As a Californian, I want to correct a fallacy that I see a lot on the Internet: Californians are not liberal. Go inland, upstate, or central, and you will see that voters swing "conservative". Basically any place that isn't coastal isn't a Democratic stronghold. So why does the state swing left?
1) We recently passed a proposition that allows an independent citizen commission to redraw districts. No more gerrymandering means the Republicans lost seats in populated areas. Not to say that only Republicans gerrymander, far from it. But when a district has 45% "conservative" voters and 55% "liberal" voters, the voice of the large minority gets stifled.
2) Like most states, we are a winner takes all for the electoral college. Don't even get me started on how asinine the idea of the EC is in modern times.
3) A large percentage of voters are registered as Independents. A vast majority of these Independents have been voting Democratic. Why? Independents are typically socially liberal. Republicans are campaigning on their social conservatism, so they lose these votes. Independents have no problem voting for a Republican candidate that respects individual rights. Ronald Regan's stance on homosexuality is a perfect example of this.
4) The cold war is over. People are smart enough to realize that America is sliding in the world standing and want to see progress and innovation, not regression and war.
5) The "war on terror" is getting old. People vote out of fear only for so long.
6) The state's second largest "religious" group, and the fastest growing, are atheists. An atheist obviously isn't going to vote for a party that runs on "Christian values", even if many atheists hold libertarian values.
7) A massive immigrant population. Immigrants simply aren't going to vote for candidates that are outwardly xenophobic.
8) Conservative talk show hosts and radio personalities. The lies, soundbites, and clips are very off-putting to centrists. The left does have people like Rachael Maddow and John Stewart. The difference? They are just annoying; they line up one-sided arguments and fail to take a truly exploratory and analytically approach to the other side. Yeah, they make themselves look smart by having a team of great writers. But for all their lies of omission and one-sided talks, they don't outright lie and they don't come off as complete dunderheads. I'm well aware that most Fox News personalities are Ivy educated; they just don't present themselves in that manner and routinely denounce education.
9) A greater percentage of our registered voters are educated. Look, it's no secret, educated people are socially liberal. One could argue that this is a massive conspiracy constituted by institutions of higher learning. Others might argue that college gives people the opportunity to broaden their horizons and to interact with people with different ideas and from different circumstances.
My point? The GOP isn't losing votes because everyone else is getting "liberal". They are losing votes because they refuse to accept changing demographics and continue to pander to the most vocal party supporters, instead of the central majority.
1) We recently passed a proposition that allows an independent citizen commission to redraw districts. No more gerrymandering means the Republicans lost seats in populated areas. Not to say that only Republicans gerrymander, far from it. But when a district has 45% "conservative" voters and 55% "liberal" voters, the voice of the large minority gets stifled.
2) Like most states, we are a winner takes all for the electoral college. Don't even get me started on how asinine the idea of the EC is in modern times.
3) A large percentage of voters are registered as Independents. A vast majority of these Independents have been voting Democratic. Why? Independents are typically socially liberal. Republicans are campaigning on their social conservatism, so they lose these votes. Independents have no problem voting for a Republican candidate that respects individual rights. Ronald Regan's stance on homosexuality is a perfect example of this.
4) The cold war is over. People are smart enough to realize that America is sliding in the world standing and want to see progress and innovation, not regression and war.
5) The "war on terror" is getting old. People vote out of fear only for so long.
6) The state's second largest "religious" group, and the fastest growing, are atheists. An atheist obviously isn't going to vote for a party that runs on "Christian values", even if many atheists hold libertarian values.
7) A massive immigrant population. Immigrants simply aren't going to vote for candidates that are outwardly xenophobic.
8) Conservative talk show hosts and radio personalities. The lies, soundbites, and clips are very off-putting to centrists. The left does have people like Rachael Maddow and John Stewart. The difference? They are just annoying; they line up one-sided arguments and fail to take a truly exploratory and analytically approach to the other side. Yeah, they make themselves look smart by having a team of great writers. But for all their lies of omission and one-sided talks, they don't outright lie and they don't come off as complete dunderheads. I'm well aware that most Fox News personalities are Ivy educated; they just don't present themselves in that manner and routinely denounce education.
9) A greater percentage of our registered voters are educated. Look, it's no secret, educated people are socially liberal. One could argue that this is a massive conspiracy constituted by institutions of higher learning. Others might argue that college gives people the opportunity to broaden their horizons and to interact with people with different ideas and from different circumstances.
My point? The GOP isn't losing votes because everyone else is getting "liberal". They are losing votes because they refuse to accept changing demographics and continue to pander to the most vocal party supporters, instead of the central majority.
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