Former Gov. Deukmejian To Fellow Repubs: "We've Got To Do Some Things To Attract Independent Voters If We're Going To Elect Republicans To Office"; He Urges Party To Identify With Working Men & Women, "Not Just Be Tied To Corporate Executives"

(Jan. 29, 2012) -- Former California Gov. George Deukmejian has told a gathering of Republican loyalists that the Party is becoming a numerical minority amid a large number of independent or decline-to-state voters and has "got to do some things to attract the independent voters if we're going to elect Republicans to office."

In remarks at monthly meeting of the Long Beach Lincoln Club, reported Sunday (Jan. 29) by LBReport.com (LongBeachReport.com) on its Big News Sunday webcast, Governor Deukmejian said Republicans "have to identify ourselves with working men and women and not be tied to just to corporate executives." He also urged the Party to "adopt a policy of Republican friendship and identify with ethnic communities" and with women, "especially women in the workforce."

The state's 35th Governor said he believes this can be accomplished without abandoning core Republican principles but "we can't keep going down the path we've been on because it isn't succeeding."

At one point during his Jan. 26 remarks, Governor Deukmejian said bluntly: "[W]e're in bad shape...I don't know how much further we can go...We have to change, we have to turn it around."

To view the video segment of Gov. Deukmejian's salient remarks that was part of LBReport.com's Big News Sunday webcast, click here.

Governor Deukmejian said that despite issues including overspending, budget deficits, a poor business climate and high unemployment, "the Democrats are the ones that are in charge" at the state and federal level as voters continue electing and reelecting them. After citing the 2001 redistricting as one reason for outcomes that has now changed, Gov. Deukmejian continued:

There are some in our Party who say "well, it's the public that's at fault, it's not the Party...We just need to hang in there, dig our heels in deep, and still push for these issues and positions that we feel are important, that they're right and sooner or later somebody will see the light."

Well, I gotta tell you, I think there's been some significant changes going on. Our Party is becoming more and more of a minority Party, and there is a very, very large segment of the electorate that are independents or decline to state and they're considered to be independent voters. And those independent voters have become a very big factor in all of the elections today.

So we not only have to have support from our base, but we've got to do some things to expand that base and we've got to do some things to attract the independent voters if we're going to elect Republicans to office. We can't just keep going down the path we've been on because it isn't succeeding.

Governor Deukmejian advised his fellow Republicans as follows:

In the next few years, we have to identify ourselves with working men and women in our country. We have to recognize that the leaders in the large corporations and businesses are playing both sides. This is something that went on even when I was Governor, probably even more so now...

I'm saying that while the business community should recognize that the principles of most Republicans are in tune with the private enterprise system, unfortunately a lot of decisions are made by some of the business leaders listening to political consultants and all they want to do is have access. And they're told by their political consultants if you donate to the Democrats who are going to win or are in the majority, it's going to gave you access whenever there's an issue that you're interested in. As a result, they contribute to both sides.

And all I'm saying is, we want their support and we will continue to hold to the principles of free enterprise, but at the same time we have to identify ourselves with working men and women and not be tied to just corporate executives.

We need to adopt a policy of Republican friendship and identify with ethnic communities, because when you take all the ethnic communities and combine them, they're now the majority in California. And we have to identify with these communities and take steps to reach out to them and let them know that we are interested in advancing their lives and their careers for themselves and their children and anybody else.

We have to identify ourselves with women, especially women in the workforce, and we have to demand that women be treated equally at all levels in the workplace.

We have to identify ourselves with fiscal responsibility...I have to tell you, we had a couple of, one or two, recent Republican Presidents who did not adhere to fiscal responsibility as we know it. We have to establish a policy in government that prohibits spending more than we receive and to do away with the pork barrel spending.

...We have to have a well educated and a well trained workforce, so education is extremely important for the benefit not only of the individuals and their families but for society, for all of society...It's extremely important that we identify ourselves with educational opportunities, improvements and accountability.

We've always been identified with public safety issues. We just need to reinforce that...[W]e need to make sure we don't lose that.

We should be committed to a strong ten year program for improving the infrastructure throughout the state and in local communities...We need to make it clear that Republicans are in favor of rebuilding our infrastructure, helping to create jobs, helping to improve the economy.

We need to seek women and members of minority communities to be candidates for office and for Party leadership as well.

I don't know how much, how much [stops himself], I mean we're in bad shape, we're in bad shape, I don't know how much further we can go...We have to change, we have to turn it around.

And I'm simply saying that we can do all these things that I've mentioned, still adhering to our basic Republican principles of fiscal responsibility, strong support for the private enterprise system, a growing economy and job creation..."

Governor Deukmejian, who previously served as Attorney General and in the Assembly, served two terms as Governor (1983-1991), defeating L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley twice and spanning the years between Democrat Jerry Brown's first administration and the Republican Pete Wilson.