I just posted this in my thread, but it is a direct response to your question:

Back when Democrats like Pat Brown and Republicans like George Dukmejian could swap governorships without the state missing a beat, California was the envy of the nation, with the best schools, best highways, best parks....
Then people like Jesse "Big Daddy" Unruh and Willie Brown decided that California needed a full-time legislature with professional politicians; Jerry Brown decided that public sector labor unions should have the right to collective bargaining; so they sat down at the table with politician they had bought on the other side....
In the late 60's the hippies came; then the Mexicans....

We finally booted out crooked Gray Davis and voted in the Terminator, to find out that his being married to a Kennedy and seeking approval from her friends was all that mattered to him.

California has no signifiant Republican opposition to the Dems who have a supermajority in the legislature and all the statewide elected offices.

Every pinko from elsewhere moved to urban areas here and ramped up the nonsense. Then they moved to the suburbs and took their politics with them. The demographic shift probably made the blue tilt inevitable but it was helped by other things.

Prop 187 turned the hispanic vote to the left. Culturally many of those folks were fairly conservative but the anti immigrant sentiment from the right turned those folks to the left. Their kids and grand kids followed.

The state GOP made a series of poor decisions in the 90s. They cut a deal with the other side in a redistricting fight and chose a map giving the GOP enough very safe seats to stymie the dems in the statehouse instead of giving themselves more competitive seats to contest. The plan worked for a few years but has cratered. They can longer stop the dems from running amok. The GOP is now left with no bench of viable candidates. There are no big city republican politicians capable of winning a statewide race that matters.

The state GOP was controlled by the Orange County crowd and the religious right stuff didn't work with an electorate skewing younger, browner, and more urban. Babs Boxer was defeatable throughout her career but her margins grew every election. It's impossible for the GOP to contest elections on social issues.

The republican voter isn't blameless. They've let the perfect be the enemy of the good. It's RINO this and RINO that. I get standing for something and having principles but CA republican voters don't have the luxury of demanding the perfect candidate. 80% has to be good enough. Holding ones nose is necessary. No fire breathing conservative is going to win a contest that matters.

Labor and the public employee unions are in the bag for the left. They fill campaign coffers, turn out the vote, and take their rewards. There's a complete disregard for the actual cost because the politicians know they'll be termed out when the bill comes due.

There's no bounce back for the GOP. The state collapsing under the weight of its obligations is the only thing that might do it but it's just as likely that the folks who caused the collapse will absolve themselves of blame and use the collapse as proof that capitalism is to blame instead of socialism.

The exact same question could be asked of New Jersey. 50 years ago it was solid Republican.

What's with their primary election system? The two top vote-getters run in the general? This is how Kamala Harris ran against Loretta Sanchez - also a Democrat - for senator, and won. Is this something recent? This virtually guarantees no Republican can even run, let alone be elected.

I believe California will have to correct through consequences and great suffering. The longer these two conditions are delayed the worse they will be.

There is another thread about Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Kasich potentially teaming up to "reform" California Republicans. That really makes me laugh.

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
I believe California will have to correct through consequences and great suffering. The longer these two conditions are delayed the worse they will be.

Yep. The conservative middle class is leaving the state, as pointed out by VDH on the video, and you are left with the ultra-rich and the poor. The ultra-rich live behind their own walls and are largely insulated from the consequences of what they have imposed on the middle class and those living outside the coastal area.

But... as more and more of the middle class exits California, the day of reckoning comes closer for California.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
In the late 60's ...then the Mexicans....

Was that 1760 or, 1960?

quote:

Originally posted by berto:
Every pinko from elsewhere moved to urban areas here and ramped up the nonsense. Then they moved to the suburbs and took their politics with them. The demographic shift probably made the blue tilt inevitable but it was helped by other things.

Prop 187 turned the hispanic vote to the left. Culturally many of those folks were fairly conservative but the anti immigrant sentiment from the right turned those folks to the left. Their kids and grand kids followed.

Lotsa truth in your post, you can't swing a stick around here without hitting somebody who's from or, went to school in the New England area. Just about every executive at all the major companies matriculated at a liberal arts university from back east. Also does't help that the CA Teacher Association, infested with the far-left mindset, is also the biggest lobbyist and has the biggest soap box in the halls of the state legislature, they've gotten so powerful that they may indeed be king-makers in this state.

Prop 187 highlighted the shitty PR-skills of the state GOP and played right into the hands of the Dems who only had to say, See, we told you they're a bunch of bigots, look at the law they just put forward. While good in principal, it was poorly written and ham-fisted in it's public presentation.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
Prop 187 highlighted the shitty PR-skills of the state GOP and played right into the hands of the Dems who only had to say, See, we told you they're a bunch of bigots, look at the law they just put forward. While good in principal, it was poorly written and ham-fisted in it's public presentation.

Plus, 187 was struck down by the courts so accomplished none of its objectives.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
What's with their primary election system? The two top vote-getters run in the general? This is how Kamala Harris ran against Loretta Sanchez - also a Democrat - for senator, and won. Is this something recent? This virtually guarantees no Republican can even run, let alone be elected.

The design is to give those in essentially one party districts an actual choice in the general election. Under the previous system the democrat primary for an Assembly seat in the Bay Area was the election as no republican had a chance of winning the general. The thought process was to give voters a choice between the top two vote getters instead of fast tracking a sure loser with the stated goal of maybe not sending as much crazy to Sacramento. Instead of the the wackiest progressive winning because they took 30% in the dem primary we're supposed to have them reface the less wacky dem who won 28% in the primary. The choice is bad or worse instead of automatically worse. That the state GOP bungled so much that the US Senate is now a no lose for the dems is an added bonus for them.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
I believe California will have to correct through consequences and great suffering. The longer these two conditions are delayed the worse they will be.

Yep. The conservative middle class is leaving the state, as pointed out by VDH on the video, and you are left with the ultra-rich and the poor. The ultra-rich live behind their own walls and are largely insulated from the consequences of what they have imposed on the middle class and those living outside the coastal area.

But... as more and more of the middle class exits California, the day of reckoning comes closer for California.

Those walls only stop the masses when they are in a good mood. During the Rodney King riots, Charlton Heston mentioned his elitist neighbors could see the fires and rioting getting closer and closer to their civilized area. Previously snooty about firearms ownership, they began calling Mr. Heston and asking him to loan them guns. He declined, but the point is that they know their isolation is only membranous and vulnerable. If the mob got a whiff that their misery was imposed by the elite, there would be violent correction occurring for weeks.

There's some great responses here to the OP's queries. But what alarms and pisses me off is that the Kalifornia blue is spilling into areas elsewhere like a bottle of ink. They run from their home state yet bring with them the same warped mentalities to infect other areas of the country. The libtards should be banned from moving out of Kali until they wake up and fix it period.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
They should be banned from moving out of Kali until they fix it period.

From your lips to God's ears, my friend. I'm living it here in Las Vegas.

Pete Wilson. An inept Republican governor that through mean decisive politics thru Hispanic voters under the buss.

quote:

Originally posted by vinnybass:

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
They should be banned from moving out of Kali until they fix it period.

From your lips to God's ears, my friend. I'm living it here in Las Vegas.

We feel it here in Texas, too....

flashguy