No wonder the Republicans are nearly as extinct in California as the dinosaurs. With a Trump sycophant like McCarthy in charge of the annihilation. Embracing Trump policies was a complete recipe for the wipeout. Could not happen to a nicer bunch of fools who truely got what they deserved.
1
“This wasn’t just a decline in viability, but a death.”
The Republican Party died in 1980. What has been animating the corpse is not Republican; it's radical and bizarre, out of touch with reality. It's been putting itself on life support: gerrymandering and the elimination of equal time for opposite points of view in the media leading to a form of mass brain washing, packing the bench with radicals, and the type of anti-democratic self preservation actions we recently saw in Wisconsin. It's death spiral is a perfectly predictable outcome. I'm surprised it's taken so long. And I'm more surprised that anyone is surprised. The question is: can we (civilization, humanity, our country) survive it's death throes?
20
@Mike
It's still not too late to save Democracy and the institutions that support it. Even the GOP can be redeemed if they make the effort to back away from Nationalism and Protectionism.
3
@Jay
I appreciate your sentiment. There's always hope. But as far as I can tell, that is not the goal of what is animating the corpse of the Republican Party. That would have to change and I see no indication it will. I'm not sure any of the current politicians in the dead party actually know hot to govern in a democracy anymore. It's all about power and ideology, and often devolving into race issues - not about actually representing the people who make up the country.
6
I’m a progressive Democrat and exulted in the extent of the Democrat victory. But all said, I agree that California needs a vigorous opposition party to ensure there is the required rigor in legislation. But If the California Republican Party continue to support the racist embarrassment in the White House, it’s time for new party that has what used to be republican economic values that can be the noble opposition.
20
So, likely for some years to come, California will continue to be a Democrat-run political "dictatorship."
I have definitively canceled my plans to return to California, where my daughter was born and now lives and where I was stationed for some 12 years during my first career as a Marine Corps officer.
There's no point in going back to a state where my views and I are not wanted, and where I will be taxed heavily.
If California is still a harbinger of things to come, then 2020 will be a bad year nationally for conservatives - and a very good year for China, where if Xi-Jinping makes sound decisions, China will become the world's only superpower as the USA declines into a country focused inwardly on a redistribution of its remaining wealth and on being a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. No more a great nation ...
1
"But Mr. Allen said Republicans would make a mistake in moving to the center or walking away from Mr. Trump."
Yes, please do keep believing that as it will keep you and your party myopically irrelevant for decades to come. Decades in which serious people can tackle the real challenges of climate change that face California and the nation. You, sir, are more than welcome to sit babbling on the periphery .
2
49 states to go.
1
Somehow, I’m completely unable to shed a tear over the plight of California Republicans — or any other Republicans. By adhering to this scapegrace president, they are the authors of their own demise. And no, demise is not too strong a word, as the party, contemptuous of any but the rich, is on the ropes nationwide. As they should be.
2
Sure Trump had something to do with it. But mainly it was that horrendous Republican tax bill that punished Californians greatly. Is it any wonder Orange County voted out the party that reduced their tax deductions when all homes there are $1M+? No matter the party, you must serve the people.
4
Don't worry, in our hearts, you'll always be the party of Corporations, by Corporations, for Corporations. And when you're not in power any more, you can reflect on your lasting legacies such as the World's Biggest Corporate Tax Give Away and Citizen's United.
3
The Republican Party in California brought their current mess upon themselves, from former Governor Pete Wilson passing the Amendment that was biased against Hispanics that were undocumented, to the Party not getting to know the People of many demographic groups, that fate awaits the national Republicans as well if they can't fix the antipathy many minorities feel towards them.
We do have a Republican party in California, it is in the State of Jefferson, 25% of the land area, and 3% of the population, ranchers farmers, only one state university, some of the poorest counties in the state, like Butte where the Paradise fire was. Little communities in the foothills with a high proportion of medicare and SS recipients living in doublewides and voting red.
4
I am a Republican and lived over a decade in Ventura, california from early 70's to early 80's.
We controlled California.
Governor Wilson started us the slippery slope with his aggressive anti immigration agenda - and we have never recovered.
But to borrow from Mark Twain - way over exaggerated and way over reported.
I think it is right to say that we will never be Reagan level in that state - but if our folks continue to "resist" on solid grounds - we should be able to contribute to a vital conversation.
That one party state - almost reminiscent of Soviet Union will eventually think twice about a one party rule.
Look to Scotland where SNP is beginning to list it's grip - and we are talking about Scots abandoning their own party.
2
Here’s hoping that this is another instance of California being predictive of the American future..
4
What happens to a democracy when both parties are wrong? When neither of the political parties offers realistic policies for the future?
Republicans are in denial regarding global warming, even though the effects of global warming are apparent in the loss of sea ice in the arctic, for example.
Democrats on the other hand are in denial regarding the impact of population growth on global warming. And on other problems such as poverty in third-world countries.
World population has doubled since 1970. That means a doubling in use of energy, other things equal.
How do you stop population growth?
China introduced a one-child policy in 1979 which enabled China to cut its rate of population growth. India has no such policy and is now growing faster than China and will soon overtake China as the most populous nation on earth.
One can compare the results over the last several decades.
China's economic growth has been phenomenal. It has 15,500 miles of high speed electrified rail. It plans a permanent space station in 2020.
India's economy has grown more slowly and its citizens suffer from widespread poverty. An excellent discussion is found in the boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, by Katherine Boo.
Two nations once suffered from overpopulation. China acted and conditions improved somewhat.
We need a one-child policy for much of the third world.
We need to limit births in the US to offset immigration. And we should completely stop illegal immigration.
4
I agree that California does deserve a two-party system, and it has it through moderate Democrats and liberal Democrats. In my view, the GOP- who insist that climate change is a hoax, that victims of gun violence are to blame for mass shootings, or who put party over country and refuse to investigate Trump- are not a legitimate governing party. You can't solve problems you don't believe exist; in California the Democrats are the only reasonable choice.
7
Good, the GOP deserves to go extinct. The GOP has become an unamerican party that actively works to destroy democracy, that doesn’t believe in free and fair elections or the peaceful transfer of power. They’d like to turn our country into Zimbabwe or Hungary.
7
California Republicans deserve every horrible thing that has happened to them.
They brought it on themselves with a vengeance.
Ha.
8
The Republican Party died a long time ago and should have been buried with GHW Bush - the last republican.
The people in power now (racist demagogues) are not republicans
9
More and more conservatives are coming to grips with the fact that the Republican party is no longer conservative, but has become a self-dealing party of greed-driven fascists who have gerrymandered, lied, cheated, bribed, stolen and further seek to destroy any last shred of democracy. Rational conservatives can see their representatives groveling like Trumpolini at the feet of Putin in order to obtain the power and money from their Super-Pac masters. Those of us who obtain our information from more than just Faux News propaganda channels are disgusted by these traitors. His re-election notwithstanding, Devin Nunes is in that traitorous camp.
7
Come on Republicans! There’s lots of hope! You can always increase gerrymandering, a little (or a lot) of voter suppression, or some good old fashioned fear-mongering!
Don’t let pesky democracy get in the way of holding and exploiting power!
Say the gay people have an agenda! Say brown people are coming for your jobs! Say Democrats hate America!
This has worked SO well in the past, I’m sure you’ll find your mojo again.
What I wouldn’t do is get distracted by is hoaxes like climate change, gun control or social issues. No donor money in that, amiright?
Good luck guys, and say hi to Putin for me.
10
Finally, some good news!
5
The only hope for Republicans in California, is not to Be Republican.
2
California was lost long ago to the lunatic left. But Trump managed to poke them in the eye by killing the SALT deduction. No worries since you love paying taxes in CA.
The Californian Republican party is in its death throes, because the Republican Party is well down the road of fulfilling its destiny as a regional white nationalist political party centered geographically around the borders of the defunct Confederate States of America.
Sacramento - even Blythe - is hundreds of miles away from Mississippi and Alabama. Hence this permanent realignment away from the GOP.
4
Anyone who didn't see this coming must be utterly senseless or utterly complacent. Those are the people praying -- or I should say begging -- that the country will suddenly turn more white and less progressive. And it certainly tickles me to watch the bewildered GOP foundering with their inherited dead ideas. The future will always be an ugly surprise for people without forethought.
6
The current GOP has no room for moderates. In California, we work to solve problems by experimenting with new ideas. The GOP right wing just wants to go back to the good ole' days where white men reigned supreme and everyone else knew their place.
If they don't like CA, there are towns in Oklahoma and Kentucky that would love for you to move there.
4
This is what happens to the party that denies climate change in places where climate change is being felt most acutely and undeniably. Stand by for complete irrelevance as the planet dies, Republicans.
8
I beg your forgiveness but I have to say this to Republicans.
Republican politicians have broadly embraced the prostitute archetype and that is why voters are turning on them.
Those of us who like to look at humans based on their archetypes noticed a long time ago how Republicans kept increasingly embracing the prostitute archetype. I could never bring it up because most people don’t like the use of the word prostitute or know what an archetype is.
An archetype refers to who we are not what we do. The prostitute archetype is someone who views life as transactional and easily compromises and changes views based on his/her vested interests. Most of us go through life not even knowing what our archetypes or anyone else’s are.
If you look at our president Trump, most people would easily come up with the Narcissist archetype, and they would be correct based on everything that we see and hear. I would also add Prostitute to his archetypal mix. President Trump then is a narcissistic, prostitute archetype.
Everybody in the GOP have embraced the narcissist and prostitute archetypes. All those behaviors are patently clear in the President and all those who enable him, and very clear for the voters to see.
The voters may not know what it is, but they know they don’t like it.
5
Aww, what a shame. California gop feels hopeless; now they know how people feel under their policies. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.
6
What does the Republican party champion for the average, middle class American? This is it:
1. For women, making it harder to get an abortion
2. The suppression of worker wages through blind acquiescence to big business and Wall Street.
3. More expensive health care, and for people with pre-existing conditions, no affordable health care at all.
4. Tax cuts for the rich and corporations
5. Ignoring climate change, the greatest threat to the planet.
6. Defunding, and lack of support for our public school systems.
7. Less safe public places because of irresponsible gun laws.
8. Dehumanizing entire groups of people including Mexicans and Muslims by which it is impossible to have a thoughtful, productive debate on immigration.
9. The slavish support of a corrupt, incompetent, shameless President.
Why would any middle class American vote Republican, Californian or not? It isn't in our best interest in any way.
11
One party rule, no matter which party, is bad for the citizens.
Look how well it worked in Communist countries. When there are no checks on power, the people will eventually suffer.
2
It's not in Republican DNA to be in Latinos' interests. The sole exception has been the first wave of Cubans who left their homeland soon after Fidel Castro took power.
The Republican staunch opposition to Castro translated into solid Cuban-American support. But those old Cubans are dwindling away.
For the rest of we Latinos, the party has always been adversarial and not in the least interested in building support in our communities.
As in many things, California is a harbinger of what awaits Republicans everywhere our numbers are rising.
Here in Arizona, newly elected Democratic Senator Krysten Sinema garnered 75 percent of the Latino vote, compared to 22 percent for her Republican opponent, Martha McSally.
Sinema pulled in that support without pandering or even hinting at ethnic politics.
Talk of the Republicans remaking themselves will never go beyond talk. The truth is that the party is quite comfortable being the natural home for white conservatives, resentful and racist whites and rural and embittered whites who somehow feel they have been singled out for mistreatment.
In short, the party is positioning itself for its own demise. It is not interested in positioning itself for the new, rising America.
8
California is inches away from becoming Illinois. It seems everyone commenting here feels a state run by one party is a good thing. It's not. Good luck paying for all of your dreams.
1
Classic Republican perceptions—blame the demographics (voters) for the loss instead of accepting responsibility for being complicit in the amoral and unethical conduct by the “leadership” of this country.
4
Republican leaders aren’t dealing in reality if they think the blue wave in California had nothing to do with President Trump. This was an embarrassment of epic proportions for the GOP, and it’s going to take nothing less than a reawakening to move forward. Hard-core conservatives need a new strategy — and it has nothing to do with more spending. McCarthy obviously made a big error in fawning over the Donald.
3
A rebirth of the California GOP is possible, but only if the party finally and completely ends its decades long flirtation with lunacy, hate, and extremism.
Just take a look at these names. Each one had a quirky appeal in their time, some hung around for quite a while, and some were nominated but not elected, but each one played their part in slowly edging the party toward the cliff at which it finally arrived in November.
Schmitz, Dornan, Rousselot, Rohrbacher, Issa, Cox, Hayakawa, Nunes, John Fitzgerald, Patrick Little, Jarvis, Rafferty, and all the rest.
1
The GOP have been controlled (and growing like a fungus) by the cult mentality of a few. I've referred to it as the ARC: The Ayn Rand Cult. Trump's election was a nuclear implosion that opened the eyes of a nation. A bright light is finally being shown on republican voter suppression, political Gerrymandering, and their 50-year on-going effort to gut all safety nets coupled with creating a current economy to favor the <1%. They are just plain corruption. Republicans have been jumping off the train since George H.W. Bush was backstabbed by Gingrich and lost re-election. After Trump, few are even on the train.
