CA: Republicans see glimmers of hope for 2010

SACRAMENTO -- With President Obama's numbers slipping amid the rancorous debate over health care policy, state Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring couldn't be more pleased as his party takes its first steps into the 2010 campaign.

"It's going to be a good election cycle," said Nehring, who is presiding over the state GOP convention in Indian Wells this weekend. "We'll have the wind at our back."

Nehring's enthusiasm rests in three "leading indicators" that suggest that Republicans may be emerging from their electoral slump: the president's approval ratings, generic ballot strength and party self-identification, which he says have all "moved decidedly in our favor."

When asked which party they would vote for in Congressional races in their districts, voters have preferred the generic Republican since April, according to Rasmussen tracking polls. Democrats had led Republicans every day in 2007 and 2008 leading up to Obama's victory last November.

Democrats think the negative trends have to do with anger and frustration over economic conditions and naturally take some of that out on the party in power. But polls also show that a strong majority still blame former President George W. Bush for the nation's economic problems, and a much larger share of the public have more faith in Obama than Republicans to fix health care and the economy.

"People are a little disenchanted with the stalemate in Washington," said John Burton, chairman of the state Democratic Party. "But I don't think people are flocking to the Republican party because of it. Republicans allowed a lot of stuff to happen. They left a mess and Democrats are trying to clean it up."

When asked which party they would vote for in Congressional races in their districts, voters have preferred the generic Republican since April,

Partisanship. The abandonment of principles. Winning what?

All three the hallmark of a failed system and particularly the California Republican Party.

The answer is simple. If the California Republican Party continues to refuse to nominate republican (small r) candidates, vote for someone who is. Vote for yourself if necessary, but not for a partisan candidate who does not share your principles.

When John Burton states, “Republicans allowed a lot of stuff to happen.”, he’s exactly right. That’s what the criticism should be. Instead he and the Dem party are trying to make it look like the Republicans pushed through policies that brought this on. They didn’t.

Barney Frank and company did this to the nation. It was leftist policies that brought this upon us. It was not Capitalism. It was the defeat of Capitalist norms that brought this on us.

Providing loans to people who cannot pay them back, is not a Capitalist policy. Watching as banks grouped bad loan paper and move it along to other financial institutions, was not sound Capitalist policy.

Capitalism was shafted every bit as much as the U.S. Citizen on this deal. And now the left is emboldened to claim Capitalism is the problem. And some people actually buy off on it.

Well, when Capitalism is subject to the rantings and manipulations of devout Socialists like Barney Frank and company, I will admit it doesn’t sail along smoothly. What system would?

Frank’s personal life is a fricken mess. His public political life is a fricken mess. He’s a fricken ass and has contributed to his meltdown as much as any person.

Capitalism, is still the best system going. We need to back off the march further into socialism, and give it a chance to work here. It’s a plant that needs light, and Frank has been keeping it in a dark closet.

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