The Lincoln Club of Orange County, one of the oldest, most prestigious conservative organizations in California, has issued a vote of no confidence against gubernatorial primary candidate Tim Donnelly, marking the first time in the organization’s 52-year history that a vote of no confidence was issued against a major candidate for statewide office, according to a report in the Orange County Register.
“Assemblyman Donnelly’s rhetoric is divisive and destructive. He’s not the man to lead Republicans, the party of Abraham Lincoln,” the board said in the report.
The Club, and more specifically the Register‘s Michael Capaldi and David Bahnsen, are apparently frustrated with Donnelly’s repeated rhetoric likening immigration to warfare. In a 2006 speech discussing border security, which was unearthed by the Los Angeles Times, Donnelly reportedly said, “I am a descendant of Jim Bowie, who died at the Alamo. It’s rumored that he took a dozen Mexican soldiers to their deaths before they finally killed him. How many of you will rise up and take his place on that wall?”
Capaldi and Bahnsen called Donnelly’s speech “hysterics,” and said that comparing the country’s immigration challenges to actual war “cheapens real war, its grim suffering, and sacrifices.”
The Club is also apparently fed up with Donnelly’s recent accusations against Republican rival Neel Kashkari. The candidate was slammed by Republican leaders, including Rep. Darrell Issa, when he accused fellow Kashkari of endorsing sharia law after Kashkari offered introductory remarks at a 2008 joint Harvard University-U.S. Treasury seminar on Islamic banking law.