How the California Republican Party Can Win Elections Again

The California Republican Party (CRP) has been a disaster since Gov. Pete Wilson’s re-election campaign and Gov. Schwarzenegger accelerated its demise when in 2006 to save his failed governorship he passed Assembly Bill 32 – the California Global Warming Solutions Act, which has done nothing to lessen emissions in California. The fault lies with the leadership of the CRP and the big-money donors who pushed for the top two primary now called “the jungle primary.” Republicans are also losing in the state because stalwart conservatives (#NeverTrumpers, Evangelicals and older-white voters) long for the day of Ronald Reagan or some pure conservative candidate that doesn’t exist. Democrats though only care about winning and will do anything possible to achieve power.

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As a former candidate for the 43^rd California State Assembly district in 2014 where I made the top two against the Democratic incumbent there were valuable lessons that I took away from my election. Subsequently, my election into the top two allowed me CRP voting rights at the county and state level, and I was also elected to the CRP presidential nominating committee that assisted drafting the party platform. That platform is now being followed by Trump to incredible economic success. In other words, Republicans can win, but here’s what needs to happen.

FIGHT

The days of the congenial white male of George W. Bush, Mitt Romney, John McCain, and most of all, Ronald Reagan are over. Fight or don’t run. California isn’t working and Joel Kotkin, Michael Shellenberger, Ed Ring, and Heather MacDonald give detailed reason on issues ranging from unsustainable environmental laws to racism emanating from the Democratic party. Ed Ring also gives policy recommendations for any candidate struggling to find his or her voice on the campaign trail in California.

As an example here’s how John Cox can defeat Gavin Newsom on global warming by asking this questions backed by facts. Gavin, if global warming is really happening and your party has the answers by overtaxing energy and relying on green energy that doesn’t work then answer me this from Dr. Walter Williams:

“Today’s CO2 concentration levels worldwide average about 380 parts per million. This level is trivial compared to earlier geological periods. For example, 460 million years ago, during the Ordovician Period, CO2 concentrations were 4,400 ppm, and temperatures were about the same as they are today.”

And other periods of history like the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) are warmer than today with average global temperatures as high as 73 F.

Then explain to me Gavin how exactly are humans causing global warming when the earth was significantly hotter when humans or dinosaurs hadn’t evolved on the global scene yet and more significantly the industrial revolution or fossil fuels weren’t yet in existence? Ask this simple question and watch him and the entire Democratic Party stumble at the polls.

This can also be done with abortion. Make it a geopolitical issue instead of a social one by asking: It’s been proven here that countries that allow abortion are more hegemonic in nature (the United States, Russia and China); therefore Mr. or Ms. Democrat do you believe in war more than you believe in peace by allowing abortion?

Democrats have been trapping Republicans for decades with false canard-like statements; reverse the narrative on them and fight back otherwise California will continue cratering into the abysmal dustbin of failed leftist states. These are just two examples of how this can be done but if you aren’t ready to know your facts, have the ability to build a narrative that improves people’s lives and answer your critics then don’t run in California.

THE ECONOMY, STUPID!

Highlight how Republican policies are always better economically than Democratic ones. From single-payer health care that would cost over $400 billion a year in California to the highest taxes in the nation the CRP has dropped the ball for decades on economic issues. Here are the facts candidates can use on the trail to help Republicans in California keep control of Congress and possibly win the governorship.

The Republican-killer – President Bill Clinton – used Republican polices to Democratic gains and left office with unusually high approval ratings understood Americans and I’d add Californians by advocating, “it’s the economy, stupid.” President Donald Trump seems to have figured that axiom out with May’s U.S. jobs growth forecast that blows past expectation according to the Wall Street Journal. Over 223,000 jobs were added in May and the unemployment rate went down to 3.8% and is the lowest level since 1969. Black unemployment is at record lows and the number of Americans employed set its ninth record under Trump.

Somehow the CPR hasn’t figured out what Trump, Clinton and other Americans have always known: in America people vote with their wallets, first and foremost. The CPR and California Republican candidates can win in California by also hammering home this fact from the Los Angeles Times, “There now are more job openings in the U.S. than unemployed workers to fill them.” Use Clinton tactics and call it the Republican economy and go into minority neighborhoods and ask if Gavin Newsom and the Democrats provided this type of economic progress under President Obama? The answer is no and you will pull percentages of votes away from Democrats you never thought possible.

WALK PRECINCTS

The biggest mistake candidates make is not walking precincts. What voters want is to know you care enough to speak to them and can explain complex issues in an understandable fashion that doesn’t have them spending hours reading The Economist or need a master’s in public policy to understand what you are saying. By walking precincts it allows you to connect and I know from experience that every precinct I walked or in particular this one volunteer named Marv walked, I won. I was a no-name candidate who only raised $26,000 but beat the former Democratic incumbent Chairman of the Assembly Appropriations Committee everywhere I walked the precinct.

President Obama said this in a recent interview for BBC’s Today program about meeting hostile, biased people and voters:

“When you meet people face to face, it turns out they’re complicated, there may be somebody who you think is diametrically opposed to you when it comes to their political views, but you root for the same sports team. You find areas of common ground. It’s hard to be obnoxious and cruel in person.”

And that’s exactly what I encountered on the campaign trail – people who told me they were openly hostile to Republicans listened to me – and ultimately they voted for me as well. Party insiders told me I would receive roughly 8-14% of the vote and I got over 35% by walking the district. Republicans can win the 43rd district again and can also win a majority of California; there is no reason to split the state into three different parts.

Democrats have been going into Red states and Christian churches – supposedly hostile places for decades – it’s time for Republicans to use these three tactics and start winning in California again. It will take multiple election cycles but California can once again be a Republican stronghold that includes every race, color and creed in the state. America needs for California to once again be an incubator of dreams and upward mobility if the CRP will stop longing for Reagan and candidates begin following the three simple steps that I know are a proven template to electoral success.