Mid-year 2016, the Sacramento Bee trotted out their same tired line about Prop 187 and the long-lasting damage it caused to the California Republican Party. The media narrative loves to demonize conservatives as anti-immigrant bigots who pushed this agenda so far in 1994, which in turn caused the GOP brand to suffer.
Sooner or later, what happens in California politics spreads east, something Republicans massing in Cleveland seem to be ignoring at their peril.
The argument throughout the rest of the article rests on the notion that the Republican Party in California blew off a generation of Hispanic voters and other immigrant voters. The party leadership to this day is convinced that demographic shifts are going to sink the GOP, not just in California, but across the country.
The whole identity politics mantra, however, has never been about reaching out to everyone. The Democratic Party has played up the race card, the gender card, and now the LGBT card just to divide and conquer, without offering anything substantive.
California Republicans are in dire straits because the elected officials are doing what they want, rather than abiding by the platform which they run on. Let's not forget the damaging power of the public sector labor unions. How about the fact that the Republican Party does not want to fight for what is right, regardless of the hateful rhetoric coming from the Left?
How many times are the Republican operatives in this state going to keep ignoring the damaging effects of the left-stream media, from San Francisco and Los Angeles? This media cult promotes the progressive cause, to the greater hurt of the state. Only recently have major newspapers begun endorsing Republican candidates, most likely realizing that all the money makers, the taxpayers, the business owners--i.e., the individuals who buy newspapers--are leaving the state.
By the way the Sacramento Bee editorial above was arrogant enough to believe that California is the vanguard, the future of what the United States will look like. That is not true. California has gone backwards, turning into a medieval caste state where the rich have gotten richer while the serfs and the illegals work and pay high costs, prices, and fees for the "privilege" of living here.
Now, let's look more deeply at the Prop 187 vote and what followed in the state of California.
The initiative won by a wide margin. Look at the actual voter numbers, too.
Then look at the Governor's race:
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Notice that more people voted for Prop 187 than voted for Pete Wilson.
This issue crossed partisan barriers.
The voters, the citizens, the taxpayers wanted an end to the illegal alien handouts and drain on the public funding.
Recall also, at least according to the Sacramento Bee, that Pete Wilson was unpopular because he ... *Gasp* raised taxes!
The issue with Republicans in California has been the long-standing habit of going liberal on certain issues and inflaming the base. Raising taxes, pushing more regulations, bowing down to the God of Big Green--all of this has angered voters. Why do the California elected officials do this? Because they are convinced that they have to sacrifice principle to win key votes in larger urban areas like Like Los Angeles county.
Sure, California politics often had a more liberal tinge to it, but the rising special interest phalanx of Big Business and Big Labor, especially the latter, has made it easier for liberal interests to dominate the rest of the state.
So, what happened? Is it just bad blood and bad press?
Yes, it is. Notice that it's not just Democrats who love playing the Prop 187 card. It's also the press who keep repeating the canard that enforcing our borders and ending the public subsidy to illegal aliens--
foodstamps, public schooling, etc is in order.
What is wrong with that? These are basic principles of self-reliance and limited government.
Once again, Prop 187 was widely popular, winning 1 million more votes than Governor Wilson had won in his re-election bid for Governor.
The real issue time and again goes to the what the Republicans have chosen to do since then, especially when they were in power. Republicans gained control of the state legislature in 1994, but could not solidify power behind one speaker for the next year. Then their numbers dwindled again.
The lack of coordination and agreement within the state party has caused more problems, not fewer. Should Republicans take on a blue tinge to be more competitive in blue areas? Should they just stick true to the full platform?
Then there are other issues, which have nothing to do with Prop 187. Republicans are leaving the state in droves. Illegals are coming in in droves. And they are registering to vote! Even the legal immigrants are voting Democrat.
The party mechanics have completely failed in the state of California, too, especially with party leaders who refuse to register voters, who are focused only on holding onto what they have.
The issue is not about immigration, and it's not about Prop 187. If that initiative had passed and remained, the state of California would have gotten ... REDDER! Unfortunately, for the past two decades, Republicans and Democrats have had it too easy. They had ensured safe districts for an entire decade, in which Republicans would have to fight and win for seats. What do we have to show for it?
We need men and women, from the grassroots to the elected offices, to stand their ground.
How about another idea? How about shaping the culture and activating activists throughout the state and demand a culture of homeownership and accountability? How about political leadership up and down the state that puts the best interests of the state before political consultantship and real estate commissions?
Arthur Christopher Schaper is a teacher-turned-writer on topics both timeless and timely; political, cultural, and eternal. A life-long Southern California resident, Arthur currently lives in Torrance.