1
Not too long ago, Republicans stood for fiscal discipline, limited government, and common sense reforms to correct overgenerous social programs. The current crop has perverted its message to white power, corporate welfare, and trillion dollar budget deficits.
It's more disheartening that they were not completely wiped out in November.
4
The Republican losses in CA this year are a direct result of the Republican party's policies and behavior.
The most recent high point for Republicans was the passage of a "sanctity of marriage" resolution. This came to be exposed as simple bigotry--and was overtly challenged by Gavin Newson, now governor, when he was the mayor of San Francisco. Ever since, the only good thing the party has done was eliminating gerrymandering (thanks to Governor Schwarzenegger).
In a state that is now "majority-minority", the policies of bigotry that hurt. Bizarrely, once the population of minorities gets high enough, the general fear of those minorities and other expressions of bigotry diminish. Familiarity does not breed contempt, it breeds acceptance. Even our Republican farming country is disgusted with the treatment of immigrants from across our southern border--because these are the people who work the farms--and become neighbors.
Californians may be characterized as "liberal" but we really do not like paying taxes. Trump, and the Republicans in congress generated a "tax reduction" that eliminated the deduction for state and local taxes from Federal taxable income for amounts over 10000. Even with Prop 13 (that limits maximum tax increases on each parcel to 1% per year, or 1% of the purchase price) with average home prices exceeding 1 million dollars, this means many of us got a huge tax increase.
Bigotry, dishonesty, and a big tax increase==BAD.
4
Californians learned a lesson early on that many Americans are just starting to understand now, namely that the "just say no to everything" modern Republicans have no realistic ideas about how to do anything other than tear down society.
During our Pete Wilson and, to some extent, Arnold Schwarzenegger era, the radical right Republicans in California promoted a toxic stew of fake tax cuts, allowing infrastructure crumble, anti-education policies, attacks on public employees, and intransigence on any funding issues. Because a 2/3 majority is required to pass a state budget here they were able to bring the state to a near standstill.
Eventually, Californians decided they had enough of this. We VOTED them out of every statewide office, reduced their legislative representation below that magic 33%, and VOTED for taxes to fix the damage.
California isn't perfect — no state is — but we are doing well and much better than most overall. The rest of the country would do well to learn from this. Fast.
5
As a once Californian I can say that, hidden in original Prop 13 legislation,there were lots of laws that allowed a minority in the legislature to block action. Budgets needed 2/3 approval as did tax increases. Hence California became ungovernable. The GOP didn't have to be innovative, just reactionary and block change. To get out their base attacking immigrants, sexual minorities and other groups was the norm. From the late 70's through the 00's the GOP had no ideas other than blocking the Democrats. Cuts to every popular program from schools - health care - transportation, etc were not popular and hurt the economy. Jerry Brown and the move for fair redistricting got rid of minority rule and Calif looks vibrant today. But the GOP is using the same minority blocking power in there recent attempts to change state government in Mich, Wis, NC. Fla and other states. It is not a party of ideas, but of retribution on the American public.
5
Republicans nationwide need to pay heed to this turn of events. The Trump base while still strong cannot sustain or grow the GOP in the future. Leaders like Trump and McConnell are the antithesis of what will be required if the Republicans want to keep up with the changing demographics of the nation. There is no evidence however that Trump's party gets it. They continue to marginalize people of color and ignore the future. The GOP is effectively a party friendly only to white males. If you don't believe that, ask Mia Love.
2
And I'm loving every second of it. Now if we could only get more than two U.S. Senators for a state with 40 million people.
4
So given the triumphalist nature of some of the commentary this means that Republicans are correct to fight against demographic change?
If demography is destiny why would any sane Republican (possibly an oxymoron) be in favor of exporting California's demographic changes to the rest of the country?
What does it mean to become a one -party state?
Put aside the nativism/racism, can Republicans sell low taxes, light regulation, etc to new Americans who have no interest in those things?
1
If you're a Republican, then you're a Republican, and you represent and enable the national Republican party.
You can't reposition "California Republicans" as having different values to the national party. Republican representatives will vote on party lines. If you vote for a Republican, you're giving support to Trump and McConnell. If you run for office as a Republican, you are standing side-by-side with Trump and McConnell.
If you don't like the national Republican party - and you shouldn't - but don't want to support the Democrats, then split and start a new party. California and the whole US actually deserves better than a two party system.
2
The seeds of the Republican's demise can be found squarely in Pete Wilson's attacks on immigrants-- that mirrors Trump's immigration attacks.
Wilson was warned that he would cause the Republicans to lose a generation or more, and this has come to fruition much as Trump's siren will herald a permanent rise of the Democratic/Progressive Party for a generation, or more.
4
I wish Governor Brown runs for President against Trump. Brown is serious about governing, which is what our country needs.
California , where I was born and raised, has to confront many problems, but it's leaders seem to focus on addressing them rather than blaming others.
I can think of no other place in our country where political leaders get more challenges (and hence more experience) to address them before running for national office.
The learning curve for small state politicians is long and the risks of electing people without governing experience
too great to come to any other conclusion. The ultimate problem with Republicans is based upon their indifference to problem solving.
Even now, one of the Republican congressman, Duncan Hunter, has been in's di Ted for misusing campaign funds. He and his wife will be found guilty. If the electorate were more intelligent, there would be even fewer Republicans elected to office.
3
California is the harbinger if what is to become of the Republicans in the country if they can't come up with an idea or a policy to run on. They have become the party of no ideas and stuck in the past.
The future belongs to those that are bold and those ready to lead to an awesome, optimistic future. America was built on progress.
1
What has alienated me from the conservatives is their fiscal incompetence. Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped Warren Buffet from his team when Buffet told him the taxes were too low. He then dropped increased fees on automobiles because, with $400,000,000 in assets, he felt he could not pay the fees on his Humvee, so he wanted people who cannot afford to drive to pay for the roads instead.
Conservatives think that there is an unlimited supply of resources and a limited supply of money. California has a decent supply of non-conservatives who know this is not the case, and although there is still work to be done in this state, we need to export our ideas to other states.
3
If there is a lesson in all of this it centers around having a set of policies geared to solving basic issues, health care, immigration, environmental concerns. The GOP nationally is on the wrong side of all three. Trump same same with an approval rating in the 30's. No one believes those factors spell success in California, or major sections of the USA. Repudiating Trump now that he has shaped the party in his own image may prove the real challenge for traditional Republicans.
6
Well, yes and no. Republicans got a mild “shellacking” but still increased their count in the senate. This due to the repulsive character of the president. With that said, CA Republicans aren’t cut from the same cloth as their Midwestern or Southern bible-banging cousins (who aren’t getting voted out in any meaningful numbers) and to say the Democratic Party’s take on immigration for instance, is “on the right side” belies their frustrations, not that they have answers to that, or other problems.
It’s not as if the leftish wing of the Democratic Party is going to be able to deliver Medicare for all or “free” college - let alone anytime soon.
The heart of the matter are three entangled developments: 1) Trump policies alienated a lot of people over the last two years, including moderate Republicans and Independents, who are legion in California; 2) the demographic trends toward ever more Latinx and Asian voters have put the GOP's emphasis on white Christian nationalism into a defensive mode outside the state's less populated interior districts; 3) the state's removal of redistricting powers from the legislature led to a lot more competitive districts, and radical GOP politicians simply have very safe seats in the state.
6
California has a fairly open primary election process. Top two vote getters get to run in the general election irrespective of party. There are no reserved spaces for repubs.
4
One reason Republicans fared so badly in the recent California election was our now retired Governor Jerry Brown. He will be sorely missed. It's too bad he's not younger
He would decimate Trump and make a great President. Thanks for all you've done for us!
18
Let’s all hope that California is a harbinger of things to come for the Republican Party nationally. It is the fate the GOP richly deserves, especially after watching their behavior in North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
24
No worries, Republicans. Democrats are sure to foil the perfect confluence of good political news in a generation. They're like cats when it comes to unifying on issues.
2
Why should there be any hope for republicans, I can’t think of a single good moral thing they stand for. Based on the lot currently in charge it’s certainly not government deficits which was about the only reason I would have ever supported them on.
7
GOP, when a state that is a leader in so many areas of human endeavor rejects you, maybe its time to look at what you stand for and what you say. If the states where my party dominated were places with the lowest incomes, worst quality of life indicators, and most retrograde attitudes toward science, knowledge, and compassion, I might look for a new platform.
15
"This state deserves a two-party system" ... we have one. Progressive Democrats and more centrist Democrats.
6
What planet do these people live on? Do they actually think they can get away with their destructive policies forever? As California goes, so goes the country. The GOP as currently constituted is beginning its slide into oblivion and irrelevance. It is way too extreme.
7
The Republican Party only knows how to do one thing, and that is to exploit the cultural resentments of bitter old white people in order to get cover for cutting taxes for their billionaire donors.
They literally have nothing of substance to contribute toward addressing the real challenges facing our nation today. In the case of climate change, they are bound and determined to make it worse.
They deserve to end up in the dustbin of history. Sadly, whatever new party arises to replace them could well be be even worse.
10
The surest way to sink the Titanic is to make sure all hands on board are all working to steer it into the same iceberg.
4
The Republicans hitched their wagon to a Chump, did not disavow or challenge his worst actions, and now face the consequences.
5
To be fair, Trump infiltrated the GOP, but yes, they wanted to win so badly they took him in.
1
Limiting my SALT deduction cured me from ever voting R again.
10
You may not realize it, but voting against a politician who raised your taxes is actually quite Republican. Welcome to the team!
So...who would you rather vote for, Mr. Rogers or Don Corleone?
And I don't just mean about Trump. The national GOP and California party are nothing but thugs who abuse power, use religion as a cudgel, and place hatred of others as the axle of their campaign bus.
There isn't a single redeeming value to the GOP. And when you look at what is happening in MI, WI and NC I will be actively working to free the people of these states from the yoke of their oppressors.
Imagine in America, a political party oppressing those whom they are supposed to represent and protect.
11
> “We should start by confronting the reality that the leftist political coalition that governs this state is the mightiest political machine in the country,” said David Hadley, a member of the California Assembly who is also running for state chairman, “and we have an enormous amount of work to take it on.”
I needed a laugh.
I guess he's never heard of the Koch brothers or AFP?
4
The lines of W. H. Auden ring in my mind whenever I read about "red-blooded Republicans."
"Cerebrotonic Cato may
Extol the ancient disciplines
But the musclebound Marines
Mutiny for food and pay."
California Republicans seem mystified by their own irrelevance. Why on earth?
You guys are NOT addressing the people you OUGHT to be addressing. You guys are NOT addressing the issues you OUGHT to be addressing. You are NOT speaking to where people are.
You ARE doing what Republicans seem to be doing nationally. Which is two things:
(1) Mouthing slogans and mantras. Running down people they happen not to like. Which is A LOT OF PEOPLE. Believe me.
(2) As quietly, as discreetly as may be, handing out favors and major tax breaks to your wealthy supporters. Lookin' after them. Guarding their interests. Twenty four--seven.
I think--no, rather--I HOPE--
--that what is happening in California may soon--VERY soon--be happening all over this fair land.
That American citizens in Maine and Vermont--in Indiana and Illinois--in Montana and Wyoming--
--in my own home state of Pennsylvania--
--come to realize--
--that (in that guy's expressive phrase) "the Republican brand is dead." They are really offering most people--
--nothing at all.
Except the Koch brothers.
They'll ALWAYS be lookin' out for the Koch brothers.
Who'll always vote Republican. And who knows?
Maybe no one else ever will.
(I hope.)
6
Republicans don't have a future in California, period.
California has become 40% Latino due to decades of illegal immigration, and the rest of the country is catching up fast.
1
"He said he did not view the president as a burden for California Republicans." Whistling past the graveyard. Here in Harris county (Houston area), every county wide position and about 60 judicial offices were all won by Democrats. Even long term, highly respected Republican office holders and judges were bounced by Democrats barely known to voters. Houston Chronicle, 7Nov2018: " ... a caring Republican jurist ... was defeated by Democrat Frank Aguilar, who didn’t even appear to be running a formal campaign ... Voters said they wanted to voice their outrage about the president’s divisive policies and rhetoric by punishing any incumbent who dared run under the same banner."
8
This isn't about the Republican Party. It's dead. It has become the Party of Trump, with all the Trump stench of racism,white nationalism, misogamy,and hate this entails.
4
Californians love their ecology, their desert with its wild untrammeled places, their mountains, from the San Gabriels to Mts. Lassen and Shasta in the Cascades, the Sierra Nevada from the Mojave to the Feather river and beyond. Thanks to the Treaty Of Guadalupe Hildago, our lands were saved from unbridled exploitation, and we saved even more of them like Redwood NP when greed was going to cut them all down.
Our rivers and waters are still under attack by Republican led plunderers, and that is one reason they lost here. The GOP mantra is no more taxes, and pay even less, while our needs can not be met now. People commuting long distances and spending hours a day away from home, being told mass transit costs too much. Developers covering large swaths of arable land promoting the ideal home only a two hour commute from work.
They have done nothing to help, only to obstruct and we see it, they have along history of it. Their fix is always spend less, cut taxes, and everything will work out. While some roadways are crumbling, lift bridges get stuck, transit creeps along, we work to clean up the air and water, they work to pollute it. They say it costs too much to prevent childhood asthma by cleaning up emissions as an example, That is the GOP for you.
