Hmmm… This is interesting. Jubal/Matt Cunningham has just released the second issue of Red County magazine… Ya know, the magazine to go along with the blog. (Hey Brian, why don’t WE have our own “Calitics: The Magazine”?) But anyways, included in this month’s issue is an article on The New Majority.

So what exactly is The New Majority? What is their role in the Republican Party, and why have they suddenly gained so much power after losing an attempt to take over the Orange County GOP in 2000? What the heck does Arnold have to do with all of this? And why did they try to disenfranchise a few hundred Democrats and Independent voters last year? Follow me after the flip for more on this sordid tale of “business-minded Republicans” desperately searching for a place (and a few politicians) to call their own…

So how exactly did The New Majority get its start? Matt Cunningham fills us in:

Given its prominence in California politics, it’s difficult to remember The New Majority has existed for little more than half-a-decade-during which time it has rapidly risen from local malcontent to state Republican bulwark.

The New Majority burst onto the political scene in 2000, attempting to take over the Orange County Republican Party Central Committee in order to dump the Chairman Tom Fuentes, whom they viewed as too conservative and an obstacle to broadening the party’s image. The new group plowed approximately $200,000 into the campaign: recruiting a full slate of Central Committee candidates and promoting them with a full-blown campaign that even included cable TV ads.

I remember those New Majority ads from 2000. At that time, GOP registration in Orange County was hovering around 50%, and they were sounding off alarms that the GOP would fast lose its majority in Orange County should it continue veering too far to the right. And while The New Majority might have won a little respect from some Democrats and Independents who appreciated their efforts to bring the Republican Party back to the middle in OC, most Republicans just viewed them as a bunch of “rich RINOs” who were secretly advancing “the liberal leftist agenda” within the GOP.

So in the end, The New Majority’s campaign to take over the OC GOP failed. They were not able to win a majority of Central Committee seats, so the OC GOP remained as far right as ever. Perhaps they could have just given up and gone home, but they did not do that. Nope, instead they soon discovered an opportunity.

They found Arnold Schwarzenegger. While still smarting from the Central Committee debacle, The New Majority crossed paths with the Hollywood star, who was pushing Proposition 49 (to expand after-school programs) for the 2002 ballot. Prop. 49 was viewed as a tool for establishing the actor’s policy bona fides with a political/policy win should he decide to run for statewide office. Schwarzenegger’s Prop. 49 campaign provided an immediate, impactful focus for the young group’s attention. “Arnold Schwarzenegger and Proposition 49 really rallied us,” said Paul Folino, Chairman of Emulex Corporation and Chairman of The New Majority/Orange County. Thus began a symbiotic relationship between the soon-to-be-Governor and The New Majority that has grown closer with time. After Schwarzenegger’s celebrated Tonight Show announcement he would run in the 2003 recall election, his first call was to The New Majority leaders at their board dinner meeting.

The New Majority-as a group and as individuals-has helped raise millions for Schwarzenegger and the excitement surrounding the advent of Arnold invigorated the group’s growth. “Arnold Schwarzenegger moved our progress up by five years,” commented Folino. “If it weren’t for Arnold, I’m not sure we’d have recently opened up two new chapters in the last two years.”

Well, The New Majority certainly has tied all its political fortune to Arnold and his political aspirations. They have given loads of money to Arnold’s campaigns, and in turn Arnold has given them loads of political access. They gave Arnold $12 MILLION to fight for his 2005 special election initiatives.

And at this point, The New Majority is ready to use their connections to Arnold to grow and expand their power in California. Some are already cashing in. Meanwhile, the group itself has already expanded into Los Angeles… And they have plans to expand into San Diego, the Inland Empire, the Bay Area (especially tech-rich Silicon Valley), and even outside California.

So what can these other areas expect when The New Majority comes to town. Perhaps some fancy fundraisers with such “luminaries” as Arnold Schwarzenegger, John McCain, and Mitt Romney? Perhaps some fun and fabulous “nighttime madness” galas? Or perhaps some “bounty hunt” registration drives that ILLEGALLY SWITCH DEMOCRATS AND INDEPENDENTS TO REPUBLICAN AGAINST THEIR WILL?

From The OC Register:

The California Secretary of State’s Office launched an investigation [on March 1, 2006] into hundreds of Republican registrations in Orange County done during a $100,000 drive to increase GOP voters in a Democratic stronghold.

As Republican leaders continued to blame three rogue circulators who were paid for each registration, most of the questions centered on Christopher S. Dinoff, 30, a Riverside man who was fired by a GOP-hired contractor after Dinoff was accused of strong-arming voters into registering as Republicans. […]

Those who complained had typically registered as Democrats with the circulators stationed outside stores. They were surprised when they received notification from the registrar or the Republican Party identifying them as new GOP voters.

Desiree Funsch, 28, an Anaheim Democrat, said she thinks she was caught in the scam when she signed a petition in November outside an Albertsons.

It is not known if Dinoff registered Funsch.

“I’m upset at the Republicans for offering bounties to these people,” Funsch said. “I also blame the Registrar of Voters for not double-checking this.”

At last count, there were 536 Democrats who were illegally switched to Republican… But there may very well be more cases. And oh yes, guess who paid for this illegal switching effort? Yep, The New Majority.

So while these folks might not be as “far right” as the rest of the California Republican Party, they can be just as gruesome. They funded the rise of Arnold… And profited off of it. They funded Arnold’s special election drive to advance his far-right-wing agenda in 2005. And oh yes, they were quite complicit in illegally switching voters to the GOP. Nope, this “New Majority” isn’t really much different from the “old majority” of the GOP… But they do strike an interesting resemblance to a certain “pro-business group” that’s trying to move the Democrats to the “center“…

Does Governor Schwarzenegger have to say something like this before people believe him?

What do you think the biggest mistakes you made in your first term of office as governor were? DENIS MILMO, by e-mail

I never should have called a special election in 2005. All the reforms I pushed are important and I’ve not given up on any of them. But I went about it the wrong way. The people want the governor and legislature to work together to solve problems. They don’t want to vote on every issue before us. I was impatient and my heart was certainly in the right place, but I should have been more inclusive and worked more to find the common ground. It is interesting how life works, though. Going through that made me and the legislature that much more determined to work together in the future and got some amazing things done last year for the people of our state.

Union busting is not a good idea.  Giving virtually all budgetary power to the executive is not a good idea.  Decreasing job security for teachers is not a good idea.  And trying to get legislators to accept these ideas won’t be a good idea either, nor would it work, as you’d be asking Democrats to engage in a suicide mission, against the interests of their biggest backers and the entire public of the state.

(Redistricting, if the proposal is tweaked significantly from that in 2005, is another matter, although I hope it’s correct that any redistricting measure approved would not take effect until Census data from 2010 is completed.)

I also found this exchange from the Independent (UK) interview of interest:

Do you think there is too much money in American politics? Can anything be done to cut the power of special interest groups? ROD HALLORAN, Lancaster

Money is a fact of life in American politics. You cannot get your message out without money to run a campaign, buy advertising or reach voters. The important thing is that politicians should not make decisions based on this. I have an absolute rock-solid rule that I never make a decision based on who did or did not contribute.

Shorter Arnold: I can raise a lot of cash, so suck it, but trust me, none of that is reflected in any policy, just look at my health care plan!  But don’t look at the part where insurance companies get a forced market and a license to print money.

(Also, how come it takes a British paper to get this level of engagement from the Governor, other than any paper in this state?)