It seems that the Republican Party in California has completed its transformation into an irrelevant political institution. I have written previous articles on how to transform the party to relevance in a divergent population as California. However California Republican establishment figures such as Jon Fleischman and Mike Spence would rather throw raw meat from the balcony than work to solve the problems our state faces, as San Diego mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher stated yesterday in his speech about his re-registration to “decline to state”:
The Republican revolution of 2010 avoided our state because we are a different people here. We avoid attacks on different groups, and we cherish such post-materialistic values as clean air, water, and quality public education. The Republican Party hierarchy expects us to behave like our Republican cousins in Oklahoma and Utah; but we’re not like the people there. We California Republican voters want job creation for all Americans, not just those who work for traditional-values advocacy firms or nativist groups like the Minutemen.
My party has been vicious to those who go against the grain. Look at former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson who left the party due to being blackballed from debates even though he had more executive experience than Romney. Congressman Ron Paul is one of the four frontrunners, yet the state political party executives in Missouri and Washington State have tried to rig state party conventions to make sure Paul’s followers have no say and arrest those who challenge the party corruption. Now one of the last moderates in our State Assembly has decided to split the “big tent,” and the hard-liners will have dominance until the Proposition 14 moderates jump in.
I can understand why Assemblyman Fletcher felt estranged from his former party’s caucus. All Republicans want to do is to say NO, and not have to any constructive solutions in exchange. Due to the 1/3rds veto the Republican Party has, they have no incentive to seek the majority in either chamber of the state legislature. So, due to redistricting and the Fletcher’s estrangement with the Party, he decided to run for mayor of San Diego instead of running for his last term in the State Assembly.
Local elections are officially non-partisan, but no elections are non-partisan in nature any longer. Political parties use non-partisan elections as a farm team for state legislative, congress and statewide offices. The Republican Party in San Diego County had a highly contested endorsement for the office of mayor; three of the four major candidates are Republicans. It used to be cool to be a pragmatic centrist like Pete Wilson – which led him to become mayor, US Senator and then Governor of our state, but the party establishment chose city councilman Carl DeMaio because of his Scott Walker-like labor-bashing credentials.
Nathan and his wife both left the party they called their own since they had first registered to vote. Nathan believes that the consensus-building approach he learned in the Marines would be beneficial as the mayor of San Diego. As a Marine he worked to develop bonds with people in exotic places such as Iraq and Somalia. While assemblyman, Nathan developed bonds with the Democratic Speaker and the local police union in San Diego. Even though there may be some disagreements he tries to find consensus so we can have solutions for the problems we face in California and his home town of San Diego, California.
Sadly, due to the loss of Assemblyman Fletcher, the Republican Party will lack a viable bench that would be appealing to voters in our state. In 2012, we have no exceptional candidate for US Senate, we have many non name-brand candidates. (The leading front runner is notorious birther Orly Tatiz.) If we weren’t chasing away the moderates away from our party we’d have had a pragmatic bench that would attract voters to support our candidates. If we want California to be a better state to live and do business in, California needs a viable opposition party. If we make ourselves too toxic for people to support us, then how are we going to make California golden again? Democrats are causing our tax base to flee to Texas while thinking the only solution is to raise taxes. Maybe if we did not bash the brown people, gays and women we would make some progress to broaden the tax base so we can lower taxes for all of us.
Sadly, the Republican Party is becoming irrelevant for young supporters. If we want to prevent California from being a one-party dictatorship we need to see change in the state party leadership. If we do not give demographic groups that typically vote for the Democratic Party a convincing reason to vote for Republicans, then we will not gain any ground as our supporters die off day by day.
Well said, sir.
Ummmm …
… partly well-said.
From the decling number of taxpayers.
Where’s the “Orange” Juice? This post is about a candidate for mayor outside Orange County by an author from outside of Orange County.
Anyway, shouldn’t the author be cheering that the Republican Party endorsed an openly gay candidate, who eschews social issues, and focuses exclusively on economic issues?
Councilman Carl DeMaio seems to be exactly the kind of candidate that should be allowed in the author’s “big tent.”
The tax base is not “fleeing to Texas.” To the extent they are, it may be because they prefer not to be in a state that is #47 in per capita student spending. That’s doesn’t make it easier to hire good workers.