Every thing to them is an appeal to the check book, and forget quality of life.
8
How can a "modern" political philosophy/party whose emphases and inspirations are the past, itself mostly mythical, and whose goals and aspirations are to return to or recreate that past, lead anyone, much less a nation, into the future?
The “godfather” of modern conservatism William F. Buckley, Jr., in his mission statement in the first issue of “National Review (1955), clearly stated that his mandate was to stand “athwart history, yelling Stop.”
Buckley succeeded. Nothing has changed in conservatism, or for Republicans, since then.
3
If your party is anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-reproductive rights, anti-social security, anti-environment and anti-labor that doesn’t leave you with many fresh ideas or voting blocks who aren’t dying off. Today’s GOP only has hate and paranoia remaining to use as electoral tools, as is perfectly personified in Donald J. Trump. Fortunately for the rest of us, Trump’s fear mongering act is growing very thin. There are also happily no known GOPers in the wings with his blend of media skills for mass manipulation on a national scale. No one to dazzle the weak-minded a second time with ludicrous promises of secret genius plans to instantly solve all problems and make it 1955 again. A majority of swing voters seem to have fortunately learned their lesson. Over the next two decades, the GOP is in very deep trouble. California is just the canary in the newly diverse, under 50 voter coal mine.
26
If only the majority of states jn the U.S, were like California - socially progressive, LGBTQ - supportive, welcoming new residents from Mexico and Central America, serious about climate change and run effectively and efficiently by Democrats who care about making this state the greatest place to live if you don't hate people of color, if you let women make their own reproductive choices, if you work to respond to the changing demographics, rather than punishing those who don't look like you do, and if you respect the rights and privileges that all Californians appreciate. Oh, if there only were the United States of California, we wouldn't have to fight against the Republican, no, the Trump Party that is ruining all that we've built.
5
I guess you’ve forgotten about how on the same day that CA assisted in sending Obama to the White House, our state also passed Prop 8?
“Welcoming new residents”? We’re in a crippling housing shortage and Democrats just can’t get enough of pandering, obsequiousness and patronage to see any sense when it come to “immigration”.
Republicans have spent too much time in their own echo chamber. The only people they listen to are themselves (including Fox Propaganda Network). This means that they aren't hearing, and probably don't care much about, what people outside their orbit are saying.
The problem is not just Trump, but the direction the GOP has been taking for 25 years (or more). The GOP is owned, lock, stock and barrel, by a small number of wealthy oligarchs and companies. They pad their voters with xenophobes, bigots, know-nothings and other forms of right wingnuts. But they are losing the competition for educated, intelligent voters with a sense of human decency.
California's increasing Latino population is one thing, but the message of hate, disenfranchisement and meanness that has transformed the GOP from Reagan's "Morning in America" to kidnapping children is revolting to more than Latinos. It is revolting to any decent person.
This is the GOP's dilemma: how to rediscover human decency. So far, they're not making any progress on that score.
11
This may be a bit of an aside, but the republican guy said the state deserves two parties, so I'd like to note that we have at least two, probably three, very strong parties here: they are called democrats. Unlike the republicans of today, the dems do not walk in lockstep, nor are they devoted to a single propaganda source to get their 'news'. There is a conservative wing, a moderate wing, and a liberal wing, all well represented with smart people involved. The debates among these factions of dems are often fierce, and compromise is the order of the day. You know, the way it's supposed to be when you are a) on the same team, b) don't harbor personal hatred for your opponents and c) understand that you have to represent all the people, not just some. The way the 2-party system used to be when republicans had thoughtful, sane people in their ranks.
But today's Trump-branded GOP is rooted in old resentment. For some, Trump is the 'do-over' of Nixon, who they think was brought down by leakers, the 'liberal press' and political correctness, before he got his chance to obliterate his political enemies. For others, he is a path toward a 'do-over' of the civil war, the first president in generations to echo the voices of the old South. We have no room for either in our state government, thank goodness. We don't miss them, we are debating our way into the future and doing just fine without the GOP.
8
Yes Orange County is 100% blue and almost all of California. It is a blue tsunami that move forward and no one can stop it. It has already flowed over Virginia and will flow over Michigan, Pennsylvania , Wisconsin and Florida. Eventually it will take over North Carolina and Georgia. Nothing will stop it.
And I blame my Republican Party leadership who sold themselves to that con man setting in our White House. The sooner they turn their back on him and go to the roots of the Republican Party; fiscal responsibility, less government regulation and not NO government regulation, welcoming people of color in the midst and treating the poor among us fairly then we might recover. Otherwise with their deal with this devil they are only buying time before they meet the real devil after their party funeral.
7
A very wise brother in spirit once said “What you take from others will leave you with dust in your hands”
I am beginning to understand.
It looks like California Republicans have been left with dust in their hands.
5
California has gotten results with Democratic leadership. That is the beginning and end of this shift. We have seen what happens when the Governorship, state reps, and Congressional reps go to a Republican majority. No one wants a trainwreck.
3
“I have been preaching that guys, you can’t just have a message to white voters,” said Jim Brulte, the state Republican Party chairman. “Because the demographics are rapidly changing.”
But Jim, you don't understand. They only want to represent white people rather than all of the citizens who live in their districts. And that is a major problem for the Republican Party nationwide. Thanks for clarifying Jim.
6
All those Dems calling the shots, you'd think it would be some kind of utopia. Instead, it leads the nation in homelessness, illegal immigration, taxes, food stamps, and whatever else I'm missing.
3
Actually when you look at states at the bottom in terms of quality of life and education, you see states like Mississippi and Alabama. Red states. Check out the government statistics and see for yourself.
2
Correction: David Hadley is a former member of the state Assembly. He was voted out of office after one term in 2016.
1
If there is any true justice in America, the national Republican Party will suffer the same fate as Republicans in CA - irrelevancy. Back in the 90's, the CA Republican Party declared war on the future and miserably lost. This most recent election was the final gasp before disappearing from any meaningful role in state politics. I happen to believe we are better off with more than one party; but since we're stuck in this duopoly and one of the parties has gone completely crazy, what can thoughtful engaged citizens do besides marginalize the crazies (or put the lunatics in charge of the asylum as some states have chosen)? Hopefully Trump is putting the final stake in the heart of the vampire Republican Party before it sucks every last drop of decency, liberty, freedom, and justice out of our national body politic. Once that monster is dead, conservatives who aren't lunatics can figure out a way to responsibly engage with the rest of us.
6
I’m feeling good!!!!
This article overlooks the main reason Republicans continue to lose ground in California: the state's 2010 redistricting process, which drew fair, non-gerrymandered Congressional districts. This process involved ordinary citizens and eliminated safe seats for both parties. Ever since, California voters have had a real say in their elections--as opposed to years prior, when gerrymandering distorted the will of the people-- and their choice has been overwhelmingly in favor of the party that speaks to their concerns: the Democrats.
Democrats continue to outpoll Republicans in many states like Wisconsin and Michigan, yet their gerrymandered Congressional districts distort the will of the people.
California's redistricting process serves as a model to the rest of the states. When Republicans are no longer able to lie, cheat, and steal seats in Congress, a lot of other states will look like California as well.
185
@John
Let us not forget that the one who drove through that redistricting solution was Arnold Schwarzenegger who "Terminated" the earlier legislature Gerrymander process that gave safe seats to incumbents (Democrats and Republicans). Arnold is a Republican!
CA also passed term limits (perhaps too harsh) for the state legislature so the benefits to incumbents is much smaller than it would be in other states.
6
The conclusive defeat of California Congressional Republicans and the election of a Democratic supermajority in the legislature are both welcome developments. But any dominant party, even a reformist one without a competitor, becomes a magnet for Special Interests. Eventually, it too becomes corrupt.
Up to now, the national Republican Party has shown itself willing to do the bidding of Special Interests proactively with tax cuts and de-regulation. And too often the national Democratic Party has responded by *not* taking a position that Special Interests oppose like higher corporate taxes, single-payer healthcare, and necessary regulation. The result has been national gridlock without progress or (like Obamacare) progress that is so compromised by privatization that it creates problems of its own.
My hope is that supermajority Democratic California can become a progressive beacon for the rest of the country. And not just another depressing example of the corruptions of absolute power.
5
When Republicans deny that Trumpism has anything to do with their collapse in California and promise more of the same that must be music to Democrat ears.
Trump is not super popular anywhere outside deep rural areas and that is not the where majority of voters live in most states.
3
@Philip M John Cox's saying during the June Primary Debate that he didn't vote for Trump because he didn't think he was conservative enough but how much he loves him now was what sealed his fate with us voters. Meanwhile Travis Allen came across as a vile lunatic so Cox was actually the better of the two. The fact that the State GOP thought these two crazies could compete in California shows the rot at the core of the CA GOP. Good riddance to them!
3
@Mr.Klein This points to a limit of the 2 party system. When one loses its way you have non-competitive elections. A system that makes it easier for new parties to break through has merit.
1
CA does not need a strong vibrant, two-party system (nor does the country). It needs some form of rank-choice voting so voters aren't stuck with an increasingly irrelevant Republican Party or the extreme left. It also needs to stop having it's federal tax revenues "redistributed" to the hard red states like Mississippi, Arkansas, etc. Drifting toward a west coast breakaway....California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii....
9
That the Republican Party will continue to plummet in California is of the party's own making.
While you read the story, did you notice that none of the Republicans questioned about their abysmal plight said anything about changing what they stand for and what they do.
Their entire strategy seems to be to either disenfranchise or fool voters. Perhaps this explains why the blue states are those with the highest levels of education, while the red states are those with the lowest levels of education.
California is irretrievably a blue state, getting more so continuously. Voters here are not that easy to fool.
15
The Whigs were replaced by the Republicans because they were not strongly against slavery.
Now the Republicans have been taken over by those who want to treat the descendants of slaves badly.
Will a new party arise that treats all people fairly without putting certain groups on a pedestal.
6
Here’s to hoping the DNC gets the memo. The path to the whites house is in the just left of center lane. Ocasio-Cortez is a road to electoral oblivion.
7
The direction of the state of CA is toward a socialist model. They have the largest number of welfare cases, huge public debt, and a crumbling infrastructure. The illusion will fall away and the Potemkin village of CA will be exposed
4
@Douglas Arizona GDP $247 Billion, California GDP $2.7 Trillion. We rank #1 nationally, you rank 20th. We're the fifth largest economy in the world. We sit around laughing because everyone thinks we're bleeding heart socialists but in reality we're busy working hard, making good money, raising our kids so they have a better life and helping out those less fortunate than us. Conservatives should spend more time thinking about how to work harder and make money and less time demonizing other ppl. This is why so many red states are so poor.
3
I've lived in California for two decades, and it is more diverse than the rest of the US. It's also long been a home for those rejected by 'heartland' small towns, where diversity was (and still is) viewed as a threat. Many come here and do well.
Republicans, on the other hand, have shown open hostility to diversity and change. This broke them in California, because the sheer numbers of those who aren't white, rich, selfish, hetero, and bigoted, grew into a ruling coalition. Before we got an Independent Redistricting Commission, a form of gerrymandering bought The Golden State's GOP some time; the Democrats drew the lines in such a way as to assure minimal turnover, and maximize the 'safety' of each district's seats. When the IRC redrew the lines for optimal representation, the Republicans actually lost seats.
The future here looks like either single party rule, or if the Green Party ever gets its act together, the Democrats here will be the conservative party. Today's GOP has no future in The Golden State.
14
"Mr. Allen ... said he did not view the president as a burden for California Republicans."
That's an accurate statement but the obvious reality of this statement that Mr. Allen seems to miss is that it explains why California Republicans are an endangered species. I'm a rural California Democrat not so much because I'm a wild-eyed, tree-hugging, granola-crunching, tax-'em-to-death socialist but because the California GOP is so far to the right of the state's mainstream and so stubbornly righteous about maintaining that gap (evinced in Mr. Allen's assertion that the president is "not a burden") that I have no other alternative.
If the GOP wants a California revival, they'll to have to take a look at what mainstream California wants/believes and hew their message thusly.
14
This is a once in a lifetime chance for Democrats to enact historic initiatives on climate, conservation, criminal justice, education, health care and housing, among others. I hope they choose a pragmatic, results-oriented course. The country is watching.
9
Republicans saying that the election results aren’t a referendum on Trump have a valid point. It’s worse than a referendum on Trump. The election results are a referendum on Trumpism, the presence of which enabled Trump to win the GOP primary. As long as the California GOP is perceived as being Trumpist, they are going to struggle to regain ground even after the departure of Trump.
16
Why is one-party domination seen by anybody as good news?
A tightly controlled array of candidates and platform positions from a singular source speaks to ideological dead-ends and stultifying echo-chambers. I'm sure some will make the case for moderate vs. leftist among the party members, but group polarization is bad enough when you have two sides to balance it out.
I would hope that we would want ideological diversity in political figures as much as we would in any other field. I would say the same of any Republican-dominated state.
4
As long as Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, Rodrigo Duterte, Recip Erdogan, Kim Jong Un and Mohammed bin Salman are still smiling and smirking there is plenty of hope for California Republicans.
