State GOP leader hopes for presidential boost

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - California GOP party leader Jon Fleischman said a win by U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in this year's presidential race would help the Republican Party keep control of the state's gubernatorial slot in 2010.

Fleischman, an at-large delegate to the Republican National Convention and an elected vice chairman of the party in Southern California, said he likes what he's seen so far from prospective candidates Meg Whitman and state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

Many conservatives were particularly encouraged by Poizner's work earlier this year to defeat Proposition 93, which would've extended term limits for legislators, Fleischman said.

"For most conservatives, his moxie on that makes up for other issues they might have," Fleischman said in a conversation with reporters.

Though many believe McCain is unlikely to win California in November, Fleischman said he's not concerned that a down-ballot effect will hurt Republican chances to win some contested legislative seats.

"All politics are local," said Fleischman, who also runs a website called The Flash Report that's an aggregation of state political news and conservative commentary. "The handful of targeted races will stand on their own."

He added that the primary goal this fall would be to get Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to spend money in a state like California so that he couldn't spend it as easily in other, more critical states.

In California as a whole, Fleischman said, he was concerned that the Republican Party was having a hard time advancing its goals when the GOP governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is looking to a tax increase as a budget deficit solution while GOP state legislators try to hold the line on the issue.

"I hope the presidential politics take hold this fall," he said.