From today’s Wall Street Journal opinion page…
The Two Left Coasts: Why the GOP wave didn’t wash over New York and California.
Tuesday’s GOP landslide didn’t spare many Democrats, but it did stop at the state lines of California and New York. These coastal exceptions deserve some explanation, because they illustrate the difficulties Republicans will face if they fail to reform entitlements, taxes and public spending.
In California, Senator Barbara Boxer cruised handily to a fourth term, defeating Carly Fiorina by nine percentage points and change. Democrats also notched a victory with Jerry Brown’s restoration to the Governor’s mansion; he won 54% to 41% despite being outspent 4 to 1. Democrats widened their margins in the state assembly and picked off the Republican incumbent for lieutenant governor and took insurance commissioner.
It looks as if Republicans turned over merely one of California’s 53 House districts, though they may still also unseat Democrat Jerry McNerney, who is only leading by about 100 votes in San Joaquin County. Meanwhile, voters overwhelmingly rejected Proposition 23, which would freeze the state’s climate regulations when joblessness is high, and they even passed another ballot measure that erodes the supermajority requirement for tax increases.
Back in New York, the party saw more success, stealing five House seats from the Democrats, one on Staten Island and the rest upstate. In the district that connects Syracuse to the Rochester suburbs, Republican Ann Marie Buerkle also edged into a 659-vote lead yesterday. But the GOP botched the 23rd district, again, which had been safe since 1992 until last year’s intraparty feud helped elect a Democrat.
In the state Comptroller’s race, Thomas DiNapoli eked out a win over Harry Wilson, a talented Republican who ran on rationalizing public pensions. For Attorney General, voters broke for Albany denizen Eric Schneiderman over Dan Donovan, another promising Republican. And of course Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo trounced the catastrophe known as Carl Paladino, who harmed down-ticket races statewide.
At some level, this Democratic immunity can be blamed on unforced errors like the dysfunctional Empire State GOP establishment, or on the fact that California’s Democratic voters outnumbered Republicans by 13 points over the national average, according to exit polls. But the larger warning concerns the power that lies at the iron triangle of public employee unions, high taxes and social budgets that are larger than the economies in other states.
The fiscs in both Albany and Sacramento are perched atop a shrinking base of taxpayers, many so wealthy that they don’t care what tax rates are. The highest-earning 1% funds nearly half of the New York budget. The liberal political class then feeds these dollars to its union constituents—not least in the form of gold-plated benefits and pensions—who in turn spend mightily to protect their patrons, even as the state budgets lurch ever closer to Grecian territory.
One of the most powerful forces in Golden State politics is the militant California Nurses Association, which might as well be a government workers union given the size of MediCal, the state Medicaid program. The nurses call Ms. Fiorina "Princess Carly." In New York, there’s the Working Families Party, which is an adjunct of the public-sector labor movement and spent heavily to elect the Cuomo-DiNapoli-Schneiderman triumvirate.
As this agenda squeezes the middle class and drives jobs out of state, it leaves politics to a coalition of well-off knowledge professionals, public employees and lower-income workers who depend on the state for transfer payments. The well-paid elites in finance, fashion, media, tech or Hollywood tend to view environmental issues like cap and tax as enlightened social statements unrelated to economic growth.
We should add that much of the funding to defeat Proposition 23 came from a Silicon Valley that is deeply invested in green technology and its iron lung of government subsidies. After Dodd-Frank, Wall Street is also now more than ever tethered to Washington.
It’s telling that the coastal-state regions where Republicans did best on Election Day—upstate and exurban New York, California’s central valley—are demographically and economically closer to Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin than to Santa Barbara, Marin County or the tonier precincts of Greater New York City.
In other words, the results in California and New York are an instructive lesson in what happens when government doesn’t serve a state but holds it hostage.
November 5th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Moan and whine….the trouble is the itsy bitsy number in the “party elite” in California and New York.
You eat real good, have discretionary income, dress sharp, mingle among like minded in gated communities and are blind side fools concerning the perils of small business ownership, farmers, seniors, the working poor, and of course, the infirmed and helpless as well as the welfare industrial complex…private and public!