As long as Addison Mitchell McConnell, Jr. is whistling Dixie and waving the Stars and Bars like the white supremacist bigoted drawling son of Confederate Alabama then there is hope for California Republicans.
As long as Donald Trump is President of the United States while hiding his personal and family income tax returns and business records from the American people there is hope for California Republicans.
5
What did they think was going to happen after State and Local tax deduction was capped at ten thousand dollars? Did they forget California is one of the highest tax states in the union? Talk about walking into a buzz saw that you created. Can they walk and chew bubble gum at the same time?
21
Absent gerrymandering and voter suppression, this would be the prognosis for the GOP nationally, and in all but the most backwards states.
It is an obsolete party, carrying out the interests of an unjustly empowered minority. The sooner it withers and dies, the better.
20
Pete Wilson's embrace of Proposition 187, as well as the national efforts for excluding non-citizens from receiving benefits, was certainly a catalyst for voter registration among immigrants in the 90s. It should be noted in the same breath, however, that term limits, which took effect in 1996, also had an immense impact on the power grip Republicans had on the inland parts of California. The upheaval caused by the musical chairs and infighting was more difficult for the staid Republican party to adjust to than the Dems, whose political machines were already filled with tension and intrigue.
The term limit upheaval, combined with GOP's baffling need to double down on the leadership of cranks and deniers, is what turned reliably red areas of the state to blue. Consider: The entire inland area of California, up and down the state, has always had a high Mexican American voting population, but consistently voted Republicans into office, including many Mexican American Republicans. Those areas haven't become *more* Latino, but it has become more well educated. The Republican platform has, by contrast become more exclusive and more ignorant.
6
There is no hope for the California GOP?
This statement is proof there is a God and an answer to prayer.
13
Ironically
You really can't overstate the impact of Gov. Pete Wilson and Prop. 187. The ads attacking undocumented immigrants -- and by extension, many Latinos -- were so vicious that my parents still shudder at his name.
6
California will eventually get a two party system again with a large centrist Democratic party and a DSA type party of unknown size. Republicans will go the way of the Whigs.
3
Chad Mayes is right. This California native saw the big shift occur around 2000, especially when Richard Riordan ran for the governor in 2002. The former LA mayor probably would have handily won the general election, but lost the GOP primary to a far more conservative candidate.
Some speak of a north-south state divide, but it's not just Democrat vs. GOP. Northern California - even, the Bay Area - had a fair number of successful GOP politicians. The difference is that those up north were more like Riordan - fiscally conservative, sane on social issues.
If there's any hope for Golden State GOPers, they must reject not just Trump, but their backward-looking national party. Better look to their last GOP governor - Arnold Schwarzenegger - support women's and LGBTQ rights, admit climate change is real and promote green energy. Otherwise, they've a Promethean challenge ahead.
1
Good. With this, as with so much else, may California be the bellwether for the rest of the nation.
8
Good. As far as I am concerned, they and their current leader are not welcome here.
4
Pete Wilson wanted to deny emergency room services, driver's licenses, and schools to the undocumented. This meant the kids would be not only unschooled but most likely unsupervised while their parents were at work (hello teen break-ins), it meant their parents couldn't get auto insurance, which meant if one of them rear-ended you they had no coverage, and it meant that a young father of two I met died because he couldn't afford to go to the doctor, much less the hospital, for his pneumonia, leaving his American wife, baby, and toddler on their own.
Wilson thought he could ride that bigotry right into the presidency so he doubled down on the meanness.
And that was the end of his political ambitions and the beginning of the end of his party here.
9
California needs at least two parties.
But Assemblymember/Supervisor/Council member Olsen is right: We neither need or want the extremists the Republicans have been trying to give us. Kristin is a rare Republican for whom this Democrat is pleased to have voted.
2
So David Hadley believes that the Republican party needs a "less simple" approach than changing Republican positions to more closely mirror those of the voters?
Sorry. It is too late to try gerrymandering, voter suppression or the latest innovation, gutting the power of Democratic governors. That tactic is only working in states much closer to 50% Republican.
Perhaps it's time to give "listening to the voters" a try?
3
There's plenty of hope. Just restore your civility, compassion and respect for everyone. Great success will follow.
2
The Republican Party and 45 are persistently resistant and fiercely obstinate to even remotely recognizing (and God forbid, admitting) the hard cold grim reality that significant demographic changes of America’s largest state compel a serious change of attitude, electorally speaking. The Republicans are satisfied with writing off California by not applying the financial resources to support their candidates who distance themselves from the national party’s expressed anti immigrant posture, preoccupation with restricting who comes into the nation, build a wall which is nonsense, and preaching law and order. The GOP today is a far cry from the GOP of Governors Nelson Rockefeller and William Scranton, and Senators Charles Percy, Jacob Javitts, Mark Hatfield, Dan Evans, and Charles Goodell. Those Republicans worked with Democrats, both nationally and at the state level, to advance and promote positive legislation benefitting all individuals. After the takeover of the party by Barry Goldwater ad the far right in 1964, the Republicans have moved more rightward, and the ascendancy of 45 confirmed that position. As long as Republicans persist with fomenting and engendering anti immigrant bias, promoting xenophobia, encouraging racial internecine by embracing white nationalism, and virulently attacking LGBTQ positions the party of Lincoln will be the permanent ‘minority’ party of Caucasian privileged males), and lesser educated blue collar voters for white supremacy. Race matters.
104
The party of white supremacists and oligarchs
Anyone else will be hounded out
And the only way to win elections is gerrymander AND cheat
14
@Dean Browning Webb, Attorney at Law
If you want to Make America Great Again...then the R's and the D's need to get back to the time when they discussed what would be best for The United States of America as a whole than what is important for just the "party" or the "base." Republicans need to stop this "our way or the highway" attitude. I think if the R's continue with that way of thinking...they will go the way of the Whigs. I think the D's are more open to discussion and working with the R's then the R's are to working with the D's.
15
@Dean Browning Webb, Attorney at Law
The major thing drawing "their kind of people" to the polls for non-multimillionaires is racism. The other thing is opposing a woman's right to personhood.
7
The GOP as molded Gingrich and further corrupted by Trump and Mcconnell deserves extinction.
Today and California could be just the time and place to begin.
Two parties? Three? More? Fine - as long as the GOP isn't one of them.
22
Thoughts and Prayers!
27
So the party that openly embraced racism is not winning elections in the most ethnically of states. Who knew!?
24
California is becoming one big urban center. As it does Republican lose and keep losing. As mid west states grow older and more rural Republicans will do better. The best prediction for voting is no Republican or Democrat but age, education and location. Younger, better educated and city more democratic, older, less educated rural more Republican. Tell me if trends like this continue who likely will be the party of the future
4
@dave Among the States, California is 17th in population density, hardly a "big urban center".
2
Good. Hopefully, like many other trends originating in California, the demise of the GOP as currently constituted will become a thing. I for one will not morn the death of the Republican Party.
20
At least Paradise, California, is still represented in Congress by a climate change denying Republican, Doug LaMalfa.
24
As it always has in the last 75 years, California is the nation's bellwether . I get tired of hearing all the republican's bash California. I live in Deep Red Texas and the main message on billboards during the midterms was aimed at Californians relocating here - paraphrasing - ""Vote Red if you don't want Texas to get like the California you're running from". How patronizing. Somehow California has become the world's 5TH largest economy, repeat, the world's 5th largest economy. They must be doing something right, yet our national leadership is comprised of politicians whose own states fill the bottom of every list of desirable quality of life and economic metrics one can think of. I'm happy as a clam to have Californians move to Texas and shift the demographic.
225
@Peter
And I'm happy as a clam to send as many Californians to Texas as I possibly can. I here its just wonderful there. I'll keep recommending it to all my friends.
3
@Peter. Remember how that "out of touch," "California liberal," Nancy Pelosi, was going to be an albatross hung around the neck of the Democratic party in the last election? It didn't work out that way.
12
@Peter Texas isn't exactly a slouch in terms of its economy. If it were a country, it'd be the 10th largest, with a per capita GDP of $58,123 - not quite matching CA's figure of $70,760, but still quite high.
Really, I'm just excited to see Texas turn purple as its cities get progressively bluer and the state becomes more diverse as a whole.
The Democratic party needs to keep up the pressure there. I can see a bright future for both center-left and progressive candidates in that state, given the right candidates and messaging.
OTOH, if the Republican party can rein in some of its crazy, it could keep Democrats from ever making inroads. There's a huge latinx population there which might vote for them if only they'd tamp down their worst impulses around immigration and race. The cities are also liable to swing back to the Republican party somewhat, again depending on what path the party chooses for itself.
4
There is little hope anywhere in the country for today's Republican Party whose leaders have sold their souls and have little ideological resemblance to their predecessors. Much of the success that they still enjoy is only due to cheating and corruption. A majority of their electorate is among the least educated and the most bigoted. They are yesterday people.
17
The Golden State, the world's fifth largest economy, is a leader of progressive values in the 21st century. The Republican Party is getting smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror. When your party goes in reverse on everything from tax breaks, immigration, equal rights, equal pay and climate change, we Californians aren't going to wait around.
10
California is a state where people care about the environment. They believe in science and global warming. It is a state that believes in the benefits of diversity and immigration. It is a state that is forward looking and not backward looking. It is a state that looks to innovation to solve the problems of the present and future and not hang on to the past for nostalgia.
As a California resident, the modern GOP is the antitheis of all those things. Once the GOP says "Global warming is real, and here is our plan to reduce CO2 emmissions to levels that scientists think are acceptable" then I might start to listen. But as long as the GOP worships at the altar of coal and oil, they are still clearly stuck in the past.
I wish the GOP was the party of Arnold Schwarzenegger and could embrace the notion that global warming is real and that we must do something about it. California would clearly benefit from a two party system, but the modern GOP is not worth anything in terms of ideas. It is morally bankrupt.
22
That's right, republicans: blame the voters. That will certainly help you in 2020!
10
Good.
7
Yay!!! Now let’s get statewide healthcare for all passed...and lead this country out of the Dark Ages!
13
This is the natural progression of things. reagan took the politics of propaganda and smear/personal attack on real and imaginary people which had given him and the GOP its sway in CA to the national stage. The truth about that has finally started to come home to roost in a majority of Californians and hopefully the rest of the nation will follow along soon.
Propaganda and personal attacks are not a political platform they are tactics to win when one does not have a proper platform to convince people to vote for you. Soulless comes to mind.
4
When you lack ideas you get the GOP
To Rep. McCarthy: Keep up the good work, sir - your efforts are helping the state and the country enormously. Keep pounding away at those nasty immigrants, those welfare cheats, gun control freaks, and that Chinese hoax called climate change - I'm sure that the Republican fate will benefit enormously from your continuing efforts in these areas. If anything double down!
The country needs true patriots like you to remind them of how corrupt all those democrats are. I'm sure that within a short time, say 100 years, the Republicans will rise again.
9
Dump evangelicals, white supremists, and the 1% and get back to where early to mid-20th Century Republicans like Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Nixon, and even H.W. Bush (before he drank the Reagan kool-aid) once stood, and then we may be able to do business with Republicans.
I’m serious. California doesn’t care one bit about your religious hangups, your freaking obsessions with sex, your racial resentments, your fairy tale trickle-down economics, and your blind, almost feudal obsequience to the ultra-rich at the cost of utter destruction to the social contract and, ultimately, democracy. It’s just sick how much the GOP was willing to sell out literally everything simply for power at all costs (OMG Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina). Keep that depravity out of the Golden State forever.
31
@left coast finch- I assume you refer to Teddy Roosevelt (FDR was a Democrat). However, Teddy was not around in the mid-20th century.
1
@Marc. If you are going to nitpick at least be fair. The comment said "early to mid 20th Century."
2
I did say “early to mid-20th Cenrury” which includes the 1901-9 presidency of Theodore Roosevelt (and yes, I did pay attention in the class one of my favorite high school subjects, US History).
I started with him because it was he who created the National Park system because of the loss of pristine lands, habitats, and species he noted while hunting and exploring American wild spaces. He championed the idea that environmental conservation is a conservative position but I forgot to add rejection of environmental conservation, as well as science in general, to my hastily written rant of Republican failures. I included Nixon partly because he was also amenable to this notion of conservatism by overseeing the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in response to the continuing and worsening degradation of the environment since Teddy’s time.
I have no idea how Republicans can’t and won’t see the word “conservative” in “conservation” but there is a long line of historical Republicans who would take a “big stick” to today’s Republicans.
4
as long as Republicans act out in very poor sportsmanship they will eventually lose all of Texas as well. We need a new conservative party that is true to democracy and their ideology rather than just good at manipulating elections.
6
I could never understand how anyone from Orange County could have voted for the tax bill that would RAISE, not lower taxes for a majority of their voters. The deduction for property taxes and state income taxes hit the upper middle class in those districts more than almost any other district in the country. Even with a vote against (Issa and Rohrabacher), I am sure they couldn't escape some of the blame.
10
If anyone looks at the remaining parts of the country where Republicans continue to get elected, in my opinion, one thing is quite clear: Republicans have firmly established themselves as the party of the "past", democrats, especially the new progressive element within it, are a party of the "future".
