Posted on 03/19/2015 9:58:26 AM PDT by Pelham
Sixteen years ago a prominent Republican stopped me on the street to complain that his party was in denial. It was falling fast, he said, with little hope.
The California GOP was "like an alcoholic," the pol asserted. "We all want him to recover, but he's got to want to recover. And before that can happen he has to hit bottom. We all think he's hit bottom, but he doesn't."
The man was talking about the party's addiction to gay bashing and gun worshiping, to feeding off anti-abortion and illegal immigration causes. That resulted in big hangovers on mornings after statewide elections.
At the time, the Republicans' share of voter registration had fallen to 35.5%. Today, it's down to 28.1%.
Has the GOP hit rock bottom? Maybe not. But party leaders, at least, no longer are in denial. They're acting like they want to recover by changing their ways.
Not all Republican politicians — by any stretch — have changed their views on so-called social issues. But no longer are these polarizing topics the first things spewed from most of their mouths. The tone is much softer.
Their focus is on what always has scored for Democrats: bread-and-butter issues such as the economy, education and public works. That's seasoned with the Republicans' traditional call for government fiscal restraint...
"We're getting away from being the white man's party," says Allan Hoffenblum, a former GOP consultant who publishes the nonpartisan California Target Book, which handicaps legislative and congressional races.
"There's a conscious effort to change the brand. [What's] frustrating California Republicans is the national brand. It's why we can't elect a Republican U.S. senator. The voters may like our candidate, but they don't want to empower a bunch of Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz types."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
BARFMAO
Two Democrat parties. That’s the ticket.
Maybe the GOP in California can try to out-Democrat the Democrats! Call for universal property seizure, and a return the the power of the Proletariat! Down with the Urban Bourgeois! Long live Marxism!
California is lost
FUCAGOPe!!
I thought “Red” Skelton died years ago.
The Doper GOP. The Light-in-the Loafers GOP. The Democrat-Lite GOP. The Lost GOP.
Agree, but I’d describe it more along the lines of Leftist oral diarrhea.
Yep. It needs to be torn down and tossed out. It’s lost.
I stand corrected, thanks.
I take issue with the premise of this in the first place.
Addiction to gay bashing? So, believing that marriage is a man and a woman is gay bashing?? Really?? Sounds like something the Daily Kos crowd and MSNBC crowd would say.
Ditto with illegal alien issues. So we are accepting the premise that wanting our immigration laws enforced means that we hate immigrants and all immigration??? Again can’t accept the premise in the first place.
California has always been lost. Even Reagan was an anomaly.
The Marxist mom out there richly deserve the depth of the ocean they may break off and fall into, and globally warm.
Is that too mean? Maybe, too mean. But, you get my point.
OOPS.
Marxist “mom” -> Marxist MOB
And a lot of good, non-marxist mob people will go with them. Is that what you really want?
The “Big One” will rid us of these fools.
The comment spoke for itself. Study it for awhile and you should eventually get the picture.
Unfortunately that Daily Kos/MSNBC comparison fits the crowd that is running the state GOP in California.
Back around the time of the Gray Davis recall a wealthy group of socially liberal Republicans formed calling themselves New Majority California. They had a large role in choosing Schwarzenegger over Tom McClintock.
Anyway they are still around and probably have even more clout than at that time. In California conservatives haven’t got a party they can vote for with the slightest confidence.
http://www.newmajority.com/index.php
“NEW MAJORITY AND ITS HISTORY”
“As we move through our second decade, the New Majority stands at the forefront of political change in California and the nation. New Majority members contribute tens of millions of dollars to candidates and causes that create positive change needed to redefine the political landscape both at home in California and nationwide in Washington, DC.
“To support its mission, the New Majority Political Action Committee (PAC), now California’s largest Republican PAC, and the Federal Political Action Committee (FEDPAC), support candidates and promote awareness of important political matters. In addition to its leading role in political awareness, New Majority has taken a leading role in educating its members, our elected officials, the business community, and key decision-makers on critical issues.
“Although Chapters have their own identities and priorities, New Majority understands the importance of interaction between chapter members. In order to ensure the sharing of information, events, resources, speakers, and ideas, Chapters and our leadership work closely together.
“New Majority was founded in Orange County, in 1999 by Julia and George Argyros, Brigette and Donald Bren, Dee and Larry Higby, Gary Hunt, Barbara and Mark Chapin Johnson, Willa Dean and William Lyon, and Joyce and Tom Tucker. Since its creation, New Majority has expanded with Chapters created in Los Angeles and San Diego.”
I arrived in California, from a tour in Germany, in 1984. I thought it was lost then. I still think so.
Being a Republican is “gay bashing” and “racist” and “sexist” and all the other things, well, not so much just being a Republican as being not an organizational Democrat.
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