California Is Imploding... and Liberals Are Making It Worse
It is no surprise that Sen. Diane Feinstein — alongside other senior California Democrats — did not receive her party’s endorsement. Over the past several years, Democrats’ tactics have been packed with failed policies, rising living expenses, bullying and total desperation.
Not Winning
In Fullerton, Orange County, more than 63,500 people signed their name on a petition to recall state Sen. Josh Newman. As a result, the Democrat lawmaker could be removed from office less than halfway into his term.
“I was terrified. I had no idea what was going on or why, and how much liability we would have,” said Brooke Paz, who was targeted by the state’s Democratic Party in a lawsuit. She shared her experience with UnCut Report.
“The lawsuit was a last resort for the CA Democrats,” she explained. “They were feeling desperate after we gained more than enough signatures in a stunning amount of time to recall State Senator Josh Newman.”
Paz, the vice president of the Fullerton College Republicans, played a role in helping the effort succeed. As a result, the Dems named her and other students in a lawsuit.
Cheating… But Still Not Winning
In August, over 70,000 registered voters signed their names to support the petition. That’s almost 7,000 more than 63,500 needed to trigger a special election under state law.
However, in order to preserve their Senate super-majority in the California Senate, Democrat lawmakers changed the rules and gave people a two-month window to withdraw their names.
After that failed, too, they decided to go after college students … leading them into another failure.
The Democrats accused Paz and and others of lying to voters by telling them that the signatures were to support repealing the gas tax. But they dropped those accusations later.
“(T)he CA GOP asked (Brooke and two other students) to be plaintiffs on a counter-suit … Amazing opportunity! We agreed, and the initial suit was eventually dropped,” Paz explained.
A House of Taxes
The state Democratic Party’s own metropolitan working class base is starting to realize that the party they vote for enacts policies that end up hurting them.
During the election, Newman promised that he would not raise taxes, but went ahead and voted for the gas tax increase, anyway. The bill that he voted for became law.
This summer, Fullerton voters will decide whether to keep him as their state senator and, if not, elect a replacement.
They will be joining the rest of the Golden State, who will head to the ballot for the federal and state primaries in June.
“All of (the people’s) choices need to be approved by the government and (that) comes with a hefty price tag is attached to it.” Nickolas Wildstar, who is running for governor under the pledge to “Make California Affordable Again,” told UnCut.
“As beautiful as the climate is here, the political environment is one that is hostile and has chased away many of the people and businesses that have called California home,” Wildstar added.
The musician — who raps under the name QBall and was featured in “Scary Movie 4” — chose to run as a Libertarian Party candidate.
GOProblem
The Democrats have their many ways of turning off their base. But the California Republicans aren’t doing much to welcome these voters.
In fact, in many districts, third-party candidates and independents do better than the GOP’s.
“Both the Democrats and the Republicans have shown their incompetence and has (sic) created a vacuum that the Libertarian Party can take advantage of,” Wildstar said. “This sentiment has been growing for the past 8 years or so and now it seems to have come to a breaking point.”
However, more left-leaning parties and independent candidates are causing California Democrats more problems than the Libertarian Party. But the party is still growing and capturing more seats in municipalities across the state. This gives Wildstar and Libertarians running this year unprecedented momentum in their respective races.
Morever, its just as notable that in previous U.S House elections, the Libertarian Party — which supports gun rights, free markets and small government — did better than the GOP at attracting disenfranchised Democrats.
But this isn’t going unnoticed.
Ticking Time Bomb
Activists in many conservative counties have already given up on trying to win in the current state’s ballots. Last month, groups and activists in East California started the constitutional process of becoming an independent state because of their dissatisfaction with the state’s high taxes and burdensome regulations.
But for the Democrats, it’s all about to blow up in their face. Last summer, a University of California Berkeley poll showed that only 30 percent of Californians wanted Rep. Nancy Pelosi to remain as the party’s leader in the U.S House. Her opponent is a Bernie Sanders Democrat who was endorsed by many progressive groups in the district.
In Los Angeles, Maxine Waters’ Republican opponent, Edwin Duterte, has been within a single-digit margin. He polled at 44 percent to her 50 in a November UnCut Report Facebook survey among registered voters.
The Republican’s campaign is focusing on attracting the 43rd districts’ mostly Hispanic and black voters to his campaign. Among his key platforms is creating incentives for tech companies to invest in education, influence and improve the educational system, and create jobs. All of that could help immigrant and minority communities.
The End is Near?
2018 may well be the year that California’s Democrat establishment falls in the face of the new populist and grassroots-driven waves — from determined college campus activists, conservative secessionists, and innovative Republicans on the right, to rebels within their own ranks on the left.
And to third parties, a disenfranchised base and financial problems all over the place.
Haitham al Mhana is the chief operator of the UnCut Report. He was born in Saudi Arabia and lived in the U.K. before getting his B.A and MBA degrees in the U.S., where he currently resides. He moved to the Pacific Northwest 8 years ago.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
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