Along with further disengagement from the rest of the world and in a fruitless attempt to return to that past, this President, along with his remaining "enablers", are doing everything in their power to destroy those institutions and policies that allow the country to move forward. When it was clear because of these policies the country was headed towards a growing record deficit, the Trump business model was further confirmed when he stated in 2017, "I don't care because when it all comes to a head, I won't be around anyway".
Under no circumstances, must it be allowed to happen and for those that continue to support Trump and his party in these short sighted endeavors, if you are not beginning to feel it already, YOU will be the first to suffer from its consequences.
7
A lot of things happen in California first. Hope this is true of GOP defeats!
7
Extinction
1
Republicans aren’t conservatives anymore. They are about maintaining power and doing more for their donors at the expense of their voters.
Ain’t nobody got time for that
15
When a nation shifts in its fundamental values the process is slow . A political party tha responds by doubling down on political principles and cultural beliefs of the past must either change or die. The Republican ascebdancy in California peaked with Reagan during the cultural turmoil of the seventies. Governor Wilson is now the standard for a politician who simply didn’t understand the “the times, they were a changin”.
One party rule , whether Democrat in California or Republican in Wisconsin or Georgia , eventually ends in corruption of the democratic governence. Let’s hope that the California Republican party can begin to accept the shifts in American social and political values. Then, they might be able to reresent the interests of right of center constituents rather than mindless devotion to the policies of Regan Republicanism and Neoconservatism that began with the fall of Nixon.
3
Devin Nunes got re-elected so California still has some work to do.
173
@MitchP Amen
5
@MitchP Yes, to California’s shame, the particularly deplorable Devin Nunes and his fellow Republican, Kevin McCarthy, both got re-elected. But I’m especially proud of San Diego voters for replacing the retiring Republican Darrell Issa with Democrat Mike Levin, and even prouder of Orange County voters for throwing out the Russian sycophant Republican Dana Rohrabacher, who had served 15 terms in Congress and will now be replaced by a Democrat, Harley Rouda.
10
I used to vote Republican at the state-level. Ms Meg Whitman was the last statewide Republican candidate for whom I cast my ballot, although Governor Jerry Brown has pleasantly surprised me in many ways and I did vote to re-elect him.
My rationale is simply the (mostly) friendly north-south divide. State politics has traditionally been dominated by people of the Bay Area. The Bay is very different from Los Angeles economically and climatically. Even the culture is somewhat different, since our demographics and geography down south are quite different.
I'd rather to see a moderate Republican with LA ties than a left-leaning Democrat who is shaped exclusively by Bay Area experiences.
But the rise of the current president probably means I will never vote Republican in the next 20 years.
72
@William Fang
I suggest that the days of CA's political rift being North/South are over and that the new rift is West/East.
The further of East I5 one goes, the more CA acts and votes like the rural areas that supported Trump. Riverside and San Bernadino The Inland Empire) are noted, and major, exceptions.
It has been said that what begins in CA eventually becomes national...
11
@William Fang
I am a left leaning Democrat and would vote for Governor Brown because he is a pragmatist. I don't think that 73 is too old to run for president. Our country could use a left-ish pragmatist president.
16
@Irene Goodnight I'd be happy to vote for Jerry Brown.
7
IF the GOP wants to rebuild in California, it needs to change its positions on one or more of these issues:
1. LGBTQ rights. A party about freedom and personal liberty should jettison hostility to that community.
2. Climate change. Even Enron is now saying that human-caused climate change is real. Listen to the oil and gas companies, not the Koch brothers. Use market-oriented solutions rather than regulations.
3. Decouple family planning from abortion. Support family planning as a way to prevent the need for abortions. (Keep the opposition to abortion - it is what your supporters want.)
4. Raise the recently enacted limit on the deduction of state and local taxes from Federal taxes.
5. Reduce the deficit with increased taxes on gasoline, alcohol and ammunition. (For example, raise the Federal tax on gasoline by 1 cent a month for 50 months.)
6. Infrastructure is part of our national security. Pass a trillion dollar national security infrastructure bill, using a public-private partnership model.
7. Legalize and regulate cannabis - and put a Federal tax on it that is not so high that it stimulates a black market.
Will the GOP embrace all of these ideas? Of course not. But one, two or three of these might return California to the Republicans.
95
@Brad,
8. Force trump to release his taxes as he promised.
9. Enact legislation that protects the Mueller investigation.
10. Remove brett kavanaugh and neil gorsuch* from the bench as they are both fruit of the poisonous confederate tree named mitch mcconnell.
11. Repeal Citizens United.
12. Stop with the trans continental Mexican wall nonsense.
13. Apologize to our allies for president bone-spurs' petulance.
14. Restore The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
15. Support Labor Unions that grant uneducated Americans safe, dignified well paid work.
16. Crack down on assault rifles and pass other sensible gun control legislation.
17. Restore financial regulations that prevent wall street trash from privatizing profits while socializing risk.
Do these things and you'd win back California in a heartbeat.
Granted you'd lose the entire confederacy and most of the midwest but those states are insolvent anyway so who cares?
68
You’ve got my vote
4
@Brad The GOP in California needs to be replaced....as well as elsewhere in the country.
30
As a former Californian who tired of the crime, homelessness and unhinged leftist politics of San Francisco, I know one factor that has contributed to the demise of the California Republican Party:
They're mean. They rant about "freedom" while using religion to discriminate. No one likes a bully.
The last decent republican in California was Congressman Tom Campbell, and Carly Fiorina (talk about mean) defeated him in the 2010 senate primary race. I would have voted for Campbell. I worked to defeat Fiorina.
184
@Randy
Cant comment on Carly but certainly agree they are the party of anger. I think their base enjoys the rush of the adrenal glands, perhaps as a substitute for declining potency. They sure get ramped up wearing those silly prole caps.
31
@Randy I'm a very liberal Democrat, and Tom Campbell was the only Republican that I've ever crossed party lines to vote for. He was fiercely independent, beholden to no one, and was a true statesman. The man is a spitting image of the kind of Republican that could win here. But good luck finding that today. And here's the thing: we need other voices. We need perspectives like he brought. A one-party government is not a good thing.
21
@Randy. I can weigh in on Carly Fiorina. She is one of the meanest and self-centered individuals to emerge from the primordial swamp.
14
Republicans can thank their leadership for passing a tax law hugely benefiting the extremely wealthy while hurting middle and upper middle class California Republicans with federal taxes on top of state taxes.
The party deserves what it got in so many ways, but it inevitably lost a great many Republicans with their tax scheme.
52
Donald Trump--The Pete Wilson for the rest of the country.
12
As a second generation Californian, I was raised in the heart of Silicon Valley and, as were most of my friends, in a republican household in the 60s and 70s. My parents today would be considered moderate democrats. My mom was the most passionate environmentalist I have ever known, was pro-choice, thought that paying taxes was our duty as citizens in order to have the kind of country we wanted, believed our future relied on all of our citizens being educated, believed in the separation of church and state, and wanted her gay friends to have the same rights as she did. Growing up in the Central Valley, she lived among, and went to school with, immigrant children in the 1920s and 30s so empathized with them. These are the republican values I grew up with and that the republican party - nationally and regionally - has abandoned. They shouldn't be at all surprised by their stunning defeat. As many have said here, the party needs to join the real world instead of living in the past.
60
The republican collapse was about trump. Moderate republicans knew that congress had to be turned in order to stymie the president: we voted against republican candidates in order to stop trump. The wholesale embracing of trump was incredibly stupid.
24
We all used to chuckle about the blatant corruption in Chicago....."Vote early....vote often" hahaha. But it remains a cold hard fact......the DNC Machine relies heavily on good ole ballot stuffing. Jill Stein proved that in Michigan, where the her court ordered recount caught the DNC red-handed stuffing ballots in the Detroit precincts that it controls through ward heels(ie...."community organizers"). NOW.....California. It is kind of odd how the DNC picked candidates always win with South American Dictator margins of victory. 70%? c'mon now. And gosh, every close race is won by the DNC in a recount or by "extending voting hours" or "provisional votes"(ie...legalized ballot stuffing). FACT....most Californians arent registered as Democrats! Most californians consider themselves Independent...yet somehow the DNC Machine wins every race with 70%. Clearly something fishy is going on in California...but at least the weather's nicer'n than Chicago's...and Pot is legal too! Case in point about Californian's naivite.........Bernie Sanders. Many Californians rightly complain that the DNC "stole" the primary away from Bernie.......yet, in the general election..not one Californian questioned how Hillary could beat Trump with 70%(?) CNN did its own poll, attempting to make Trump look even worse, by having a cross section of "Real California Voters" to rate Trumps first Presidential Speech......they found 52% of their California Voters claimed to have voted FOR Trump.
@Wherever Hugo
Absolutely untrue:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/more-votes-than-voters-in-detroit/
9
This sort of ignorant foolishness is what is bringing this country to its knees.
6
@left coast finch >...from your link....the pretzel logic you believe...."The discrepancy did not involve Detroit's recording more votes than registered voters, but rather precinct poll workers miscounting the number of people who voted. " How is "miscounting the vote" NOT "vote fraud"?>>> son, you are easily fooled.
6 are left. Shame. That number needs to be zero.
29
this is of course welcome news. the GOP has had to resort to outright criminality (in NC) or antidemocratic thuggery (in WI) to hold on. the democrats must however press their advantage. (full disclosure: not a member of any party myself.)
10
How it took the koch-owned gop this long to realize that they cannot appeal to both the backward insolvent confederacy AND blue state technological powerhouses like California is beyond me.
California and mississippi have NOTHING in common!
Nothing, except for the fact that, thanks to our socialist federal tax system that punishes blue state success, Californian taxes pay for most of mississippi's bills.
42
“We should start by confronting the reality that the leftist political coalition that governs this state is the mightiest political machine in the country,” said David Hadley, a member of the California Assembly
Leftist? Seriously, what normal person talks like this? Have they always used these crazy terms like "leftist" and "deep state"? Please keep that crazy Info Wars garbage away from CA. Thanks.
47
Don’t underestimate the Republicans’ ability to mislead and bamboozle voters.
Who can forget the spectacle of Republicans campaigning for healthcare in the midterms, as if the past 8 years of their trying and succeeding in dismantling the Affordable Care Act had never happened.
Republicans will lie to your face if it helps them win elections.
25
@Truth Is True,
Remember when the gop started referring to AWOL bush as 'The war President'?
They called a spineless deserter 'The War President' and the base just nodded like the trained puppies they are.
So sad.
6
And they thought Iraq was behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks after the WMD were proved non-existent. They feel patriotic whenever the government lies to them.
5
Seems that the California GOP plans to double down on its support for Trump and continue advocating for wealthy whites. They think that raising more campaigning funds would guarantee wins. They apparently don't intend to modify their pro-Trump positions for fear of losing the support of his hardcore supporters. Again, nothing to appeal to Independents. Not surprised at all.
9
If the GOP continues to do what they've done in Wisconsin and are about to try and do in Michigan they'll be irrelevant in every state of the union.
25
In North Carolina, Wisconsin & Michigan, when Republicans don't like the results of an election, they simply rewrite the laws to try to nullify it.
In California, when Republicans don't like the results of an election, they whine.
Aren't they great people?
9
California's Republican Party by taking Trump's far-right proto- fascism into their hearts has been failing here in California. It is only in the rural, poor areas of the state that Republicans are holding their own.
20
The GOP has it all wrong! California Republicans are different from the national party. They are more educated and are formed by more diverse interactions.
The problem is that the national Republican Party has become so driven by out-of-touch ideology supplied by its beneficial owners that it has no room for other opinions. There is no such thing as a moderate Republican. They've built the party on a inflexible and unforgiving (and unknowledgeable and uneducatable) set of ideas. That is why they are vulnerable in a state of educated and/or engaged voters.
Their voters did not get what they expected, but many of the sheep are so disengaged they will vote Republican to their detriment forever. Or at least until their preacher tells them otherwise. However, the party is bigger than that and there is a substantial group of moderates or pragmatic voters that continue to feel disenfranchised.
You can fool all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can't necessarily fool enough of the people all of the time to keep corrupt charlatans in office.
5
Donald J Trump, Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are, in the long-run, the best things to ever happen to the Democratic Party and the nation. We will weather this storm and emerge a fairer and more just nation after realizing the alternative vision of the Republicans.
8
Won’t take Newsom long to drive the state off a cliff.
@M,
Why?
Has he taken notes from Brownback from bankrupt oklahoma?
11
@M I think you're wrong there. But what's your backup? Why would you have such an opinion? Just anti-California, maybe?
11
@M
This comment is perfect. No proof. No specifics. Just partisan sour grapes. It's fun to see Republicans go bonkers over California's success.
6
It's not just Latinos. CA also has the nation's largest and most visible gay community. All my life, Republicans have been vilifying LGBT people and using our rights as a political football.
We have long memories. Barring some very dramatic reversal of their policies, it's likely I will never vote for a Republican candidate as long as I live.
83
@Jomo. Neither will I.
14
If I ever voted for a Republican, I'd be embarrassed to publicly admit it. That's how toxic their brand has become.
2
“This state deserves a two-party system,” said Travis Allen.
