Harry Jaffe, The Examiner
2008-02-06 08:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

At the height of the political season, in this most political town, what passes for a local Republican Party is a dead man walking. Walking, if that means holding dinners and taking straw polls. Last week the D.C. Republican Committee held its annual Lincoln Douglas Day Dinner. More than 300 attended. Sen. John McCain won.

Dead, when it comes to local politics. There is no overcoming the disparity in registration: 30,000 Republicans to 272,000 Democrats. The local GOP has a new executive director who’s trying to focus the party on local politics, but the Republicans here can’t shake the stigma of being a party of white males, who get their jollies playing in national political circles.

Consider me a political Pollyanna, but I actually believe in the two-party system. Competition breeds better public servants. I wish D.C. had a vibrant GOP.

“There are a lot of stereotypes we’re trying to break in D.C.” said Paul Craney, the party’s new executive director. “We’re trying to bring local issues into focus.”

Craney, a 26-year-old Republican from New Jersey, has his work cut out for him, starting at the top.

Stereotype No. 1: The local GOP chairman is Robert Kabel, a lawyer who lobbies the federal government and in Brazil. His political roots are in the Reagan regime and the Federalist Society, the most conservative wing of the legal establishment.

Compare Kabel to D.C. Democratic chairwoman, Anita Bonds, who has labored in the fields of local politics since the early Barry years. Bonds has all but memorized voter rolls in every precinct.

The GOP’s hold on local politics has been shrinking. By law, two of the 13 D.C. Council members have to be from a party other than Democratic. At-large member David Catania was first elected as a Republican; he switched to independent. That leaves at-large member Carol Schwartz as the lone Republican officeholder.

Schwartz, who lost four mayoral runs, is up for re-election. With decades of public service and name recognition the envy of all, she still faces a fight in the fall, perhaps in her own primary.

Craney tells me the GOP lobbied Republicans on Capital Hill behind the D.C. voting rights initiative — but they killed it. The Republicans are organizing town hall meetings in every ward, he says.

“We do have a grassroots movement,” he said. “We’re showing signs of growing again.”

Marcus Skelton, who ran and lost for an at-large seat, is organizing D.C. Young Republicans. Chris Scalise is the new head of the local Log Cabin Group.

But Craney faces a toxic disconnect: The national Republican Party is too conservative for D.C.’s very liberal electorate. Carol Schwartz has run well in D.C. only by running against the national party.

“Carol has won by appealing to Democratic voters,” he said. “We want to field candidates who appeal to those sorts of voters.”

Translation: Republicans can win in local elections only if they become Democrats.

Is that any way to build a party?