Republicans Eat Their Own in California

Tonight's Dinner? Central Valley Senator Jeff Denham (R-Modesto).

In the ongoing budget stalemate in the California State Senate, Denham is the closest to low-hanging fruit that the 14 (white male) Republicans have to offer the Democratic majority. The Democrats only need one Republican to support the budget for them to have 2/3rds of the Senate, but so far none are budging.

Why Denham? He broke with Republicans twice before to vote for budgets, so he's considered gettable. Yet, this year, he's dug in big time, declaiming Democrats' "pressure" and "tactics."

While often mis-labled a moderate, Denham is no profile in courage. He votes lock-step with the Republicans, who, in California, represent the extreme far right of the party nationwide. When he voted for the budgets before, he was more in the role of sacrificial lamb than lone wolf--he did so with the party's blessing and with the political cover of Republican leader Dick Ackerman (R-Orange County).

This year you almost gotta feel sorry for the guy, he's caught between a rock and a hard political reality: he's said to be holding the line because he wants to run for Lt. Governor and believes he can't win a Republican primary without arch-conservative support, which means no voting for (even this relatively conservative) budget.

(Putting aside for the moment that Denham may not be capable of handling even the rigorous whale-naming duties of Lt. Governor) if he should by chance win his party's primary, his insistence on hanging tough to oppose the budget on behalf of out of state developers in their effort to restrict the state's new anti climate change law dooms him statewide.

Denham is this year's poster child for the strange political paradox Republicans have created for themselves: to win statewide you must be green, yet you must be anti-environmental to win Republican primaries.

Only Arnold Schwarzenegger can change this balance--he can commit to supporting whatever "moderate" Republican supports the budget throughout their political future in California and free up the long-overdue payments to hospitals, healthcare workers and teachers that the Republicans are holding hostage. What's it going to be tough guy? You chicken?