States don't have a two-party system because they "deserve" it. They have a two-party system because neither party is grossly out of touch with the state's citizenry. That's not the case with the California Republican Party.
32
@Tony
They may not “deserve” it but they do “need” it. No system can stay healthy without a balanced, moderate opposition. The key is balance and moderation.
3
The GOP in California has often been at odds with the national party — all our Republican governors since the 1980s have been pro-choice — and the lurch rightward has only furthered this schism.
If the California GOP doesn’t want to sink into obscurity as its members become independents or (gasp!) Democrats, leaving them only with those members with the most reprehensible views, it must seek not just to adapt to California’s progressive drift, but must also try to help the national GOP find its way again. Perhaps the eulogies for George H.W. Bush will provide inspiration about what it once meant to be a Republican. Even Democrats long for that GOP.
7
In their heart of hearts Republicans only care about three things, reducing taxes on the very wealthy, deregulating everything they can, and privatizing everything they can. No one knows this better than Californians, who no longer want what Republians are always selling. Just go away. You are a dry watering hole, Republicans.
44
I was living in California when Pete Wilson's advertisements ("they keep coming") appeared on tv, finding a convenient group to blame for economic problems. I was upset by those ads; if i were Hispanic (instead of northern European ancestry) I would have been livid.
It is much easier to find a scapegoat than it is to really address problems. The Republicans might have some short term successes with this strategy, but over the long haul, they will fail, because it is dishonest and weak.
22
"There isn't hope for us" the Republicans in California whine. Decent people everywhere reply to their pathetic sniveling by stating "Defeat & eradication could not happen to a more deserving gaggle of unethical, savagely venal and clueless pack of swindlers."
28
My mother, God bless her soul, tried to bring Republican virtues to the Slovak miners on the Iron Range. Her Republican Club meetings preached good government, stout national defense, civil institutions and the virtues of Dick Nixon. The miners ate the cookies and left without a word.
Over the next 40 years her disappointment with her party grew, although we both rallied for the now deceased Bush 41. In her dotage she watches Fox News because “they use simple sentences I can understand”. But Trump frightens her, a “bad man, too loud, heavy, pouts a lot. Face is red because he is always mad. Feel sorry for the wife, pretty girl, but you make the bed you sleep in”.
87 years of politics condensed.
34
It's interesting that California turned blue super-majority after voters tossed out gerrymandering and created the Citizens Redistricting Commission. I haven't researched if the two things are related.
But I wonder what would happen if other states did the same thing. Like Wisconsin, with its upside-down representation compared to votes.
17
I'm sure the California GOP's conclusion will end up being that they actually weren't conservative enough, and really it was just the messaging that they got wrong. It reminds me of a casino I was in a month back where I overheard a gambler saying to a person sitting next to him that if they just played long enough, eventually they'd win, and doubling down would ensure that they made back their losses. As a person next to me at the buffet said - "Vegas doesn't survive because of winners."
14
It’s time for a true centrist party in California, socially liberal and dedicated to building the economy in this most precious State.
That means being active in making the State energy independent through renewable energy , building our tourism industry . To me it’s galling Vegas gets more tourists than we do.
Build our economy to the 4 th largest in the world then we can afford to provide health care for all , the best education system in the world using technology to achieve this.
53
@Carsafrica - What magical difference do you see happening if California becomes the 4th largest vs the 5th?
1
@DR
Growth in the economy will generate revenue to do the things we need to do.
Imagine for example Southern California with its near perfect weather becoming a leading theme park, entertainment , beach, hospitality and gambling Mecca
Attracting tourists from all over the World particularly Asia.
@Carsafrica Sounds pretty much like the Democrats’ agenda to me.
1
"The results are a major political embarrassment for Representative Kevin McCarthy."
Let's be clear on this McCarthy doesn't represent his constituents. Ditto for Devin Nunes another California Republican. They work for Donald Trump, not the people of California, and it's unfortunate that they weren't swept away with the Blue Wave, along with their colleagues.
78
@Mike,
Check that.
Like all elected rightist politicians mccarthy and nunes work for charles and david koch...period.
Thanks to their john birch daddy, charles and david koch could buy president bone-spurs 15 times over.
Trump's daddy should have worked harder.
16
@Mike. Devin Nunes was up for re-election, and had a serious challenge despite all the National Republican dollars. Kevin McCarthy will be up for re-election in 2020, and there is a target on his back.
15
For a real eye opener take a look at Nixon's statewide, county by county results in his first Senate campaign:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election_in_California,_1950
He won all but five counties. The map looks like a photo negative compared to today.
4
Republicans think denial is a river in Egypt!
4
The GOP message to white voters is "Deport your neighbors, friends and family."
Not. Appealing.
21
@CKM I think you meant to say "Deport all illegal aliens", right? Very appealing.
California's Republicans are "canaries in the coal mine".
People are tired of their "NONONO!" routine.
Republicans of 50 years ago would recoil from them in horror, for they are mis-shapen monsters of what they once were.
Honor means nothing.
Or truth.
Or community.
Or the budget.
Or foreign relations.
Or women.
They have devolved.
California Republicans are simply the FIRST to get chucked out, nationwide.
This "Russia Connection" where they vehemently swear that Trump is wronged, being set-upon, the victim of a witch hunt, has nailed their coffin shut.
No one believes that trump is innocent.
No one believes a word that comes out of his mouth.
Trump lies an average of 20 times a day.
And the Republicans let him.
And, wasn't it McCarthy who said, "There are two people in the pocket of the Russians - trump and Rochenberger(sp)." And Paul Ryan said, "That stays in this room!"
(Well, it didn't, did it?)
No one will ever forget that.
And, for sure, no one will EVER forget how Republicans have rigged the laws to end birth control and abortion and have worked to rip down the Separation of Church and State.
Nasty work, that was.
In case you Republicans have never noticed: even Evangelical women use birth control and get abortions.
No pity, here.
Such men as this are getting what they deserve.
Can they "rebuild"?
Sure.... just as long as they never use the word "Republican" again.
Seen it. Heard it.
Didn't buy it the first time.
Take a hike.
6
It seems pretty straightforward. There are people (and political parties) that focus on the future, and those that are enamoured of the past. California is where the future is being created, or at least considered—in technology, the environment, economics, social values. How could such a place stick with a party that ignores all the important issues that are threatening our future? Hopefully the rest of the country will follow California’s lead in politics, as it has in culture and technology.
16
Love Cox’s comments about how Trump is so intensely disliked in CA. Cox welcomed Trump’s endorsement during the campaign.
And the Republicans complaining about Democrats with money is contradicted by the comment earlier in the article that Kevin McCarthy directed in Republican monies to Republican candidates.
Devin Nunes was well funded by Republicans, and had a fight on his hands. Trust me—we “unaffiliated” and Dems would love McCarthy’s scalp. McCarthy would do well to be wary of his Trump embrace—it’s not about the money.
16
I fully agree with this. Devin Nunes’ has dropped from a 14 point lead election night to just 5% today (still counting). We have him in our sights and he is going down in the next election, especially if he stays aligned with Trump. Repeat after me: it’s the Latinos, the immigrants and the people who love them that will never forgive the GOP.
18
Good Morning: Here's how out of touch the CA GOP has become. One of my email accounts somehow ended up on Republican mailing lists. A week ago, a message arrived from the San Francisco GOP stating that the Democrats had picked up 37 seats in the House of Representatives.
A week ago, the correct number was at least 39. "At least" because it may yet go up again. And that's how unattached to reality CA Republicans have become.
6
"As California goes, so goes the nation." Is it any surprise to see such an unabashed power grab by Trump's Republican Party at this time? The writing is on the wall.
6
Thank God for California. Members of The current Republican Party are enemies of civilization. Their refusal to acknowledge Climate issues as well as their incessant calls for deregulation —in. Essence a push to force us all to breathe more taiipipe emissions, so bisinesses can make more money, their chomping at thwork bit to open up wildernessness to oil exploration and other havoc (even in the face of an oil glut) is dispiscipable.
The only thing that gives me hope for this country is California.
17
“This state deserves a two-party system,” said Travis Allen, a state assemblyman who ran in the primary for governor and is a candidate to become party chairman. “And that’s in jeopardy after 2018.”
As a lifelong Democrat, I actually agree with this statement.
One party rule is not healthy for a democracy, and indeed, could be said to be anathema.
But it is the responsibility of the Repubs. to remain relevant to the political debate.
A platform that only appeals to a shrinking, soon-to-be-outnumbered demographic is a path to extinction over the longer-term.
California republicans have run smack into this wall sooner than the rest of the party, but are harbingers nevertheless.
My old college room-mate from a monied family was a staunch California Republican until the punitive SALT provisions in the latest tax code. That left him no choice, he felt, but to cross over. He did so without regret, I should add.
5
That 2 party system in CA is going to have to be one without the GOP unless Trump and Pence are ousted and Republicans stop being such woman hating racists who suddenly forgot that deficits matter.
7
As the westernmost state among the lower 48, California has always been at the "frontier" of America. And that is a primary reason why it is the most populous state and currently ranks as having the sixth largest economy in the world. To live on a "frontier" usually means you leave behind the outdated thinking of where you came from to instead look to better ways of living. Indeed, that "frontier" mindset has always been America's way of thinking.
California, for all of its imperfections, looks to the future - one where people care less about ethnic, religious or racial differences, and instead embrace a one-human-family ethos. California also has evolved to understand that humanity cannot survive unless it quickly adopts strict environmental controls and renewable energy sources. It will also, I predict, be at the leading edge of the next world-wide technological and sociological revolution - that of artificial intelligence and robotics.
The rest of the nation would do well to heed California's dramatic move to the Democratic Party and progressivism in general. It reflects America's future. Viva California!
24
@FTl Rev- Thanks for a great summary-you are right!
1
No mystery here. Be against science, particularly evolution, mix as much as you can get away with between religion and politics, do not even admit Democrats exist and therefore their views needn’t be considered, keep power at all cost even if against the will of American voters, keep Mitch O’Connell in a position of power to increase tax cuts for the rich, take away health care from as many as possible, stuff the Supreme Court with anti-abortion conservatives, and stand by cowardly or keep supporting the lying president as he runs roughshod over over basic values that are the foundation of our democracy. And that’ the short list!
11
For the last 40 years or so, Republicans kept racing to the right while Democrats kept chasing and racing to the middle on the mistaken belief that they had no choice.
Well, what do you know. Republicans finally ran off the cliff. Go on Republicans. You may keep lying, cheating and stealing. I like your strategy.
5
As California goes, so goes the rest of the country.
Good news at last!
6
“...Particulalry as California Democrats move to the left.”
Hilarious. Two of the Democratic winners of flipped CA house seats *are former Republicans.* Katie Hill up in CA-21 ran a super moderate campaign and has already been a voice for the moderate wing of the party during the debate over whether or not to re-elect Nancy Pelosi to Majority leader in The House.
The Dems haven’t moved significantly to the left in this election. The GOP has moved hard right, and left their moderate voters nowhere to go but with the Dems.
Oh, and their unending anti-immigrant rhetoric, in a state full of immigrants, probably wasn’t a great move either.
20
@RGT
It's funny, because (with the exception of a few districts) most democrats have been consistently moderate left for years as the entire political structure has lurched right. It's like the republicans don't see this at all. They only notice that the left keeps getting further away but don't observe the distance is being created by their own drifting, not ours. If anything, the mainstream political left would have been moderate republicans 15-20 years ago.
3
GOP doublespeak notwithstanding, their defeat last month was self-inflicted; a suicide.
Until Republicans can accept that reality, that Basic Human Decency; morality, isn't a "political machine" but a reality to be dealt with, they will continue to loose "bigly."
California is just the start. Remember that time before @GOP lost their California majority?
Well, then the Republican's and their greedy racism overreach went ahead and installed Pete -oh - just about 30 years ago (coincidence?) - much to your chagrin in THAT state now.
3
Message to Republicans.
As California goes so does the country, the old cliche says.
So, Republicans need to stop reserving for themselves the right to lie, cheat and steal and their political future will be better. We the people will continue to fight to overcome all Republican dirty tricks and malfeasance that have allowed them to bring our country to close to fascism for comfort.
4
The Democratic politicians had better do the citizens bidding from here on out or they will be exactly where the Republicans are now, come the next election. People are no longer voting strictly along party lines. Voting is all about the promises made and the promises kept, and if they don't do their job they are out. As it should have been right along. As the song says "a change is a commin" and its about time
The Republican Party abandoned democracy and the American people a long time ago.
Who wants to vote for a bunch of vote suppressors, vote riggers and Grand One Percenters except the worst possible people?
Confederacy is not a winning strategy.
Good riddance and good luck to the GOP on their ride down the feculent Trump Toilet.
66
Republicans are tyrants. They have usurped power in wisconsin, north carolina, georgia and florida through actions including taking away all the powers from democrats elected to governor and state attorney general and rigged elections-to governor in georgia and house representative elsewhere through voter suppresson and fraud in other. Trump has disdain for the law. Russia collusion, hacking the DMC and his many unpopular policies are instances. California voters cringe from republicans these days and they deserve retaliation from democrats in blue states
19
California looks like the world and the future - dynamic, diverse and interested in addressing real-world problems like climate change and universal health coverage.
