Live! Raw! (San Diego) Republicans!...arguing over illegal immigration! (VIDEO)

[pampango]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=70634

Oooh, what a juicy little in-house Republican fight we just caught live on video. It's got a little of everything: Conservatives saying Meg Whitman's campaign is "squelching" debate in the party; accusations (denied) that the party chair is helping her; and others saying that the conservatives should suck it up and shut up for the good of drubbing Jerry Brown.

If you've ever wondered what goes on at a (repub) party convention -- ok, besides the boozing and hackneyed sloganeering -- this is a raw peek at the kinds of conversations that go on all the time in hallways and over cocktails. Often loudly.

The difference: This one was captured by Shaky Hand Productions. We're thinking of turning it into a telenovela -- with everyone played by illegal immigrants, just to juice the ratings.

We've been telling you for the past couple of days about how conservatives in the Republican party are ticked at GOP guv nominee Meg Whitman. They think she's not conservative enough on climate change and illegal immigration. So some -- like Celeste Greig, chair of the California Republican -- Assembly -- wanted the Party to adopt a resolution saying that they support Prop 187 and the new Arizona immigration law.

We won't get too deep into the weeds here, but the Resolutions Committee couldn't even get a second to discuss it. Afterwards, Greig and fellow CRA member Karen England went off, saying Whitman's folks squelched any dd of it. Pat Shuff, a delegate from Orange County,joined in and said that the point now was to unite against Jerry Brown, not turn on the nominee.

This devolved into a full on tussle of Principle versus Practicality -- a public version of a conversation that's being had all over the place here among conservatives. Except that this one was in full view of a couple dozen people watching uncomfortably in hotel hallway. Whitman and party staffers were aghast....all of which you can view here in in Technicolor...in two parts:

(link to video is here)