Who are they really afraid of?

Since his very public break with the GOP earlier this year, I think Steven Greenhut has been on a tear.  Still no friend of Liberals or Democrats, Steve has shown no favoritism to those on the Right either.  What’s the old expression, “The enemy of my enemy is my….” Well, you get the picture.

Steve’s column from Sunday’s Register was like having a second cup of coffee. 

Here’s the rub:

” The party squelched criticism of its sheriff. And it did so bloodlessly. After the vote, ( former Cypress Councilman Mike) McGill told me committee members are “sheep.” Many no doubt find the sheriff unfit to be the county’s top cop, but there’s reason not to buck the party establishment, especially Schroeder, who is known for his aggressive efforts. Schroeder, after all, is waging a “burn the village” campaign against Supervisor Janet Nguyen, through legal and other complaints that will hobble her campaign to retain her seat.

“I gotta hand it to the elected GOP Central Committee members of Orange County,” wrote GOP activist and Powder Blue Report blogger Allan Bartlett. “They are totally afraid of their own shadow when it comes to this Carona business. Tonight, a totally watered-down resolution was offered by Mike McGill and it couldn’t even get a majority vote, let alone a two-thirds vote to even have a debate on the resolution asking the sheriff to take a leave from his job. Talk about embarrassing. Members were joking that they were going to leave the room when the vote came because they didn’t want to go on the record for this vote. They are gutless.”

Allan and I disagree on a lot of things, but he’s spot on here.

So, just who is the local GOP really afraid of here? 

It’s not Carona. 

It’s Schroeder.

He’s an unelected power broker who’s influence is sought after by Republicans running for office. Darth Vader? No, that doesn’t fit.  Consigliare? Need a Godfather to go with it? Schroeder is the modern day version of a political boss.  Not a Boss Tweed or James Michael Curley (both Democrats) mind you, but Schroeder is a boss nonetheless.  The unanswered question is how and why does this man hold so much power? 

5 Comments

  1. One has to wonder just what the good Sheriff has on the central party members. Maybe they are guaranteeing their secrets stay secret. So much dirt will come out in the trial. I wonder if the OCGOP leadership doesn’t want Carona to take them down with him, his wife and their mistress. His connections with the D.A’s office and the central committee are the stuff books are written about.

    McGill showed a lot of guts to bring the issue up, he should have stuck to his original plan and called for the sheriff’s resignation.

  2. I read the column and laughed when Greenhut described how many GOP’s were proclaiming that Carona was innocent till proven guilty.

    Only proving the definition of a liberal is a conservative whose just been arrested.

  3. Ultimately what most of these Republicans fear is an environment where prosecutors actually investigate and prosecute crimes against Republicans.

    Having a Sheriff and DA who don’t ever follow up on complaints of politicians who are fundamentally crooked is pretty beneficial to some of the locals who make their living from volunteer positions.

    There’s no need to rely on the idea of secret power brokers. Instead, just follow the money and the power.

  4. Actually Dan, I would describe Schroeder as more of a Napolean Bonaparte. He helped create quite an empire of the GOP in Orange County. But he is stubborn and hell bent on total victory, that he does not know when to admit a loss and live to fight another day. Like Napolean, he is marching his army into their own Waterloo and into disaster, which is fine with me. Like Napolean’s generals, many know Schroeder is wrong but lack the cajones to actually stand up to him.

    Look at his recent losses:

    Tan Nguyen and his constant harassment of Janet

    Chemerinskygate

    Mike Carona indictment

    All three are major black marks on the GOP, yet they stick with this guy when the smart move would be to overthrow him. I have spoken to a couple of GOP’ers who believe his downfall is coming, but the later it happens, the harder the entire OC GOP will fall. They are now teetering on less than 47% of registered voters in Orange County, they have a record decline. The door has been swung open for the Dems to take the drivers seat. As long as Schroeder is leading the GOP army and does not know when to take a loss, the better it is for us.

  5. I agree with both Aunt Millie and Claudio. The last thing the Schroeder’s and Baugh’s want is an overzealous DA looking into their shenanigans. It was one of the reason Capizzi was tossed aside.

    Claudio hits the nail on the head when he says Schroeder is marching them towards towards Waterloo. The harassment of Janet might be better described as Sherman’s March to the Sea except there is a cliff at the end. Claudio, a point of clarification, it was the Trung Nguyen campaign that lost to Janet. But you’re correct in that for all his vaunted implied power Schroeder lost to Janet, barely got Carona re-elected only now to see him indicted, and going back he got his butt kicked Loretta when he defended Bob Dornan.

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