GOP down to its last (SF) Bay Area lawmaker

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

... There are ominous signs that Republicans in the Bay Area are flirting with political irrelevance as the region, one of the bluest in the nation, faces the possibility of having no GOP lawmakers in the state Legislature or Congress.

-- Of the 38 congressional, state Senate and Assembly seats that are either entirely or largely within the nine Bay Area counties, Republicans hold only the 15th Assembly District seat in Contra Costa and Alameda counties. And the GOP incumbent there, Guy Houston of San Ramon, is termed out this year.

... -- Since 2004, Republican registration has dropped in every Bay Area county, while the Democratic numbers have grown, at least slightly. Democrats now have nearly 51 percent of the region's registered voters, compared with 22 percent for Republicans. That's well above the Democrats' 43-to-33 percent advantage statewide.

... The outskirts of the Bay Area, once dotted with farms and rural communities packed with plenty of Republicans, are now suburbs and subdivisions filled with families moving from the more Democratic urban parts of the region.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/20/MN2T107E8A.DTL&tsp=1

[Clear Blue Sky]

1. Good or bad?

One party without any competition becomes complacent.

Two party system (at least in theory) keeps both accountable and requires each party to define itself.

[Kaleko]

3. Don't forget that the US has only one party with two right wings.

One wing is extremely right and supports fascism, the other is more moderate.

In every other western nation, the Bay area's move to eliminate Republicans would be seen as a move toward the center.

[hooraydems06]

5. There should be a two-party system in the area...

... but it ought to be the Dems and the Greens, not the Dems and the fascist Repubs.

[New Dawn]

8. Exactly!

[CreekDog]

11. no, not exactly

I don't like the Green candidates around here, though I'm very liberal. Matt Gonzales is running as Nader's VP this time around and he's simply peddling Republican talking points against Democrats.

That's not what I call progressive.

Gonzales also ran against our current (undistinguished) Mayor Newsom, but Gonzales ran with a bunch of crap, he said Newsom grew up rich, uh no, Gonzales had more money than Gavin who was raised by a single mom. Gonzales had a hit piece mailer saying that Newsom contributed to Republicans, also bullshit.

When I saw that crap, I wanted Gonzales and his Green Party to lose big, that was just plain dirty, but worse, it was innacurate.

[CreekDog]

10. competition is in the primary

i'll take our congressional delegation any day of the week...

George Miller
Lynn Woolsey
Jackie Speier
Nancy Pelosi (instrumental in even getting back the majority)
Barbara Boxer is from Marin
Barbara Lee

noting members whom I think are the best of those we send and does anyone think Pete Stark is complacent?

[MrModerate]

2. I guess it's a matter of where you stand . . .

I lived in the SF Bay Area for years (between 1976-80, 82-92, and 1998-2004), and it always struck me as centrist, moderate, even apolitical. It was only when I stepped out of the Bay Area that I learned it was a cesspit of evil, entirely populated by deviants and anarchists. Shoot, I thought gay pride, recreational drug use, tolerance, multiculturalism, separation of church and state, and questioning authority were mainstream values.

I guess I still do.

[Kaleko]

4. Hey, I posted before I saw your answer. Sounds like we're long-lost twins...

Hi MrModerate! :toast:

[MrModerate]

6. I noted your comment about western governments . . .

And I largely concur. I've lived all over the place -- and moved a lot recently -- and there's really nothing to compare with the American right wing (at least in functional nations).

I'm currently in Australia, where they recently ousted their "Bush with a brain" Prime Minister John Howard (of the "Liberal" party, ironically enough), who even on his worst day could only barely be considered right of center. Now they're enjoying a honeymoon with PM Kevin Rudd, a traditional left-moderate, who'd fit very well in San Francisco.

[Kaleko]

7. G'day, mate, you're 14 hours ahead of me.

Been all over too, mostly in touch with people from Sweden, England, Holland, Germany.

You know, the Bay area would be like Holland if it were only allowed to grow up and do it liberally.
San Francisco could lead the way for the rest of the US as the Republicans lose what's left of their credibility.

Just dreamin', hmm.

[CreekDog]

12. The Bay Area is leading a trend among US urban areas

Bay Area started going Democratic in a huge way back in the 80's with Republican suburbs (usually quite moderate by national Republican standards) and then Republicans started losing in the Bay Area. Other urban areas around the country began to trend the same way about a decade later. In 1994, most of the Bay Area congresspeople had sleeper-quiet reelections (Democrats).

In 1994, in my state assembly district, Jackie Speier was nominated by both the Democratic and Republican party --and she is a liberal to the core. She won that race with 93% of the vote (in 1994).

Now we only have Guy Houston (easily the worst rep in the Bay Area).

To be fair to the Bay Area, Houston's district is only half in the Bay Area, the other half is in the Central Valley.

So it's more accurate to say that of the districts contained in the Bay Area, there are no elected Republicans to the leglislature or congress, period.

[MrModerate]

13. The urban-rural divide is why reports on . . .

How many states X has won are totally specious. (In the primaries, anyway. In the general, it's a bit more meaningful . . . but only a bit.)

[Gormy Cuss]

14. Guy Guy is a carpetbagging POS.

He was mayor of Dublin and moved to San Ramon to run for his assembly seat. With any luck we can replace him with a Dem and hand Houston a defeat on his state senate try, but his district does include the Valley of Evil (tm Bullwinkle925) and there are more than a few red voters in it.

[samsingh]

9. hardly ominous - 'glorious' for the rest of us