Breitbart’s own Steve Bannon will be the keynote speaker at the fall convention of the embattled California GOP, which launches next Friday, Oct 20, at the Convention Center in Anaheim.
Politico reports that Bannon’s Friday address should set an anti-establishment tone for the convention and inject some enthusiasm in California’s grassroots Republican base, which has been depressed by years of battling their own party leadership—plagued by a decade of declining registration, punctuated by repeated electoral failure and a host of internal scandals:
Bannon’s Oct. 20 appearance at the state party’s fall convention comes at a critical time for the Republican Party in California, where Democrats are gunning for GOP incumbents in seven congressional districts Hillary Clinton carried last year. Those contests are critical to Democratic efforts to flip the House.
Since party conventions tend to attract the most “ardent activists,” and a number of members of the California GOP Congressional delegation in “Hillary” districts like Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) and Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine) have distanced themselves from Trump and moved to the left in order to save their seats. It’s likely an attempt to shore up flagging grassroots support among the party faithful.
The Los Angeles Times notes that the former Chief Strategist to President Trump—fresh off a huge, underdog victory with Judge Roy Moore in Alabama—has declared war on establishment Republicans who’ve failed to support and advance the Trump agenda:
Bannon was widely regarded as a key force in engineering Trump’s victory last November, but his brand of conservative populism has been controversial within the party. He resigned from the White House in August shortly after Chief of Staff John F. Kelly took control of the West Wing.
Bannon also has made his name pushing a different vision for the Republican Party and trying to upend the party establishment by promoting primary challenges to establishment incumbents.
California’s GOP establishment controlled behind the scenes by a bow-tied liberal billionaire named Charles Munger Jr.—who has spent tens of millions of dollars to keep conservative candidates out of office, should be careful what it wishes for.
Bannon is gearing up for a war on the very same failed policies of the California GOP establishment that have weakened the party that launched one of the most conservative standard-bearers of all time: first electing Ronald Reagan governor of California, and later President.
The dinner at which Bannon is speaking is sure to excite a lot of ticket sales inside as the faithful flock to hear the “Trump whisperer” speak—as well as incite the predicted anti-Trump protestors outside.
Tim Donnelly is a former California State Assemblyman and Author, currently on a book tour for his new book: Patriot Not Politician: Win or Go Homeless. He also ran for governor in 2014.
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/tim.donnelly.12/
Twitter: @PatriotNotPol
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