Never a course change…always trotting out a loser rich guy or gal who covet mingling in the Sacramento cocktail set rather than truly want to help the average Joe…you cannot win when demographics have overwhelmed the political landscape. Your stigmatized beyond short term repair!
These are not the days of Manifest Destiny and rugged individualism….these are the days of “limited resources and opportunities” ala Captain Medfly…change or your truly finished as a political party!!!
November 5th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Robert, out of curiosity what changes in policy would you have the Republicans make that will make them more popular in California?
November 6th, 2010 at 12:00 am
With the failure of Prop 23 and the passage of Prop 25 and Brown…California will be stuck in a permanent depression.
I am not saying that California’a economy will not rebound…I am saying that it can’t.
I expect a full ONE MILLION more Californians to lose there jobs over the next 30 months or less.
The mass exodus of businesses leaving California will now hit the Turbo and blast off for greener pastures. CARB will now become a fully weaponized system against free enterprise. Budget will grow and grow regardless of deficits.
Entire generations of family groups will now be earnestly looking for opportunities to flee the state while keeping their family units intact.
The Tea Party is a mile wide but onlly an inch deep here in California. Nothing will change until the composition of the state legislature changes.
As the economy begins to improve nationally 30 months from now, California will be excluded from participating in any recovery at all.
I urge all conservatives to dig deeper and offer up superior candidates in the future. All conservatives should join and support Americans For Prosperity- adding their voice to the debate on every level in City, County and State government.
Being part of the Tea Party movement is more than just going downtown once a year waving your “Socialism Sucks” sign.
It is also important to join and support groups against illegal immigration. Simply not good enough anymore to be a pussified arm chair subversive as our friend Robert has shared.
California Public Employee Unions must be held accountable and dis solved.
Now go make some money, get out of debt and become an example for others to follow.
November 6th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Sean,
>[Sean Loranger wrote:]
> …out of curiosity what changes
> in policy would you have the
> Republicans make that will make
> them more popular in California?
I’ll take that bait…
1. STFU about abortion. It’s lost,
Carly lost 3 points against Boxer on that issue alone. It’s not even a state-level issue, no court will ever change it and so it reflects the low-IQ pandering of the CA R party management.
2. STFU about “family values” issues (codeword for anti-LGBT hate). Many folks have an LGBT coworker, family member or parent they respect. Prop 8 was a short
term gain for a few R’s that caused a huge backlash.
These issues – plus a perceived religious taint the CA R party has – cause many middle/swing voters to see R party as equally anti-liberty/controlling as the Dems and it puts them off.
Fix these and the CA R party becomes the party of minimal, effective gov’t, lower taxes and more freedom. Then you might see some electoral gains in the next decade.
I’m sure I’ll be attacked by the small pro-life segment that has managed to ruin every CA election in the past 15 years.
BTW: I have no dog in the fight on choice/pro-life – I don’t give a damn, I just recognize the “how to create a loser” strategy in CA.
My taxes are higher and my guns are at risk because of these people.
Bill Wiese
San Jose
November 6th, 2010 at 12:00 am
“STFU”… a succinct expression of the Wiese platform!
Conservative Mormons, Protestants, Catholics and
Jews are not going away.
November 7th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Maybe the win of Prop 25 will force the Republicans to recruit viable candidates that could win the 13 plus districts we need for a majority in the State Assembly.
I do agree with Bill, the Republican Party is too dominated by the religious communities like how Democrats are wholly owned subsidiaries of the SEIU.
Less bashing on LGBT people and more bashing on economy destroying groups such as CARB would be appreciated for Republican Party success in California.
November 7th, 2010 at 12:00 am
You agree with him that the presence of religious believers puts
a “taint” on the Republican Party of California?
There are none so intolerant as the self-proclaimed promoters
of tolerance!
November 7th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Our economy is suffering, and there are quite many people who vote on social issues over the economy that ended up helping us get Senator Boxer again.
I even held my nose and voted for Carly, but we should have candidates that could easily win the Silicon Valley and the Los Angeles basin area.
Maybe if NOM didnt spend 500,000 dollars to help sink Tom Campbell’s campaign maybe he would of won like Mark Kirk in Illinois.