That is the absolute opposite of the GOP and Trump, whose main platform seem s to consist wishing we could turn back the clock back 100 years to a simpler time that never actually existed - with a nasty dose of open bigotry thrown in.
Those ideas are non-starters here, and the Republican Party will continue to be totally irrelevant in California until it can join the rest of us in the modern world.
160
As a white, nearly retired Californian, raised in Orange County, I’ve been watching the Republican Party get it wrong most of my life. They ascribe their losses in California to Latinos and Trump but the reasons are more fundamental. The Republicans lost California because of the policies, which appear racist and elitist but, in a state that values immigration and education, are simply ignorant and disconnected from reality.
320
Welcome to the new world. California is the harbinger of what is to come for the Republicans. The new world , youth and diversity embrace addressing climate change, taxing themselves and taking care of the environment. The nation is happily becoming more diverse and more tolerant. How can a party going the opposite direction be relevant in the US in the long term. The arc of justice bends slowly but it is inevitable.
271
@Nyt Reader Then why are we losing on green energy, universal health care, 401k and Wall St protections and host of other "right wing" ailments? The dems are predominant in numbers for sure, but republican ideology is winning.
9
@caljn because the Republicans have a single focus. Power. And are willing to go to any lengths to maintain it. See what’s happening in Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina. That’s what the GOP is about.
32
@Nyt Reader
From your lips to G-d’s ear! But you can’t argue with stupid. It really is an Archie Bunker process, you have to live among “others” before you understand them.
5
It's not just Trump. Look what the Republicans are doing in Wisconsin, in Michigan, in North Carolina. Look at Sen. McConnell's bad faith. Look at the Cabinet. Republicans aren't about conservatism, they're now the party of liars and cheats, of grifters and foul-mouthed cons who eagerly harness racism and nastiness to keep power and wealth for themselves and their well-heeled friends. Who would vote for that?
398
@M
3 million less, that’s who.
9
@M.Look at Nunes from California.
5
@Imperato He won by about 3% and previously he has won in the double digits. His district line here in Fresno is just across Highway 99 from where I live.
7
Look at what's going on in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Michigan. The Republican party is corrupt and venal. They are a clear and present danger to our Democracy and need to be stopped. And they have to ask why they are losing votes in CA? No educated, well-informed person could possibly vote Republican now. It's a sick, sick group of people.
55
Next stop Wisconsin.
10
Why would anyone in California vote republican? They have no values, deny basic rights to people of color. Want to take away healthcare, deny global warming, cut taxes irresponsibly, believe that religion should be taught in public schools, support a terrorist organization like the NRA, listen to Fox News all day. Thankfully they are mostly gone from this state. Good riddance. Hows that for stereotypes.
46
I have absolutely no sympathy for them - they have done this to themselves. This is just the beginning of a NATIONAL wave to re-establish the rule of law and the essence of our Democracy.
Since reaching an all-time low in this age of Trump, the criminally partisan Republicans like Devon Nunes and Mitch McConnell, through their electoral manipulations, judicial stacking and abrogation of all moral and ethical principles, have earned their status as a hostile cult. Putin and Trump have partially succeeded in their goal to destabilize and divide the United States in order to dominate more of the world. Trump, as the idiot narcissist, can't see this - he thinks that he will end up like Putin, but as an American dictator. Stupid is as stupid does. He couldn't even run a lame TV game show or a successful "business".
28
I live in L.A. Any fool who thinks this was not a repudiation of Trump is just a fool.
47
When you tie yourself to a hateful bully who is ending even our anemic response to catastrophic climate change that is hitting California particularly hard, what do you expect? Every Republican who lost deserves their fate.
8
They have done
much to help us.
Good riddance.
Have NOT...
Sorry left out the
crucial word.
3
So Republicans have discovered what being a red state dem is like. Welcome to the club old white men.
5
Aw, don't fret rightists.
So you lost the fifth largest economy on Earth.
Big deal.
You guys still have economic juggernauts like mississippi, iowa and oklahoma.
Granted not one of those insolvent red states can pay its own bills but, guess what, thanks to our socialist federal tax system, California is forced to pay for those welfare states anyway.
So in the end, although you don't control California, you bums still get to steal her money.
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@Victorious Yankee
Lol. Don’t forget the Sam Brownback experiment in Kansas: praise the rich, anoint their feet, set them up high and hope a few pennies drop to the floor.
Although bad roads and dumb kids mean even wealthy people feel the effects: hard to drive that AMG over the potholes, hard to get competent help.
14
@Robert Goodell,
Thanks for straightening me out.
I meant bronwback's kansas...not oklahoma.
2
And ponder this for a moment; Brownback’s supporter, Kodach, lost the governor’s race to a Democrat.
6
The Republican Party, not just in California, has made itself not just irrelevant, but despised in so much of the country by adopting it's xenophobic, anti-immigrant, ignorant policies that in actuality do nothing to advance our economy or our social well-being. The Republican Party is made up today of the self-serving dregs of the 19th Century's morally bankrupt white trash who don't have anything to offer as they cling to their guns, Bibles and Jim Crow mentality. Time for a new opposition Party to emerge to replace this putrefying dinosaur.
4
@RLWIf any Democrats would put their support behind stopping illegal aliens from sneaking into our country, I would vote for more of them. Until then, we'll be voting straight Republican tickets even if we don't support everything else they're putting out there. I'm not sure where all of you who think it's a great idea to put the Welcome Mat out to uneducated, poor people who clearly will be a drain on our schools, hospitals and social services think the money to support them will come from! We're just regular middle class folks who are trying to survive with our ever-escalating taxes pushing us to the brink of financial ruin. We would rather our taxes go to support the poor and uneducated and sick Americans we already have (but shouldn't!!!) in this country. California is rapidly becoming the illegal alien/homeless capitol of the country and people (legal, middle class tax-paying folks) they should probably want to retain are moving out. It will be curious to see what happens with Silicon Valley in the next few years, too.
Not much left to do, after cozying up to the communists, deficit spenders and the porn stars. For us voters, it's like discovering that the nice, wholesome Christian boy next door is in fact Theodore Robert Bundy.
3
It's quite a stretch to label Chad Mayes a moderate. I'd say he's a pragmatist who offended the wrong donors. Mayes after all, is a proud graduate of Liberty U.
1
The Republican Party is a white nationalist, authoritarian party. It has been home to white nationalists since the Southern Strategy, but it was not explicitly white nationalist until Trump. Now it is, and the election results reflect it.
As a result, moderates and conservatives who abhor white nationalism have been driven to the Democratic Party. There simply aren't enough white nationalists in California, New England, or the mid-Atlantic to win a statewide election. Increasingly, there aren't enough to even with a congressional race.
Where Republicans won state-wide elections in those areas, the office was state, not national, and the candidate explicitly rebuked Trump, white nationalism, and the national Republican Party. Charlie Baker in MA, for example.
The solution is obvious: there needs to be a new political party, that is explicitly conservative but not white nationalist, to run in these states. My sense is that the white nationalists in these states will still vote for the conservative party (just as they did for the old Republican party), but they'll have to forego voting for explicitly white nationalists.
Members of this new party will need to refuse to caucus with the Republican Party in Washington, or it won't work. Non-white nationalist conservatives in blue states simply will not support white nationalism in Washington.
3
Noteworthy that California has turned blue without any of the questionable gimmicks used by the Republicans. No gerrymandering, no voter suppression, no changing the rules depending on who's in power ...
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@David - and it's worth remembering that when voters put in an independent, impartial state districting committee, BOTH parties objected to it, LOL!
6
A couple of observations. First, Jerry Brown is a fiscal conservative. He initiated the voter referendum to increase taxes on the wealthy. Under his governorship the fiscal health of California increased dramatically. Now the California gas tax is being used to repair failing infrastructure and support mass transit, things that are crying out for help across the country. The homeless issue and the poverty in rural California need to be addressed, but those issues are increasingly taking the forefront.
Second, the Republicans are for party over district, county, state and country. They have a lockstep approach in Congress, where John McCain was treated as a traitor because he voted against the destruction of the Affordable Care Act. If you vote for a Republican you are not voting for anyone who will consider, much less serve, the interests of your community. Instead you are voting for a party in Congress which serves only the wealthy, and which seemingly is very interested in taking away healthcare, support systems and even votes, for the majority of Americans. California is thriving, don't be fooled by the Republicans.
30
The Republican party obsoleted itself in California. Nationally, it has almost completed it's transformation to the party of Trump, which is openly hostile to large numbers of Californians. It's simple: There just aren't enough masochists out there who enjoy the abuse enough to still vote Republican.
2
With the passing of George Bush Sr., I think about what Republicans used to be: temperate, measured, captains of industry and patrons of the arts. I had a similar sentiment when Barbara Bush died. Were that SHE had been "Bush 43".
Where are the historical Republicans now? Where are Pete Wilson, Christine Whitman, William Weld, John Danforth, Condoleezza Rice, Michael Reagan, Elizabeth Dole? Where are the (yes, Libertarian, but any way) Koch Brothers? Where are all of the "never Trump" Republicans who have abandoned the party to "Uncle Jed" McConnell and the tyranny of the minority?
Demographics predict that the country will survive the constriction of the post-modern Republican party. The sooner, the better.
2
@Padonna - the Koch Bros. are doing very well. Americans for Tax Fairness estimates that the Kochs and their conglomerate Koch Industries will likely save between $840 million and $1.4 billion in income taxes each year. That's a return on investment of at least 4,100 percent on the $20 million they spent to pass the law.
4
Given that the GOP has amply demonstrated they are unfit to govern, their extinction is to be welcomed. Hopefully they will be replaced by a right of center party that represents democratic values and puts country above party.
4
In my opinion the Republican party cannot rebuild itself. If those interested in office wish to be relevant then they need to do the work to be relevant in a state that values its people and its environment.
Ongoing association with the national republican party assures your demise. Dump the national party and learn to put people over profit, embrace voting rights, fight for clean air and water and respond appropriately to the biggest challenge the human race faces, whether or not this planet will be able to sustain life as we know it.
2
This is what’s going to happen in the Wisconsin republican party as well as the Republican Party in other red states, Wisconsin is a blatant example of what the Republican Party is willing to do to stay relevant, at a time when most republicans are aligning themselves either with Trump himself, or the backward, Republican Party. A party that doesn’t seem to have any real policies that don’t hurt the middle class, that aren’t a giveaway of our tax dollar to those who don’t need it, a party that believes that racism and hate are a good thing, but then don’t understand why democrats call them those names. Which isn’t to say that all republicans feel that way. But that’s the funny thing about dirt, it gets on anyone that gets close to it.
5
The Republican party went off the rails with Newt Gingrich in the 90s, and proceeded on a trajectory of awfulness with Sarah Palin and Donald Trump, to the point where no thoughtful person, including all thoughtful conservatives, can support the dumpster fire that the party has become.
California conservatives should start a new party if they want to have some of their ideas considered in the mix. No one serious is going to listen to anyone with an "R" next to their name at this point, for very, very good reasons.
A two, or more, party system could be a good thing, if all of the parties are serious and not just nasty bad jokes.
4
@JustInsideBeltway,
Caribou Barbie...what a blast from the past.
Like the koch owned-gop, I had completely forgotten about that Alaskan twit.
3
California's illegal immigrant population is enormous, and about 70% are on government handouts. This will insure what the democrats have been aiming at for years, a permanent underclass which depends upon democrats to maintain the handouts. Republicans are generally for self-sufficiency. California is, according to this article, well on its way towards just this goal. The next step: letting illegal immigrants vote.
3
@Len,
And we know how much you rightists hate government handouts...unless they come from our socialist federal tax system right?
I mean California gets back just .65¢ for every dollar it pays into the fed, while parasitic confederate states like south carolina get back a whopping $7.57 for every dollar it pays in to the fed.
If we allowed blue states to keep the tax revenues they raise instead of forcing them to waste their tax revenues on failed red states, those red states would fail in a year!
Let's give it a shot and see.
What do you say Len?
14
@Victorious Yankee And with our $7.57 on the dollar, we still buy (state owned) school buses that like to catch fire.
The demise of the GOP in Ca is going to be of a national scope in the upcoming future. In Texas, a notoriously Red state, the political color became purple in the 2018 midterms. All the population centers in Texas went blue. This development, a coming national phenomenon, will spread throughout the nation in coming years.
8
The Republican Party’s “brand” is increasingly built on principles of (1) hatred toward everyone except native-born white males, (2) helping the rich get richer while the middle class struggles, (3) subjugating women (see Ohio House Bill 565 that criminalizes all abortion from the moment of conception with no exception for the life of the mother, rape or incest), and (4) denying climate change which will destroy this beautiful planet and ruin civilization as we know it for coming generations. Why would anyone with an ounce of conscience, humanity or decency continue their allegiance to such a group?
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California’s primary system favors candidates who speak to the middle of the political spectrum. Republican candidates are still trying to out-conservative each other, which makes them increasingly out of touch. The complaint that Democrats out-spent and out-organized the Republicans fails to recognize that money and orgaizational energy will follow success speaking to the needs and wants of the electorate at large, not to rigid party doctrines.
50
It's a sad situation.
Democrats have few real answers, few real leaders, few new ideas, and they generally turn and run rather than fight for their values.
