Votes for Sale
Staff editorial

Is the Orange County Republican Party imploding? The customary tug-of-war between factions has escalated to a range war unrelated to Republican ideology. Former OC Sheriff Mike Carona is under federal indictment, County Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street is being investigated and Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley influenced the outcome of a recall effort, broke laws and then lied about what happened. Instead of supporting investigations, the party either stood by or circled the wagons to protect officials.

The county party boss, Scott Baugh, has turned off former Republican volunteers. As an example of his cronyism, he chose his buddy, Councilman Frank Ury, to chair Mission Viejo’s Republican effort. Ury should have been stripped of his party’s chairmanship for promoting a longtime Democrat in the 2006 city election. Traditional Mission Viejo Republican activities of voter registration and getting out the vote for elections have ceased. Ironically, former Republican Party volunteers continue receiving thank-you letters from Republican figureheads for doing nothing. Evidently, Mission Viejo’s chairman of lies put residents on a phony list, claiming they had participated.

This blog reported Ury’s lack of connection in Mission Viejo when he tried to organize a precinct walk in 2006 for a GOP candidate for county supervisor. Ury spread the word far and wide to recruit volunteers, advertising a BBQ dinner at his house following the walk. Only one person showed up to cover a city of nearly 100,000 residents (60,000 registered voters). The volunteer would have been busier than Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. The volunteer later said Ury was so angry he didn’t deliver on the free dinner – not even a hot dog for the lone volunteer.

Those reading the OC Register or LA Times can daily observe the infighting between county lobbyists and other power-hungry insiders who have clawed their way to the top of the party. Following Carona’s freefall, insiders predicted other county GOP bigwigs would be indicted. Instead of promoting Republican principles, party chiefs spend time dodging charges of corruption, lawbreaking, malfeasance and abuse of power. The Grand Old Party is becoming irrelevant while lobbyists slug it out for city contracts and rezoning favors for their special friends. Mission Viejo council members who sell their votes to county lobbyists have demonstrated how low they’ll go, selling their constituents down the river in exchange for a box of trinkets or a shiny rock.

The real Republicans of Orange County are becoming an endangered species. They’re walking away in disgust but not aligning with the Democrat Party, which is also losing registrants. The growing category is Decline To State. Orange County – the “most Republican county in the nation” – now has less than 50 percent Republicans.

City chairs deceive the county party (“Yeah, yeah. I’ve got it covered.”), and county chairs deceive the state party (“Our city chairs have it covered.”). In 2002, Republicans lost all statewide elections. In 2006, only one Republican won a statewide office – for insurance commissioner. In the past three general elections, Republicans have lost 20 of the 24 statewide elections. The lies and deception add up, the votes don’t.

This blog – which has contributors who are registered Republicans – certainly isn’t out to bash Republican ideology. Lobbyists and their enablers at the top of the county heap are calling themselves Republicans at great expense to the Republican Party.

Some Mission Viejo residents have asked this blog about a magazine, Red County, which is designed to look like an official Republican publication. The magazine is the product of one of the county lobbyists, but it occasionally has an article written by a credible Republican spokesman. In each election, however, readers will see which candidates are being promoted by the lobbyist. When looking at Red County Magazine, readers will see which candidates are under the thumb of the lobbyist and willing to sell their votes.