By Sean J. Miller – 01/02/10 05:35 PM ET

Southern California Republicans are uneasy with the “middle of the road” strategy adopted by former eBay CEO Meg Whitman (R) in the race to succeed California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R).

“We’ve seen that before. Case and point would be [Richard] Riordan’s strategy when he ran for governor,” said John Cozza, vice chairman of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County. A moderate Republican who served as mayor of Los Angeles, Riordan touted his business acumen during the 2002 gubernatorial Republican primary but lost to conservative Bill Simon. Riordan “ignored the base and focused on a general election strategy and we saw how well that worked out for him,” Cozza said.

Cozza pointed to similarities in Whitman’s campaign. “It seems like her consultants are taking her down the middle of the road,” he said. Republicans “want her to come out stronger on fiscal issues.”

Citing a scheduling conflict, Whitman recently declined an invitation from the Republican Party of Los Angeles County Central Committee to speak at a candidates forum Jan. 14. Her primary opponents — entrepreneur and former state insurance commissioner Steve Poizner (R) and former Rep. Tom Campbell (R) – are set to attend.

Cozza said Whitman is missing an opportunity to court some of the party’s conservative activists. “Most of the people that are active and that are traveling and attending our forums are the conservative people, the tea party people, the patriots,” he said, adding there are some 1.1 million Republicans in the county. “I think it’s a missed opportunity [for her],” he said.

The Whitman campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Whitman has run a steady stream of radio ads since September but she has not been a ubiquitous presence at grass-roots events, Cozza said.

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