Posted on 11/04/2010 11:25:19 AM PDT by SmithL
alifornia Republicans woke up Wednesday with a political hangover. Nationally, they celebrated the GOP's taking control of Congress, but their dismal showing in California gave them a lingering headache.
Many of them wondered how they missed the national wave - and differed on which direction to go next.
They lost nearly every statewide office, drubbed by double digits in most of the races. Meg Whitman couldn't win the governorship despite straddling the political middle and spending a record $160 million. Carly Fiorina couldn't roust Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, despite tacking right and exploiting Boxer's low approval ratings.
For months, party officials boasted that their ticket was its most diverse ever. It included a pro-choice former corporate executive (Whitman); an anti-abortion ex-CEO (Fiorina); a pair of very conservative legislators (Tony Strickland and Mimi Walters); a not-so-conservative Latino who had been appointed to the job he sought (Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado); and a charismatic African American former NFL player turned businessman (Damon Dunn).
All of them lost....
Part of the reason, as Fiorina said in her concession speech Wednesday in Irvine, is that "we could not overcome the (2.3 million) registration advantage the Democrats have, particularly in Los Angeles."
Whitman started making in-roads among Latino voters by spending $12 million in Spanish-language advertising and outreach. But any goodwill evaporated in October after Whitman struggled to handle revelations that she had employed - and fired - an undocumented immigrant as her housekeeper for nine years.
"It's a white party" in an increasingly diverse state, said Robert Huckfeldt,... "What you saw in this election was a lot of partisan voters coming home to their party."
Every Republican paid for the Legislature's agreement to raise taxes as part of the 2009 state budget deal. "It damaged the brand,"
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
We’ll take what we can get. Did any of the Republicans win dog catcher?
DITTO, with all of the other “very blue states” throughout the U.S.! What are the definitive answers to all of these “forever blue states” that contain majorities of foolish and ignorant voters, who will, never, ever, vote for commonsense solutions on all issues? I’m profoundly fed up with Massachusetts, which continues to be “all leftist, all of the time”, for more than sixty years and with no actual end in sight! I’m stuck in Massachusetts! Moving out of these leftist hellholes is the definitive answer to this ongoing and worsening problem, if you can afford to do so.
The DREAM act is the mark of a conservative?
Government handouts for green energy is the mark of a conservative?
Repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell is the mark of a conservative?
Joining Obama to hand out yet more billions in unemployment is the mark of a conservative?
She claimed to be "pro-life" but said she wouldn't consider it a litmus test for judges. She said that she was for "states rights" and that California had already decided that abortion was AOK. She said that she was for Offshore drilling -- but that Californians had already decided they didn't want it so she would represent their desires. She enthusiastically backed McCain's cap-and-trade program in 2008, then tried to backtrack and say that we shouldn't do anything unless we could get other countries to go along. (HELLO! The global warming hoax should be DENOUNCED! But she couldn't because it supports her global vision for the USA, and the pocketbooks of her most ardent supporters.)
Please -- Carly ran as a Big Business "moderate" Rockefeller Republican. Nothing more.
Neither the Unions nor illegal voting caused her demise. Her own uninspiring persona and platform lost her the election.
The Nat'l GOP should no longer spend any money on statewide races in California (Presidential, Senate or other statewide offices). This state is lost and like you said, just a money pit to toss away 10's of millions of dollars every election cycle in wasted ads and GOTV efforts. The state is beyond hope. The only Nat'l money sent there should be for individual republican house districts.
The money that the Nat'l GOP wastes in California on Ads and GOTV efforts would be much better spent in battleground states, like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, etc. where it could make a more decisive difference.
The only reason any GOP Presidential nominee should even visit California is for fund raising purposes. They should not spend one dime in that state for ads or GOTV efforts for their campaigns. Like I earlier said, that money would be better spent in states where you have a shot of winning. George W. Bush probably spent $100 million in California alone in both 2000 and 2004 on ads and GOTV efforts there and the best he did was a 10 point loss to Hanoi John Kerry in 2004, 54% to 44%.
Based on their campaigns and their platforms, I would compare Meg to Arnold and Carly to McCain.
Do you consider Arnold and McCain good Republicans?
Exactly right.
Its time to take the trash out!!!!!!
BUMP!
Well not that I don't think your unneeded mockery of what was more an ill-phrased sentiment than the ludicrousness that your reply suggests was way high on funny, damn you got me laughing so hard with your cuteness I can barely breath.
I know that Rove holds no public office but again, your mockery made me look foolish so you win. For a moment, I'll engage in more thoughts on the issue cause I'm quite serious.
With my question being, HOW THE HELL DO WE GET RID OF THE GUY?
I've been pondering this matter and I considered, maybe flip off Fox when he's on? Maybe make a very dedicated boycott of goods advertised on Fox shows on which he appears? Maybe embark on a massive letter writing campaign to Fox to fire him?
So my short comment that we somehow get rid of the guy really was preceded with much thought because I KNOW he is not elected.
Rove likes to make people look stupid too, maybe you like the guy, I dunno.
I don't think it's a joke, however. Rove has a lot of influence with the Blue Blood Ruling Class GOP, which was illustrated by a comment upthread about some political machination he choreographed in California of which I was not aware.
Our next battle is going to be with those same Blue Bloods and Rove is one of their leaders.
Since you don't live here, your narrative is not complete. The fact is Bill Simon was a stifferoo. He couldn't campaign his way out of a paper bag.
Exactly. Protect the conservative districts and those that are within grasp and crapcan the rest. The RNC could have pushed Buck and Miller across the finish line with 1/10 of the money they wasted in Cali. Best and brightest sophisticates once again stepped on Johnson.
I guess I was using shorthand - she was endorsed by California Pro-life, the NRA, the taxpayers’ groups, etc.
I think John & Ken’s show should be boycotted by every conservative in the socal area. They do more damage to our cause through their sarcastic mindless rable-rousing claptrap than any demoncrat ad! If they want to promote honest, low tax candidates during the primaries, fine. But if their choice losses they spend the rest of the season tearing down the republican who wins, effectively supporting the democrats. They are underinformed loudmouths who are way too influential here!
Not being from CA, I don’t know if TM could have kept the Rat legislature in line. But what I do know about TM (I’ve read/watched a lot about him) he would not have folded and been a “go along to get along” type.
However, that point is moot, because he didn’t win and the reality is CA is in big, big trouble.
TM is an intelligent and articulate man. He should be front and center on the national stage, especially now that the House will be in saner hands.
Please reread the article. The bonds were not used to fund the budget. And the actual funding is nowhere near the magnitude you imply. 30% of the bonds that were issued included some subsidies -- specifically that a portion of the interest would be picked up by the feds. Now, widdle that down to the actual numbers that are flowing to California and you'll have a tiny percent of the annual California revenues and a tiny percent of the total debt/bonds outstanding.
It is misrepresentations like yours that have everyone crying about a California "bailout."
You’re 1,000% correct!!!
It’s nothing but a waste of money - like MA, CT and NY. Those dollar$ can be put to actual good use in races like you mentioned.
No pondering... we are taking bets on when you self destruct... and we will laugh in your faces when it happens.
LLS
Excellent news, huh? I guess that means that our last "let's make California a Purple State" GOP Chairman (from Chicago) and the hapless candidates they pushed like Dick Riordan (from New York) are also leaving?
Hey - a gal can hope, can't she?
The passage below was written about the fall of the Athenian republic, but today it applies to California:
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back again to bondage.”
LLS
LLS
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