GOP brand pronounced dead in deep-blue California

[AsahinaKimi]

The Republican Party, as a brand, is dead in California.

That's the eye-opening consensus of a crowd of political observers, lawmakers and strategists - Democrats and Republicans - gathered at a UC Berkeley symposium this weekend to mull over California's defiantly blue status in the wake of a conservative tide that swept the nation in November.

Many of the 200 attendees at the two-day Institute of Governmental Studies conference appeared surprisingly unified on one issue: that, barring dramatic upheaval, the GOP's prospects may be doomed in the voter-rich Golden State.


"Republicans, as a brand, are dead," Duf Sundheim, the former state GOP chair, told the gathering Saturday.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/22/BAB31HD2T1.DTL&tsp=1

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Does this mean we Californians can start singing "Ding dong the Witch is dead.." ?

[tabatha]

1. I hope so. Glad there is a bit of sanity in one corner of the country.

However there are too many state republican officials.

[shanti]

21. we'll never get rid of them entirely

there's a wide swath of california that will always vote red. however, they are totally outnumbered by dems, thank god.

[Le Taz Hot]

33. There are Dems in those

"swaths of California that always vote red" and you can't win without us.

[shanti]

46. thank god for that! n/t

[Gman]

2. It comes back to life

no matter how many times you kill it.

[SharonAnn]

55. Darryl Issa's still there. Just sayin'

[neverforget]

3. I wouldn't celebrate yet. The Repugs were supposedly dead after the 2008

election. We know how that worked out for us.

[Safetykitten]

12. We never learn. Your words are wasted.

[Le Taz Hot]

34. The Republicans were dead

after 1973 when Nixon (from California) resigned the presidency. We all know what happened in 1980 -- a mere 7 years later.

[Hydra]

57. They were dead

All that was needed was a few shovels of dirt. Someone offered them a hand up, a place at the table, and the thing they lacked at the time- relevance.

Nobody made him do this. It was tactically unsound, morally repugnant, and he had nothing to gain by doing it, but he did it all the same.

It took one of our own to breathe life into the GOP again.

[neverforget]

58. Yup.

[Raksha]

4. For one very obvious reason, you don't need to look further than our secretary of state.

Deborah Bowen is an honest progressive who doesn't kiss Diebold ass, or ES&S, or whatever they're calling themselves these days. So vote-counting shenanigans are at an absolute minimum. This was not always the case in California.

[tabatha]

6. Agree 100%

[snot]

8. +1

[shanti]

22. so happy

to have helped elect her into office! she was sorely needed!

[Le Taz Hot]

35. Yes, this person from

"the red part of the state" voted for her as well. As did thousands of my colleagues.

[pink-o]

53. Listen I love Bowen, but let's be fair. Kevin Shelley is the one who started Diebold investigations

He was the first one aggressively asking for paper copies and had asked AG Lockyear to start legal proceedings again Diebold.

Here's his wiki entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Shelley

Okay, in the interest of full disclosure, I was once childhood friends with his sister Kate, and I ran into Kevin about 6 years ago right after he had to resign. I don't know how he behaved towards his staff, but he was always decent to me. Whatever shady dealings he might have had, I'd like to see him get credit for what he did right.

[Raksha]

56. Yes, he was, and I'm all for giving credit where credit is due.

I thought Kevin Shelley was treated very unfairly. The circumstances of his removal from office have all the earmarks of a witch hunt. From your Wikipedia link:

Re "Shelley announced his resignation on February 4, 2005, to be effective March 1<6> although he did not leave office until March 4.<7> Chief Deputy Secretary of State Cathy Mitchell briefly served as Secretary of State until Bruce McPherson, a Republican, was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.<8> Upon taking office, McPherson reversed Shelley's actions, and on March 10. 2006, McPherson certified the DRE voting machines without verifiable, auditable paper trails."

[bluestateguy]

5. They got their butts kicked in CA in a great national year for Republicans

California is the counterweight to Texas. A one party state.

I suspect Orange County may go blue in either 2012 or 2016 too.