Let me guess: the other solutions you have in mind are anti-regulatory and anti-worker, right?
http://arc.asm.ca.gov/member/59/newsletter/59_1802ilggsazf.htm
Even though its by Tim Donnelly, the wingnut social conservative, who hasnt found a gay or latino he doesnt like. He is righty on this. We may want clean air and water, and make sure workers are honestly treated with dignity. But the cost of regulatory compliance leads businesses to Go Galt. Yes, businesses need to give their workers their proper breaks and not pollute lakes and rivers. However we sadly need their jobs and tax revenue to have the public services we value.
You mean “doesn’t hate,” right?
Yeah.
Mr. Munson, in his clunky sixth-grade prose, is apparently still drinking his party’s Kool-Aid. According to every study I’ve read, businesses aren’t leaving our state in any greater numbers than businesses in any other state. You could look it up.
Baloney! I do look it up and even California based companies don’t want to expand much in our state. They expand in Utah or Texas such as Ebay or Apple.
Claim Jumper went to Texas. Its there. If we want the revenue for the public services we need to bring industry back. We should not shaft the people who cant afford to flee such as working families and even small business owners with the taxes that we lost.
If this canidate could afford to produce a better edited video, he might gain some traction. Much of what he complains about is true, on both sides of the aisle, we have seen how the pressure to support ones party has robbed the state of independent community based thinkers.
But, it’s doubtful that would ever happen.
As for Texas….TEXAS SUCKS and it has less to do with labor/environmental issues/whatever than it does with what those things mean: LESS MONEY!
If it is cheaper to do it in Texas, business owners will. SIMPLE. It’s a shitty place, with shitty people, and thats why you can sell more BJ’s Pizza there, They think BJ’s IS THE PLACE TO BE. It’s like a huge Irvine.
– On a side note. I leave for a week and what happens?: Diamond goes batshit (pulling a Chmeiliwinski???) on a commenter, Vern blowjobs Galvins residency, Daly drops out of the debate…………..and nothing changes. the same nine assholes are argueing about the 69th with not one of the issues answered, proven or clarified.
DISCLAIMER: I am certainly asshole #3 or 4. No one can deny that. but to the rest of the world (district) none of this makes a lick of difference.
In closing, I will say finding level headed Arizonan’s ( I stayed a week longer than planned) is like the OC blogesphere – You have to sift through the sand, rub a lot of it out of your eyes, spit some out of your mouth, but really we’re all just the same. Maybe a little different, but more the same.
KLND – “replace the L with and I and what do you get”
Were you gone for a week?
I went off on about twenty commenters, but that was on a rival blog.
I think thats what I meant. I came back to an avalanche of EMAIL UPDATE BS. I deleted most, but some cought my eye.
What are you talking about KLND?
1. How does one “blowjob someone’s residency?”
2. I never said Galvin lived in Santa Ana, you said I said that. I said he’s “based” in Santa Ana. I’ve seen him there half a dozen times and never seen him anywhere else, and most of the stories he writes are filed from there. Who cares if he lives in HB? Compared to the Sacramento reporter Brian Joseph, who had no way of checking on where Julio lives, GALVIN IS BASED IN SANTA ANA. Just like I said.
3. You still act like you don’t know where Julio lives? You and Art are the only people left who can’t admit he lives where he lives. I was at his place last week. Are you and Art gonna start a little Julio birther club?
Not quite a week. I got a late start. The LAYGIRLS (sisters) ended up flying in to AZ to see KLjr on Sunday and stayed for Giants in Scottsdale early in the week. Man, big sisters are as much of a pain in the ass at my age as they were at ten.
I will say this. We co-opted a building at the WIGWAM which, while FAR AWAY from the action is a really cool place. Lot’s of History and there was even a MOVIE STAR and her kids. Fatal error on my part, didn’t even know her.
It’s strange that the author criticizes the Republican Party for endorsing DeMaio and conveniently omits that the Republican Party endorsed Elizabeth Emken.
Running against Dianne Feinstein is an uphill battle for anyone! Even Michael Huffington and his mega-millions of dollars couldn’t topple Dianne Feinstein and her family wealth. Who thinks that someone could actually fundraise enough to be comptetitive against her under current federal contribution limits?
Senator Dianne Feinstein is the 9th wealthiest member of Congress!
http://www.rollcall.com/50richest/the-50-richest-members-of-congress-112th.html
“Look what we found, in the dark, in the park.
We’ll take it home. We’ll call it CLARK.
We’ll take it home. It’ll grow and grow.
Will our mother like it? … We don’t know!”
– Dr. Seuss, One Fish Two Fish