Republican Corner: The Grand Old (Un-electable?) Party of California?

By Steve Thompson, Chairman of the Butte County Republican Party

In the last twenty years or so, American politics have seemed to become more divisive. There are a lot of theories out there on why this is, which range from the cultural (Bowling Alone) technological (internet) and ultra-political (right-left takeovers). My own theory incorporates some of all of these, but I believe that politics pre-Reagan was less combative because Republicans before Reagan had very few principles that differentiated them from the democrats. They also were unable to get elected outside of country club circles. It wasn’t until Republicans started to actually stand for real American values and won Congress that democrats went totally ballistic and threw fits like the demon-possessed getting holy water thrown on them. That’s my humble observation at least.

Whatever the case of national political turmoil, it’s funny to watch pundits after each election declaring the end to any given political movement or party. After the election of Barrack Hussein Obama in 2008, there were a lot of statements made about the death of conservatism, for example. After 1994 I’m sure a lot of Republicans also thought the democrats wouldn’t be coming back either. Right now a lot California political pundits are asking if Republicans can ever get elected in this state again. While California is certainly a difficult state for Republicans, I would wager the fight’s not over here. Why do I say that? Because I have patience friends.

All I have to do is wait for the democrats, who now completely run this shipwreck-bound state, to be themselves.

California is already in deep deficits. Put bluntly, we spend more than we make in tax revenue. We also have over 12% unemployment, with no real hope of it getting better. The majority of job growth in the U.S. right now is in states like Texas, and our policies are the exact opposite of theirs. High unemployment means more people who need money from the system. Our state is borrowing money from the feds just to pay people on unemployment. This doesn’t account for our welfare spending either, where people have moved to California for our higher than average welfare payments and we now carry a third of the national welfare caseload.

So while Jerry Brown actually campaigned on being a miser with our money, he was voted in by those who are expecting him to pay their bills (not unlike Obama). While Republicans have lost the albatross of Arnold Schwarzenegger hanging around our necks, the dems have made one of our state’s worst past governors the new face of their party. It’s telling that, in his election night acceptance speech, Jerry Brown actually used the pathetic phrase “good enough for government work.” Way to set your standards high, Governor.

I would love to be hopeful that California is going to recover soon, but I can’t see how that is possible. Democrats pay lip service to jobs but their policies are destroying jobs in the private sector. Without a private sector, you cannot support government jobs for very long. Jerry Brown’s father actually did build dams and create infrastructure, but today’s democrat party only wants to tear dams down. The worst is far from over as democrat legislation such as AB32, which we were unable to suspend this year, will come back and destroy a million more jobs in this state.

Seriously, does anyone who disagrees with me have any real hope or reason that our state can improve with the left at the helm? Can they really make an argument that killing the private sector will be good for our economy over the long haul? Democrats may have won, but I doubt the smart ones in their ranks are celebrating.

Over the next two years democrats will create a perfect storm, Obama style, that will give Republicans another shot at taking back California. Like the national battle that saw us take back Congress, it will not be easy. We must give California voters something to vote for and not just be the lesser of two evils. We must continue to remind voters that we are the party of jobs, while democrats are the party of higher taxes and economic misery. Democrats will help us by proving to voters they are the party of epic failure. Will we stand strong and convey our message that we are the party of success? Time will tell, but for California’s sake, I hope so.