• Remember when the Park Brothers were expelled from CRA for life?
• Remember the financial shenanigans they masterminded in both the Placer County Republican Assembly and at the CRA annual conventions?
• Remember the Brothers Park posting people’s home addresses and bank account numbers online?
• Remember when the new board of directors took them to court?
• Remember the multipage expose’ in the Sacramento Bee laying out the case used by the prosecution to win conviction?
• Remember the complaints that were filed with FPPC, FBI, DOI, various local District Attorneys and CA Attorney General?
• Remember the Emmy Award winning special on the Fox News Channel about the “Placer County Mafia”?
• Remember when the Brothers (Aaron and George) went to jail after being convicted by each and every single one of these entities?
Let me guess; you don’t remember any of these things happening do you? Because everything except the first three points are false and never happened.
X has been involved in the CRA for a little over a decade now and knows both Aaron and George very well; well enough to say both are so crooked you may be able to open a wine bottle with either one. Back in the day, Aaron once had a big problem abusing the sauce, but now he (and George) spend their leisure time abusing the truth. For them truth is not an absolute, it’s a matter of compensation and personal enhancement that determines their “truth”. But enough of those two Jeb Bush supporting, wannabe conservatives—for now.
The California Republican Assembly (CRA) claims to be the oldest Republican organization in California. A quick look at their membership at the last convention would convince you that the claim is probably true. Sadly, the once proud CRA has devolved into an old white people’s club, except rather than play Bingo and shuffleboard, they reminisce about the old times when California frequently went Republican during statewide elections and occasionally for President. This group still fondly remembers when “The Gipper” called them “the conscience of the Republican Party.” However, like “The Gipper”, CRA has developed Alzheimer’s disease. They have forever lost their way.
If you need evidence of how out of touch the CRA is, you need look no further than their Presidential Endorsing Convention last February. On the first ballot, Donald Trump barely got 10 votes while Ted Cruz was overwhelmingly endorsed. When California actually cast ballots on June 7th, Trump got 74.8% of the vote while Cruz came in third with just 9.5%.
Likewise, the CRA Convention’s choice for US Senate, Tom Del Baccaro, was overwhelmingly endorsed on their first ballot. When Californians voted in June, Del Baccaro got 4.3% of the vote. Not only did he finish a distant fifth place in the field, but no Republican received enough votes to go on to the November 8th election.
Every two years, CRA chapters hold local endorsement conventions all across the state. These pyric events often break out into meandering trips down memory lane for these old geezers. You see, the CRA endorsement comes with no money for candidates or sweat equity to further their campaigns. It’s just symbolism with no substance. However, for those that believe, it’s a sacred duty that they take very seriously.
CRA claims to be an organization based on principles. However, I’ve personally watched a candidate get endorsed by CRA by promising to hold the line against higher taxes, only to break their promise and then the following election cycle be endorsed again (Mike Villines and Mimi Walters).
Sadly, CRA stands for nothing; they are just another GOP group with a different name and annual dues.
In my local unit, I’ve witnessed firsthand a three hour debate by two candidates running for the right to get annihilated by Doris Matsui. CRA will leave no windmill unscathed.
X left the CRA due to these types of people/actions, permanently.
You see the new CRA Board has stood idly by while the organization went the same way as the CA Republican Party; right down the commode. Yup, while our blind leadership was busy trying to set up a new unit in Compton and make sure all the incumbents in Orange County got re-elected in landslides, the world changed. Look at what CRA has been reduced to. The Park Brothers should be history from any type of political circle, and a DA in Placer County likely could have helped spearhead the effort but no, we would rather play nice. CRA failed to act either in self-defense or on principle. Between the CRA and rank-and-file Republicans, the disconnect has never been more pronounced. CRA is stuck so far in the past that they still think California has primaries. They still haven’t come to grips with a top two system. Despite much bluster and bravado, they are just as averse to conflict as the national party when squabbles break out.
Like the Republican Party in California, CRA has run its course. Both are dimming memories in the consciousness of the political historian that is likely young enough not to know firsthand what a vibrant two party system looked like. It has been millennia since the proud elephant has roamed supreme in the western states of North America and almost as long since a living Republican has been spotted making a difference in the once Golden State.
