GRAY SKIES ARE GONNA CLEAR UP...

California Fray Offering G.O.P. Hope and Peril: The possibility of compelling a vote on Gov. Gray Davis's fate as early as this fall has many California Republicans emerging from a political funk. (DEAN E. MURPHY, 7/19/03, NY Times)

The recall has changed things so significantly over such a short period of time that we have to look at our 2003 and 2004 goals, not just our 2006 goals," said George M. Sundheim III, who became chairman of the state Republican Party in February, promising to make it competitive by expanding its base, enlisting volunteers and quelling the infighting. "It has accelerated the process."

Republican voter registration drives have moved into high gear. Conservative talk radio is filled with excited conjecture about possible Republican successors to Mr. Davis. Hollywood is abuzz over the possible political ambitions of the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican.

And for the first time in years, the conservative and moderate wings of the state party are so focused on winning that they are rarely at each other's throats publicly.

"The recall has been a huge shot in the arm for California Republicans," said Tony Quinn, a veteran political analyst and an editor at California Target Book, a nonpartisan survey of elections in the state. "It has motivated their voters." [...]

Other Republicans in the state are concerned that it is too soon for the party to sustain a meaningful rebound. Attention should be focused instead on recruiting strong candidates to challenge Democrats in next year's elections for the state's Legislature and the race against Senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat who is seeking a third term.

That recruitment though, especially for the Boxer race, has to be made easier if a Republican has just won a statewide election, no? Posted by Orrin Judd at July 19, 2003 6:06 AM