[Tx4obama]

23. Hey, don't be so quick to write Texas off

In the 2008 election Obama won ALL but one of our largest cities/counties: Dallas, Austin/Travis, Houston/Harris, El Pasa, San Antonio, etc. (the only large city McCain won was Ft. Worth).
Also, here in Houston we now have an openly gay female mayor. Texas is a lot more progressive than most people give us credit for.
Texas is now more a light shade of purple than it is dark red and could possibly even turn back to being blue.

[bluestateguy]

42. Well I guess

If you take away all of those conservative ranching counties in west Texas, and those Southern Baptist counties in east Texas, and the suburban rings around Dallas and Houston, then yes, I guess Texas is progressive.

[bluestate10]

44. Hispanics in Texas are the wild cards. If they go blue in large numbers

Texas once again becomes blue and may stay that way. The minority status of Representatives and Senators in Texas probably mean that the party is developing many capable and sincere leaders. One of the problems seen in one party states is that poor leaders often get attracted to the dominant political party because they know that their registration gives them an edge at winning office.

[DCKit]

7. Are they still able to hold legislation in CA hostage?

Y'all really need to work on that.

[Le Taz Hot]

36. Is your mayor still high on crack?

Y'all really need to work on that.

[DCKit]

38. I was asking an informed question about the ability of the minority to hold hostage...

anything moving through California's state Houses.

Do you really think your comment is appropriate?

[bluestate10]

47. No. The comment was not appropriate and should have been deleted. nt.

[DCKit]

52. I prefer that comments like those stand.

Deletion is provides cover for bad posters.

[Le Taz Hot]

63. Too late, they already know.

:rofl: "Deletion IS provides cover for bad posters." Literacy is your friend.

[Le Taz Hot]

62. OK, apparently I have to spell out the POINT of my post

to you and your li'l posse. Clean up your own damned back yard before you start cleaning up someone else's. Got it?

[DCKit]

64. Your point IS clear. However, like many on the Internets, I expect you're a lot nicer in person. nt

[bluestate10]

45. That was a ridiculous reply.

The person asked a legitimate question about the makeup of the legislature in California. It does make a difference if republicans can't block sane legislation. BTW, you really need to read up on current events, Marion Barry has not been mayor in DC for something like a decade.

[Ozymanithrax]

9. That statement is absurd...

The rural districts are still deep red. Democrats have the majority for the moment, and maybe an election cycle or two, because Republicans screwed the state so badly. But Republicans will come back, just as they took back the U.S. Congress. Democrats will screw up, or the economy will not improve fast enough, and Californians will swing back.

[Cant trust em]

11. Zombies. nt

[Ozymanithrax]

19. Wouldn't call them Zombies, but like the national Repulbican Party..

they will scrub their brand and come up with a simplistic message that sticks, and the independents will join Republicans and bring them back to power. I live in California.

[Cant trust em]

20. as do I.

Political movements never really die. They just repackage themselves.

[CreekDog]

32. California will not swing back as long as Republicans are anti people of color

in addition to whites disaffected from the Republican party, are even stronger majorities among people who aren't white.

add to that, many rural areas are not deep red, as coastal areas and recently Imperial County and some areas in the Sierra Nevada have trended blue --this not over one year, but several.

your observations about California are 1998, not 2011.

[dimbear]

37. Proud resident of quite blue and quite rural Lake County here.

It's the inland swath that's so red, together with some of the southland. Lake County has roughly the same population as the last town I lived in, Sunnyvale.

[DCKit]

39. Vampires and Demons? Call the Buffy Hotline! nt

[bluestate10]

48. I agree. Democrats in California must have their act together.

Craft good, sound public policy, execute it to a "T" and avoid distracting infighting. If democrats lead well, republicanism in California, even in red districts could well be dead.

[rucky]

10. Aahnold finally did something right!

[slay]

13. Congrats California

that whole Arnold as gov thing was freakin weird anyways. :)

[pinto]

16. It sure was. The whole recall fiasco was a big side track for us. I think

things are settling out, politically, although financially we are bankrupt. Brown and company have a tough job ahead.

[slay]

29. that 2/3 vote to pass tax increases is killing yall

or whatever that deal is.. need to change that to 50% and vote for a huge tax increase on the rich - hell they'll STILL be rich.

[steve2470]

14. Premature celebration, I think nt

[pinto]

15. They got beat across the board in state-wide elections. One high point for 2010...

:kick:

[trackfan]

17. Unfortunately, this is bullshit.

No party is ever dead in any state or jurisdiction. They always make a comeback in some form or another.

