social issues, such as abortion. Their chief concerns are education, transportation, regulation, taxes. . . .

Chairman McGraw unnerved donors by telling a Roman Catholic newspaper last January that “killing our babies [is the] issue of the century. . . . Any other issue pales in comparison.”

Says GOP consultant Allan Hoffenblum: “Right now, we’re trying to change the perception that the party is controlled by kooks.”

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McGraw was wise enough to recognize he had a problem and seek Brulte’s help. At the same time, Bush strategists were pushing Brulte to rescue the state GOP. “The party didn’t have much credibility,” Brulte notes.

Brulte, 43, is a pleasant pragmatist and the Legislature’s top GOP strategist. He got his political start as a 10-year-old, slapping on bumper strips for Ronald Reagan. He also was an advance man for then-Vice President George Bush.

Now he’s the state GOP finance chairman. He’ll oversee the raising and spending of $18 million for a huge program of voter registration, absentee voting, yard signs and the like. Already he has obtained Bush’s commitment to head a party fund-raiser in L.A. next month.

As for the social issues, Brulte asserts: “We as a party need to blow the doors off our hinges and welcome everyone in--regardless of race, creed. . . . We don’t need to just open the doors, because doors can be closed. We need to blow them off their hinges.”

Brulte probably will be making Democrats nervous--and causing Republican contributors to again reach for their checkbooks.