Redistricting Gets Underway
This Wednesday, December 8, the Rose Institute at Claremont McKenna College, in conjunction with the California Target Book, will hold the first conference on the new Citizens Redistricting Commission, at the California Dental Association rotunda, 1201 K Street, 15th Floor, Sacramento, from 9:30 am to noon. The conference is free and open to the public.
The conference will provide a look at estimated populations for congressional and legislative districts that the Commission will use to draw new districts for California. It will also look at population shifts within the state, the criteria and open process the Commission must use, and the legal restraints the Commission will be under.
This conference follows the first meeting of the original eight members of the nonpartisan commission last week. This week, the initial commissioners will choose six additional members to fill out the full commission of five Democrats, five Republicans and four others.
Madam Chairwoman? Carly Fiorina reportedly eyeing CRP Chair
Rumors are swirling about town that former U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina is eyeing a run for Chairwoman of the California Republican Party.
Matt Cunningham broke the story in Red County, suggesting that he would back Fiorina if she decides to run.
Make no mistake: if Carly runs, it’s a game-changer. Even the mere speculation of a run reminds one that perhaps we haven’t been thinking “big enough” in our quest to rebuild the Republican Party.
But early reactions are proving that Vice Chairman Tom Del Beccaro’s service may not be able to be brushed aside so quickly. Right or wrong, the Republican Party on both the State and National level historically rewards those who have “paid their dues” and worked their way through the ranks (read: Mitt Romney 2012). To that end, Del Beccaro has worked tirelessly to make “Conservative” cool again and has been at the forefront of a movement making its return – even if the Statewide party fell short at the ballot box in November. (In all fairness, the responsibility didn’t rest on his shoulders full stop; he wasn’t the lead dog in that sled race.)
Time for rethinking, not rebranding
The California Republican Party suffers from deep hubris on issues that
matter to Latino voters, the largest emerging voter block in the state, a
"branding" issue so unfortunate that the state GOP has become essentially a
"permanent super minority party" as a result of the last election.
Moderates and conservatives may have to wait a generation to have their
policy interests dominant in the state again. California’s financial crisis
can’t wait that long to be fixed. The time has come to start a discussion
about establishing a new, companion right-of-center party in this state that
can appeal to a majority of voters and which focuses on the core freedom
issues of lower taxes, less government spending, and less government
regulation in our lives. Especially if Proposition 14 is upheld in the
courts, and an open primary is instituted, the time might be ripe for
moderates and conservatives in California state politics to just start over
with something intelligent, new and attractive to a majority of voters.
After the 2008 election defeats for Republicans across the nation, the
watchword among GOP political operatives and major donors became
"rebranding". In political planning meetings I attended from New York to
California during 2009, it was impossible to not hear the word "rebranding"
at some point in the conversation.
It’d be a big mistake to revisit the “bag ban” legislation
It’s more than a little disturbing that Governor Schwarzenegger, this week, said that he’d like to reintroduce failed legislation that would not only ban stores from giving out free plastic shopping bags, but also force stores to charge their customers for paper or reusable bags and let the stores keep the money. The proposal was so bad on so many fronts that proponents scrambled to make last minute changes to address some of the more absurd provisions.
Now the Governor wants to blame the defeat on, what he calls, “special interests” instead of facing the truth– it was an awful bill that would have further damaged our already fragile economy. California’s unemployment rate is nearly 13 percent. Small businesses are struggling. Working families are cutting budgets to make ends meet. State government is facing a $20-billion deficit.
Now is not the time to target an industry that employs more than 1200 Californians. What would happen to these jobs if bag ban legislation becomes law? Why would any business stay in a state that chooses to eliminate the market for its products?