[pinboy3niner]

18. +100

The pendulum swings--that's the nature of our politics. And it swings both ways.

[Cleita]

24. I think witches in plural and hopefully they are

on their way out.

[yurbud]

25. someone needs to get the message to the governor and state legislature

the GOP minority still has the power to veto taxes since passing tax increases requires a 2/3 majority.

[Kablooie]

26. If only the Democratic Calif could start to actually fix some of the problems...

we might start garnering some fans in other areas of the country.

If the disaster simply continues to grow it will demonstrate that
it really doesn't matter if you're red or blue. We're all screwed either way.

[bluestate10]

49. I wholeheartedly agree. One of Obama's mistakes early on is

that he got caught up in being a celebrity and lost focus on the minutia of daily policy making and communicating to the public what is happening and why it benefits them.

[Xithras]

27. Important distinction: REPUBLICANS are dead. CONSERVATIVES are not.

The article doesn't really address the big problem, which is that the old primary system encouraged a "run to the right" system within the Republican party, which was stupid as most of the Republicans in California have traditionally been the more "social libertarian/business conservative" types. Living in the "red" part of California, I can tell you from first hand discussions with countless Republicans that the state parties current "no taxes, no gay rights, no compromise" position has turned off FAR more voters than it's attracted. They're shooting themselves in the foot.

In California, the fastest growing political party is the "Decline To State", a group that now includes roughly 22-25% of the states voters(!!) Under state law, DTS voters may vote in the primaries for either political party.

What we've increasingly seen, in recent years, is a rise in the number of socially libertarian/business conservative DEMOCRATS. People like Gavin Newsom in SF, or any of the Blue Dogs we regularly send to Congress (guys like Dennis Cardoza). 30 years ago, these guys would have run as Republicans and had a reasonable chance at winning. Because the Republican "brand" is dead, many of these people are now running under the "Democratic Moderate" banner and are winning seats on a halfway regular basis. While it's good for the party in many ways (helps to gain control of the House and state legislature), it does create a real question as to what values California Democrats will be promoting in coming decades. A Democratic majority that contains a sizeable minority of conservative turncoats might not be all that different from the two party system we had in the past.

Of course, all this may go out the window when the new primary system kicks in. Nobody really knows how it will impact elections.

[bluestate10]

50. Whether Liberals like it or not. The country is not ready for liberal politics.

I am a moderate. But I also see the benefit of many liberal policies. I prefer an incrementalist approach where policy can be gradually changed in a way that does not scare voters. Once the policy initiatives prove themselves, voters will be ready for the next step. To try to make enormous changes at once is to make failure certain. I could not be happier if fifty years from now the USA is a democracy where health care is considered a right and delivered to everyone and there are no homeless people, and no conservatives or moderates, but I live today, moderates are critical to progress.

BTW. California's experience with voters that register no party is the same as what happened in several northeast states. If those people get good government from democrats, the vote reliably democrat. They are nothing to fear if governing is sound.

[delightfulstar]

28. I hope it crosses the border into AZ someday...

We have Gabby and Raul in our corner, and there's a bit of a rising tide against the likes of Sheriff Joe-The-Deporter, and Jan "Deer In The Headlights" Brewer (and I have no idea how the hell she actually won re-election, BTW).

Good on CA for realizing that the Repukes have done them little (if any) good, and for not selling out to the Teabaggers.

[pinboy3niner]

41. A lot of us are pulling for you folks in AZ, too

I've been following all the AZ news, especially the civil rights issues. It's wrong for anyone to demonize the state, because we have a lot of liberals there, including fellow DUers. You guys are fighting the good fight there, and we support you.

At least you've still got good people like Grijalva and Dupnik. We're with you all the way in your struggle to turn AZ progressive. Hang in there, and don't give up. We NEED you good people there to keep fighting. :thumbsup:

[Raine]

30. I hope they are good and DEAD here but

I'm not taking that for granted. Their death has been reported before in other times and places and like vampires they have risen from the dead. x(

[NBachers]

31. I love reading that headline, but I'm sick of Duf Sundheim

Can't he just go away now? And take Darrell Issa with him?