However, Trumpublicans have NO answers, real or even good-looking face answers. What keeps Trumpublicans going are their core values: Greed, ignorance, racism, homophobia, misogyny and xenophobia.
4
@Jay David
California Democrats DO have leaders, answers and ideas. We will continue to show the world the way forward into a new global reality. Republicans represent old and obsolete social and economic methods which leave out most non-white members of society. You are right about what keeps the GOP going, what you call their "core values". There is no political gain in these "values" going forward. The Gop is reaping what they have sown.
7
You have to wonder just how long California is willing to have their votes counts for less than a vote cast in a sparsely populated rural based Red State. California with a population of 40 million has the world's 5th largest economy all on their own. They have the same two senators as North Dakota and Wyoming with a population of less than 1 million. The United States is anchored to an anarchistic political structure that no longer serves a purpose in the 21st century.
The arcane slavery era enacted Electoral College should have been abolished decades ago. It's purpose was to prevent an unqualified demagogue from assuming the presidency and this respect it failed spectacularly. You cannot continue to disenfranchise millions of voters and impose minority rule on the majority indefinitely without consequence.
175
@tk I agree fully, with a slight correction - you mean " The United States is anchored to an anarchistic "ANACHRONISTIC"political structure that no longer serves a purpose in the 21st century.
The US system simply does not work any more. No other country adopted it ever and no will. But the political socialization and ignorance is well and healthy, which means that the future may be cloudy. We should not follow the GOP into oblivion.
21
@Amos Apologies on my terrible spelling. I should check before I hit post. Darn multi-tasking :)
I concur with your comment.
3
@tk
And let's not forget that this system has resulted in a right wing Supreme Court that will further alienate the will of the people from the laws of the land.
14
The hallmark of a superior being is the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Blame the president, don't blame the president. It's either change or die for the overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly male, overwhelming anti-immigrant California Republicans, and I for one vote for death.
35
@Peggy Rogers nothing less than the GOP deserves.
1
The most important statement in this article is that, "California needs a two party system."
Democratic politicians are just as capable of cronyism and hubris as Republicans. The most important dynamic in a viable, two party system is that the losing team gets to lick its wounds, re-think its positions and adjust to new realities.
If Democrats are in power for a long time without the constraints of another party on their heels, they too will lose their way. I hardly feel sorry for Republicans or their supporters but I caution the Dems to stay humble, don't settle old scores, take care of your voters.
48
@ijarvis replace the GOP with a competent opposition that reflects American ideals.
3
@Imperato - we should only be so lucky. The GOP will soon be licking its near fatal wounds nationally. We can all hope the moderate R's show up for that round table and take over.
3
Well, Republican Party, you might begin by deciding what you are--a brand or a philosophy.
I am heartily sick of the term brand.
26
@Patti Republicans for sale! Two for the price of one!
Yes, this is what happens to a party of 'no' - bankrupt of ideas and driven by blind allegiance to a discredited, tedious, and evidence-free ideology. Where is Ayn Rand when you need her huh? Good riddance . . .
22
Blaming demography is an indication of the bankruptcy of the GOP, not only in California but nationally. It stands for nothing, unless you count greed and fear. Its politics are absolutely irrelevant to the world's pressing problems. It is a corpse desperately grasping at the remnants of its power and resorting to the vilest means to do so.
33
@Carl Peterson What the Republicans refuse to admit is that for the last 100 plus years, the vast majority of immigrants to California have not been illegal aliens from south of the border or Asian but Americans from East of the Rocky Mountains. For example, My parents were from Iowa and Illinois and I was born in Kansas.
4
Sclerotic messaging, using terms like “Marxist”, “leftist” only serve to turn away folks who aren’t partisan and are more middle of the road. These people don’t learn and their arrogance was punished at the polls. Move into the 21st century and perhaps things will change.
35
The massive corruption that is now associated with DJT and the Republican party give the GOP very little hope for appealing to honest hard working american voters.
What's happening in Wisconsin and North Carolina only cements the image of the underhanded, dirty fraudsters that the GOP now represents.
209
Time for a new party in California, perhaps a real fiscal conservative one without the craziness on climate change, racism and corruption that defines the current GOP.
32
@Véronique long past time...
@Véronique California already HAS a fiscal conservative "without the craziness" on climate change, racism and corruption. His name is Jerry Brown -- a Democrat -- and if his successor Gavin Newsom is smart and wants to stay in office he'll do as Governor Brown has done: go as far left as you like on politics, but when it comes to spending money, spend only what you can afford (not what you wish you could pay for) and even then, put plenty aside for a rainy day.
11
The republican party is crawling toward extinction. Apparently the leadership believes that Russians, racists, and billion dollar corporations will be their salvation, and, like John Gotti, they think everyone loves them.
26
“I have been preaching that guys, you can’t just have a message to white voters,” said Jim Brulte, the state Republican Party chairman. “Because the demographics are rapidly changing.”
Couldn't have said it better myself. There are plenty of Christian fundamentalists in the Latino community that are social conservatives. Unfortunately, Republicans are not talking to them. As the old saying goes..."you reap what you sow".
8
As California goes, so goes the Nation. Eventually, the only states with a
" functional " GOP Party will be the ultra-Red, Confederacy States.
Coincidence ? Yeah, sure. Merely a Coincidence.
91
@Phyliss Dalmatian
Well Phyllis, you keep us informed on the state of Kansas, a noble experiment in the virtues of extremism in the defense of liberties.
I always liked Lawrence, but Brownback?
2
Hey, I'm only here because of the Husbands Job. I consider it a hostage situation. Writing comments to the NYT and drinking Wine really helps.
Seriously.
13
@Robert Goodell
Kansas just elected a Democratic Governor. It's not California but it's a start.
4
Listen up national republican party California is a harbinger of your eventual demise if all anyone sees in you is the protection of some status quo that is no longer relevant. This quote should be a wake up call, "the roots of the Republican problem go back ... to at least 1994, when Gov. Pete Wilson (R),... championed a ballot initiative that would cut off state services... to immigrants who were here illegally. The initiative passed, but ... the Latino population of California has increased to nearly 40 percent."
8
Democrats could certainly overreach. BUT Republicans have spent 40 years establishing a rock-solid national and local brand fundamentally based on hating most of the citizens of California -- Latinos, gays, highly educated people, San Franciscans, immigrants.
Having already done that, they then chose to follow an ignorant, bigoted sociopath in lock step. And if that wasn't enough, they spent the last two years legislating in ways that directly hurt their constituents.
What the heck did they expect?
141
@Bill Camarda: You forgot liberals and ecologists in your Republican hate list.
7
After being a registered Independent for more than 30 years (and voting Republican occasionally) I simply can't support any party that supports Trump - its that simple.
174
@timmrush there’s far more wrong with the GOP than Trump.
15
@timmrush,
Its that simple?
So you can't stand trump in your party but somehow you're fine with mitch mcconnell, steve king, louie gohmert, stephen miller, sebastian gorka etc.?
Ewww...gross.
17
@Victorious Yankee
Yes, at one level, it's that simple.
Miller/Gorka are just parts of Trump, metastasized. They wouldn't be there if not for Trump.
McConnell and Gohmert (and Mike Pence for that matter) are representative of what's long been wrong with the Republican Party but—unlike Trump—they're wrong within the range of normal.
Steve King I'll give you, but he's still just one minor Representative from Iowa—not the President of the United States and nominal Leader of the Republican Party.
So, yes, Trump is different.
3
Same thing happened her in New Jersey, although on a smaller scale. We even reelected "Honest Bob" Menendez by a wide margin. The reasons for these changes are multiple and long in coming, but the new tax law was the final stake in the heart. I surprised that any Republicans survived in a High Tax state.
50
@cleo
It really says something that Honest Bob was re-elected. I gues the Chris Christie flirtation is over.
1
@cleo,
"High Tax States" or as the parasitic insolvent red states call them: "The Blue States That Pay Our Bills For Us."
5
@Robert Goodell
Menendez was not convicted. The feds couldn't convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty and a federal judge thought the remaining charges were so weak that he tossed them out.
Meanwhile, Trump settled a $25 million fraud suit. A Trump Republican senator would not be a better option than Menendez..
3
California is waking up to a reality we’ve been living with for far longer than Trump:
The Republic or Republicans? Can’t have both.
84
Let’s hope the political attitude in California is a predictor for the rest of the nation. I’ve had quite enough distractions and shenanigans from the GOP.
58
I am a life long California Democrat. I am proud that my fellow Californians are standing up against the racism and Trumpism that is now the hallmark of the Republican party. But last night I learned that Trump now has a 50% approval rate which I find utterly shocking. The Republican party is determined to support this terrible administration - I can only hope that Americans will soon take California’s lead and vote Trump out in 2020.
64
If that’s a Rasmussen Poll, don’t be alarmed!
26
@Lane per 538, 52% disapprove of Trump.
5
I have a good friend who lives in the L.A. area. After the mid-terms she called me and said she was thrilled with the election results in Orange County. The Republicans need to be more inclusive and stop passing laws that benefit only the wealthiest and corporate America and stop treating women and minorities like second class citizens or go the way of the dinosaurs. I would prefer the latter.
41
Republicans in California are like the coyote vs. the road runner. Their myriad attempts to capture the prize keep blowing up in their faces. And yet. they try again and again with ever-more disastrous results.
The saying, "We learn nothing from history except that we learn nothing from history" has been attributed to many over time, but it should be permanently credited to the California GOP.
28
If people don’t like your ideas and policies, you have to come up with some better ones instead of just whining about how people don’t vote for you.
I’m not a political consultant, but I would start with trying to come up with something that isn’t a new way to cut taxes on the wealthy and cut services for the less fortunate. And then maybe follow that up with some concern about the environment and climate change.
140
@EKM
Ehh, no tears for that party of jerks. They are intemperate, corrupt and demagogic. I saw that populist, evangelical anger in the Reagan days. It was a sense of resentment even then. I suspect it goes back at least to Goldwater’s defeat in 1964.
To their resentment of elites they have added political bondage to the evangelicals and that sort of end times magical thinking.
Can’t break the hold the NRA has over them, can’t rouse up their proles without corporate money. Damned and doubly damned.
7
Absolutely. And I love the line from the person quoted that Californian will revert to the Republicans because of high taxes and rising cost of housing. As if ANY Republican in my memory has ever addressed those issues for the great majority - and not just the 1%. It would be laughable if it were not so tragic.
2
I’m always struck by the polar opposite views Republicans hold for business and politics.
With business they constantly point to the need for a free market that rewards success and punishes failure, with those companies that survive and thrive being those companies that just reacted better to market conditions and had better foresight and planning, or delivered a superior product at a better price, etc. It’s accepted as fact that this encourages good business behavior by moving capital towards proven successful endeavors.
Meanwhile, in politics, they take a different tact. They don’t think cities / states with large populations, strong industries, effective governance should get a corresponding increase in voting power. People move to cities because that is where the people, businesses, arts, sciences are. They leave the backwoods rural areas in droves largely because those areas have failed to join the modern era. The rural areas operate on outdated ideals and policies that actively discourage tourism and relocation by new generations of workers. But rather than allocate political power to the successful cities and states, instead we reward the failed areas with an outsized level of influence in our politics and voting results.
When will they acknowledg that giving the keys to our political system, again and again, to failed areas in rural America is decidedly not supporting a free market of ideas. Instead they demand we subsidize failed political ideas and their voters.
72
@Derek
I'm going to have to disagree with you. The Republicans, in all things, only hold a specific principle when it suits them. The moment anyone uses the optics of free enterprise, states rights, anything to do something they don't like, their vaunted principles disappear in a puff of smoke.
I'm reminded of the recent backlash over the stances many private companies have been taking towards the NRA in the wake of mass shootings.
When Delta airlines announced it would end a discount program for NRA members, Georgia legislators decided to punish a private entity for its political stance. While originally planning to reduce a %4 sales tax on jet fuel as part of an overall tax overhaul, Republicans specifically left the tax in place to hurt Delta.
Despite the company being a job creator, despite the measure also hurting other other airlines in the state, the Republicans suddenly abandoned their principles about taxes and private enterprise. It took then Governor Nathan Deal to suspend the tax, recognizing that shooting Georgians in the foot over a slight towards the NRA was lunacy. Brian Kemp, however was for the tax, so we'll see where this goes.
42
And Republicans only care about the deficit or the debt when we have a Democratic President. The only REAL Republican principle is lower taxes for the rich.
21
@Derek, Your comment's premise, the marketplace of ideas counts in both business and politics, is a good one.
A nuance: " [Rural citizens] leave the backwoods ... areas in droves largely because those areas have failed to join the modern era."
I read an article about how modern farmers in Iowa are using driver-less tractors programmed by computers and guided by GPS on gigantic land holdings. The modern era in the "backwoods" has changed to mechanization and automation and thereby lead to a loss of agricultural employment. Those people are flocking to our cities.
In the day of our country's founding, considerably more than 50% of the population was involved in agricultural production. That's changed completely but the Senate and the Electoral College still lean towards making their votes count for more. Minority rule in a representative democracy is institutional corruption.
See Thomas Edsall in this paper: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/06/opinion/citizens-united-corruption-pacs.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
5