November 7th, 2010 at 12:00 am
You must have forgotten the year 2000 when liberal Republican
Tom Campbell WAS the California Rep. nominee for US Senate.
He lost by over TWO MILLION votes (2,045,669 to be exact).
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2000_general/us_sen.pdf
And how did being a liberal Republican work out this time
for Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado? He’s losing by over 800,000
votes against an opponent who was the laughing-stock of
2008.
November 7th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Personally what I see is that my party was so busy purging itself from grassroots activists, laundering money, sucking up to moneyed/unqualified candidates, creating useless powerpoint presentations and graphs, it did not have time for voter reg, precinct strategies and walking, or on-target messaging.
Where DOES the buck stop? GOP leadership all the way down the line failed. Enough of the lame excuses. It’s time for a change.
November 7th, 2010 at 12:00 am
>>[James Sills wrote]
>>ou agree with him that the >>presence of religious believers
>>puts a “taint” on the Republican
>> Party of California?
>>
>> There are none so intolerant
>> as the self-proclaimed
>> promoters of tolerance!
And what, James, pray tell, does that have ANYTHING to do with winning an election in CA?
Tolerance of intolerance is intolerance itself. Frankly I don’t have much of a dog in any of these fights other than low taxes and no gun control – I just recognize how f***d up the CA R party management is, because it’s tuned to catering to a subsegment that can’t carry general elections.
2/3 of CA’s electorate don’t like buying the dog food that’s served them,yet less than half want the gov’t overhead and taxes and wild oversized, overregulated gov’t.
Bill Wiese
San Jose CA
November 7th, 2010 at 12:00 am
>>Matt Munson wrote:
>>we should have candidates that >>could easily win the Silicon
>>Valley and the Los Angeles basin
>>area.
Yep. I work in S.V. There’s floors of people with 6-figure incomes, stock, etc. 90% of these won’t vote for Republicans – not because they like being taxed, but they feel the party “isn’t them” for all of the reasons discussed above.
When the CA R party can’t get 6-figure income professionals, many of whom are also homeowners, to vote for them, you know the dog food the party’s trying to sell has gone rancid. I can remember a time when there were Republicans in Silicon Valley (they weren’t great Republicans, they voted anti-gun, which means I won’t vote for ’em, but at least they were on the radar…)
Carly Fiorina might have beat boxer if she’d STFU’d about abortion/choice. I have yet to meet an executive, educated F in CA who’d intentionally bring up the subject of choice unless she were a supporter of it: I’m betting she didn’t bring that up herself and the party muckamucks inserted that, to her (and our) detriment.
Bill Wiese
San Jose CA
November 7th, 2010 at 12:00 am
In an Oct. 13, 2009 post to this site, a person calling himslef “Bill Wiese” of San
Jose expressed his strong support for a candidate for California Governor……
Jerry Brown !
————————————————————————————————————-
” Pro-gun activist voters are siding with Jerry Brown in spite of party
or other stances. As AG, he filed an amicus brief in support of ‘in-
corporation of the 2nd Amendment, and cutailed abuses by DOJ
Firearms Division.
The Repub. candidates – unless the field widens – are notably antigun.”
————————————————————————————————————-
If that was written by the same person, Mr. Wiese backs the Democrat candidate
for Governor one year, and then lectures actual Republicans the next year on who
our nominees should be, and further tells millions of religious voters to, “STFU”.
Chutzpah? Hypocrisy ?
November 7th, 2010 at 12:00 am
A gentleman asked what should be done to invigorate the Republican Party in California…
Look at Florida first….Mark Rubio…ethnic, hard working, young, not rich, believes….
Look to Alan West…..Military decorated vet., ethnic, great communicator, not a career loser politican, not rich, blieves in the American dream for people….
You will never ever win without ethnic leadership and inspirational ethnic candidates on ballots….the demographics reflect a very diverse populace….and guess what…less and less rich people around but loads of middle class and poor starving for great public policy….
Every Flash Report Junkie should sit back in their Archie Bunker chair…..and support vibrant, young, ethnic candidates who are qualified to lead….or just whine and moan and be losers like most pundits on this site.