MINO Republicans?

You remember Dan Lungren, right? The former Nixon Youth who grew up to be California Attorney General, before getting beaten like a retarded mule by Gray Davis in the 1998 gubernatorial election after running a campaign as a social conservative for whom Three Strikes was probably one too many? I thought he might have interesting things to say about the whole Potemkin village interpretation of the Convention as RINOs gone wild, and asked him what he thought so far:

Lundgren: Two home runs yesterday, one home run tonight!

Me: One home run tonight?

Lundgren: Yeah, I mean I think Arnold ahhhhhhh (gives a let-me-break-it-down-for-you smile) hey look: an Austrian bodybuilder comes to the United States, develops his own career, marries a Kennedy, and finds his inspiration in politics not from John Kennedy but Richard Nixon?

Me: Yeah, it's pretty weird, isn't it?

Lundgren: It is! It is! Um, but he also made a presentation that I think opens our party investigation by immigrants and first-generation Americans, and we need them.

Me: Um, you're not troubled by the sort-of RINO, um accusations?

Lundgren: I only hear that from liberal media folks.

Me: Nooooo, you don't, really?

Lundgren: I do, yeah. Oh, I learned from journalists about that! I'm on the floor, and I'm--

Me: I heard it first from covering California politics from the Republicans, when they were pissed off, but--

Lundgren: I haven't heard it! I mean, if you listen to (repeats break-it-down gesture) OK. When the press is talking about "the moderate Republican Party" and "the moderate face of Bush" and all that: Rudy Giuliani's speech was not moderate. John McCain's speech was not moderate. And Arnold's wasn't moderate. I mean they were perhaps moderate in tone, but they were directed to the core of the Republican Party.

I mean that's why I find; it's very interesting, because this is where I thought the party would be, but it's doing it in a very effective way.