Posted on 05/09/2018 1:12:45 PM PDT by MarvinStinson
LOL I used to vote libertarian. We often got less than 2% of the vote.
So, what did Pete Wilson do that killed the CA GOP. you cant just assert that and not then explain what steps he took to destroy the CA GOP.
Meanwhile, I beg to differ with you. California was beeing flooded with northeast liberals and Mexican immigrants for decades. 1996 just happened to be in the timeframe when California passed the tipping point where the number of registered Democrat voters overcame the number of Republican voters. I dont see that Pete Wilson did anything to cause this. The decay of the Rust Belt in the 70s and 80s caused all those liberals to come to CA for work. Ted Kennedys catastrophic immigration overhaul set the stage to flood California with Mexican immigrants, legal and illegal. Demographics just swamped CA. That trend continued to wher there are almost 2 registered Democrats for every 1 registered republican. Pete Wilson didn’t cause that.
Also, then incumbent Insurance Commish Chuck Quankenbush won reelection in 1998. Shame about him, fake scandal? No charges were filed.
So that’s 2 GOP downballot victories since 1994, both for Insurance Commish.
RIP. He was a very good man.
“...used to vote libertarian...”
I don’t.
But I won’t vote for someone simply because they wear an (R) after their name, but do exactly the same crap the dems do regarding my 2A right.
I don’t know Deukmejian from Joe Schmoe. Maybe he was great, but signing an “assault weapons ban” negates everything else. One either supports the 2nd Amendment and the US Bill of Rights, or one supports the enemy. It’s pretty much that cut and dried for me.
My rights are non-negotiable.
Thanks for the correction. That was unusual if only because Bustamante was a wildly unpopular figure.
I forgot one other, Chuck Quackenbush, also as Insurance Commissioner was the lone Republican to carry over in 1998, though he was an incumbent, won by only a 49% plurality and had ethics problems that forced him from office and replaced by a Democrat a year and a half later.
You’re not entirely incorrect in your assessment of demographics (although I don’t agree with the Rust Belt part - what makes you think just left-wingers fled those states for work in CA ? A good number were GOP voters or Reagan Democrats). However, this is also an issue of leadership. A strong leader can weather the storms and overcome the difficulties when they present themselves.
Reagan did it in the ‘60s, Deukemejian did it in the ‘80s. But Wilson ended up failing in that regard. He was typical of these Establishment “Country Clubber” RINOs that the party tended to foist on the voters. His leaving the Senate seat as well proved a gift to the Democrats (especially when he appointed a very weak RINO to the seat, who was obliterated by Feinstein, just two years after Wilson had beaten her). When the difficulties presented themselves, he was simply not up to the task.
I was frankly astonished when he ran for President in 1996 at a key point in his Governorship. The run was a bust because the base knew he was not a Conservative and was frankly a lousy Governor. It also didn’t help matters that you had like-minded RINOs pushing to jettison Reagan Conservatism for a leftist agenda, which never works, because the Dems can always out-left the GOP. We know leftism is a proven failure, and yet these folks want to move towards it away from the proven success of Conservatism.
If a strong Conservative Governor had been in charge during the ‘90s period instead of a weak RINO Wilson and sticking with that agenda forward, I guarantee CA would not be in the advanced state of decay it is now. But to try to absolve Wilson in his role in the collapse actually means that you’re painting him as entirely incompetent and a victim of circumstances beyond his control. That’s damning him even more than I.
soil you have 10 issues and he goes a different way on one , that’s it. You don’t vote giving a vote to a democrat or you vote third party?
“...You dont vote giving a vote to a democrat or you vote third party?...”
Didn’t say I don’t vote. I’d write in a candidate if necessary.
“..10 issues and he goes a different way on one ...”
To my mind, it’s THE most important “one issue”. You don’t HAVE any other rights without the Right to defend yourself.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.