[Zephie]

40. if I could just bring my quaker parrot, I'd move to California tomorrow

Can't live without my baby though =(

[bluestate10]

51. California is a lovely state. I wish Brown well as he tries to turn things around there. nt.

[bluestate10]

43. Democrats in California.

Must focus on good, sound government and with moving the state ahead to energy independence and sane transportation systems. If democrats in California accomplish great things, they will serve as models for nearby states like Arizona and New Mexico and turn those states a deep shade of blue.

I like where Massachusetts and Vermont are headed, two other states with forward looking Governors leading the way.

[old mark]

54. I really hope this is one of those trends that spreads from CA across the country,

and I hope it happens very very soon.
We don't need no stinking GOPers.


mark

[calimary]

59. NO. It does NOT mean we can start singing "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead."

That was our mistake last time, nationally. When we FIRST had the CONS on the ropes, long ago, after Goldwater got his ass handed to him and the republi-CONS were pronounced nearly DOA, many of our best and brightest relaxed, let down their guard, went to work on their issues - which were important, make no mistake, but NOBODY was watching our flanks. NOBODY was keeping track of whether the enemy was starting to regroup and revitalize, and what they were up to - so as to KEEP them down and nearly DOA, so they wouldn't be able to stage a comeback and undo or subvert or destroy everything we'd worked to build. We figured - GREAT! We Won! End of Story! And Dear God were we wrong. Look what they were able to build while our backs were turned and most of our operatives were either distracted or lulled to sleep. Foundations, broadcast/cable/print/publishing empires, think tanks, grooming machinery for tons of glib, camera-friendly pundits and other water-carriers, more and more friends in high places, and more than half the Supreme Court living in their back pockets, with more potential nominees groomed and schooled and coming up into the mainstream from all over the hinterlands, the works! Hell, they've even built their own universities and even frickin' LAW SCHOOLS where GOP-bots learn the CON way to do things in every respect imaginable. And what has OUR side built in the last 50-some years, since the mid-'60's, before liberals were turned into a dirty word?

Same thing in '76 after the whole Nixon/Watergate and Ford/pardon debacle - when we got Carter in and then could have played it a little smarter and more ruthlessly and we let it all slip through our fingers. Same thing in '08. Once we'd knocked 'em down, we should have gone in and finished 'em off, instead of offering them a hand of friendship and reconciliation. Those of us who assumed the enemy would be graceful in its defeat, and grab our hand with appreciation and conciliation (rather than spitting in it), were chumps.

You do not EVER let these guys rest. You do not EVER let your guard down. The minute you do, they're in there destroying from within, eating away your foundation from without, and subverting everything in between as they seek to regain power and pulverize you. Which they've done, pretty thoroughly, everywhere BUT here.

There are too many red-state-mentality people in Central California and elsewhere beyond the San Francisco and Greater Los Angeles areas. It could easily tip.

As Mad Eye Moody would always counsel Harry Potter - "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!!!" NEVER, BUT NEVER let down your guard and assume the enemy won't rise again. NEVER assume you've won and it's all over and problem solved. They are ALWAYS there and ALWAYS a menace and ALWAYS a threat.

I'm NEVER gonna get complacent about California being a Blue State. NONE of us can afford to. California won't stay a Blue State by itself. We have go keep it guarded and WELL-protected, because it's too big a prize for the bad guys to give up on it. ONE round of voting in California and you're a quarter of the way to a nomination at the convention, and your delegation is the largest and most important from the convention floor to the House of Reps. The minute you do let down your guard and assume all is won and won for good, that's the minute you start losing the advantage, and inevitably, your advantage.

I'm gonna be vigilant til I breathe my last. The bad guys are gonna have to pry California out of my cold dead hands.

[CanonRay]

60. I've heard this crap before

Evil never dies. It just festers.

[Initech]

61. It's certainly not in my freeper-ass community.

Seriously Orange County is home to some of the craziest right-wing fundies in the country. You'd think this was Alabama or something.

. One building by my work has giant bible verses on the sides and a huge banner that reads "We don't have a problem with the color of Obama's skin. We have a problem with his Marxist, socialist policies." That's the whole "I'm not racist, but...." argument. No fuck you, you're racist.