Why would a sane person pick San Francisco for a convention? The California Republican Party (CRP) held its spring convention in San Francisco. The CRP chose to hold their convention amongst the winos, derelicts and panhandlers of South Market Street.

Some Republicans found $ 226.99 night accommodations excessive. The additional $55 per day parking didn’t help either. Parking was only $40 per day two blocks away. Some people chose to walk past the winos, derelicts and panhandlers to save $15 per day. Chicken dinners at $100 a plate sent a few people to the Taco Bell across the street. The only place you could get a cup of coffee was at the Starbucks across the street. Apparently not all Republicans got the memo and a quorum was not met.

No problem a hero appeared on the scene. He graciously provided airfare, hotel accommodations, and membership fees to several hundred students. The quota was met and a quorum was attained. The generous donor was not able to cover the expense of the $100 a plate banquets, which were poorly attended. This was a good thing because the big name speakers stayed away in droves. Governor Schwarzenegger didn’t even send a film clip. The two exceptions were Senator Thune of South Dakota and David Horowitz.

There were less than a dozen exhibitors and only one vendor at the conference. The cost to return ratio was prohibitive. Exhibitors and vendors are business people. Why spend money when there is no chance of recovery? College students on free tickets don’t buy much.

There were many high minded speeches about regaining power from the Democrats. There were many calls for donations and volunteers. However no clear plans were offered. Rhetoric does not win elections. Every time the chairman spoke he was thanking, complimenting and commending some unknown functionary for something or other. It seemed like a Hollywood awards meeting with everyone flattering each other. A little of this goes a long way.

The treasurer’s report was a work of art. Not one number was mentioned. No graphs, no charts, no balance sheets, no mention of our financial status. No hint of gains or losses was offered. For this the treasurer was unanimously re-elected. To this country boy the lack of numbers means they are bad.

The hero of the day left office in disgrace only six short years ago. The charter of the CRP was rewritten because of the chaos he left behind. The price extracted for this generosity was election to an internal office not even known to the outside world. After the election he rewarded us with freshly baked cookies. Only in America can you buy back your reputation with room rent, airfare and freshly baked cookies.

I don’t blame the college kids for their actions they don’t know the history. However there are a number of people who seem to have forgotten about the financial mess. Have we forgotten the Parsky Watch letters generating hatred and dissention in the party? There are people that I once respected who bought into the frenzy. I am sure they don’t care a whit what I think of them, until they want a contribution. Whether I contribute to a particular candidate will not win or lose an election. However I may not be the only one who feels this way.

In the fifteen years that I have been active in the Republican Party I have attended all but one convention. Never in all of those conventions have I been so disappointed. This is clearly the worst convention that I have attended.

We Republicans tend to look down on the lowly Democrats. We are the high minded honorable people. We laugh at the Democrats and their graft and super delegates. It is a hard sell convincing the average voter when we can be bought for freshly baked cookies.

The event was filled with high minded speeches about taking back control from the Democrats. How can we be trusted with the levers of power when our votes can be bought so cheap? How can we convince voters to vote for us? The answer is we can’t. We are going to be out of power for years to come. We seem to have forgotten that our goal is to elect Republicans. We have a serious election coming up. We should be mending fences not burning bridges.