Larry Kudlow is practically doing backflips over Arnold’s supply-side rhetoric and the potential political opportunities it brings in 2004. Certainly Arnolds confirmation that he’s running as a fiscal conservative means that many doubts about his intentions have now been dispelled.
Still, I think it’s far too optimistic to think that Bush can win California. The Democrats will play by their race-baiting playbook to the hilt, and they’ll pull any trick they can to ensure that Bush loses. However, I do agree that a Schwarzenegger victory in the Golden State will force Democrats to expend more effort and energy into combating Bush, leaving them with less resources on other battleground states.
Still, what’s important is that California gets someone who can lead them out of their economic death spiral, get the jobs engine of Silicon Valley restarted and bring real economic growth to the state. A vibrant California will help jumpstart the slow recovery of the last year into a stronger and more vibrant economic recovery that will not only be good for the GOP in 2004, but the entire country as well.
Jay,
Why is it that the only way Dems can win California is to use “their race-bathing playbook?” Maybe more people in California are Dems than Repubs? Why the rush to the bottom? You are only confirming the “paranoid” style of politics Hofsteder wrote about.
Remember the James Byrd ads in Texas in 2000? Ever listen to the speeches Democratic officials make to minority groups?
I said that because that has been the Democrats MO for years.
I also recall the Willy Horton ads from Bush I. How about the recent “Anti-Catholic” rhetoric from the Senate Judiciary committee. Come on, at least try to be objective.
It just occurred to me that the James Byrd ads didn’t seem to work in Texas (I was living there at the time, and don’t really recall them) since all the state-wide offices are Republican. Are asserting that the only way Dems win elections is by race-baiting? I don’t see the Republicans (the party of Trent Lott and Jesse Helms) making any sort of out-reach to minority voters. California has more registered Dems than Republicans, maybe that is how they won the state.
Tell that to J.C. Watts, Shannon Reeves, and the many others who are working on outreach between the GOP and minorities.
Also note that the DNC has a quota system for delegates to their national convention. GOP minority delegates are there because they’ve earned it, and there are more of them every election cycle.
As for the anti-Catholic rhetoric, I it is the Democrats who are preventing the nomination of Judge Pryor strictly on the basis of his religious identification.
Republicans are doing outreach. They want a big tent. But.
True, the GOP does want to be a big tent party, and you’re right – they have a long way to go. However, it is a battle that’s worth fighting, and people like Shannon Reeves and J.C. Watts have done much to get minority views in the GOP and start getting a better program of outreach between the GOP and minority groups.
Didn’t J.C. Watts leave Congress? Don’t the Dems have the right to arrange their convention anyway they want? What minorities at the Republican convention? Beside the hand-full who were put up to speak I didn’t see many. In regards to Judge Pryor (who is unqualified in so many respects regardless of his religion, ie using his office as state Attorney General to file amicus briefs on behalf of issues that don’t concern his state) would the Republicans be so quick to support a Catholic judge who was against the death-penalty? I believe the Catholic Church believes life in ALL forms, whether in-utero or on death row, is precious and not to be taken. Why are now anti-death-penalty Catholic judges being nominated?
Didn’t J.C. Watts leave Congress? Don’t the Dems have the right to arrange their convention anyway they want? What minorities at the Republican convention? Beside the hand-full who were put up to speak I didn’t see many. In regards to Judge Pryor (who is unqualified in so many respects regardless of his religion, ie using his office as state Attorney General to file amicus briefs on behalf of issues that don’t concern his state) would the Republicans be so quick to support a Catholic judge who was against the death-penalty? I believe the Catholic Church believes life in ALL forms, whether in-utero or on death row, is precious and not to be taken. Why are now anti-death-penalty Catholic judges being nominated?
First, it was Al Gore who first brought up the Willie Horton issue in the Democrat primary. Second, Willie Horton was a furloughed murderer who murdered whileon furlough. Why is that not an issue. And the fact that the Byrd ads allegedly did not work in Texas is nonsense, they were played nationwide. Finally, the Trent Lott comment was overblown. He was stupid and it shouldn’t’ve been said, but he was paying tribute to a tired old man. At least Lott was never in the KKK like Robert Byrd of West Virginia.
Republicans don’t seem to get it that parading around tokens like JC Watts and Clarence Thomas will not help them achieve any significant gains among black voters. Most black voters aren’t enamored with skin color to the point of not being able to notice when a black speaker is espousing the values of priviliged white suburbanites. JC Watts and Clarence Thomas represent the values of about 5 percent of black Americans. Most of the other 95 percent would see the quality of life of their family and neighbors decline by embracing the views of those 5 percent.
Most people, black or white, do not like to see their family or neighbors suffer. The only people that do are the glorious “I escaped poverty through my hard work….now I’m a Republican and to hell with you” crowd who apparently gets a sense of revenge against their upbringing by supporting policies that make their former neighbors and relatives suffer.
In order to be a real world “big tent party”, the GOP needs to soften at least some of its hard-core plutocratic ideals. Excluding the vast majority of black Americans from their latest budget-busting tax cut on the grounds that “they don’t pay taxes anyway and thus don’t deserve what their white bosses are getting” is not likely to go very far in winning black support for the GOP, even among those who reject some of the more heavy-handed race-based politicking that exists.
James,
Al Gore was the first to mention Willy Horton, but it was Bush who exploited it in a nation-wide television ad campaign. Why no mention of Jesse Helms famous ad with the white hands tearing up the letter? More race baiting. Trent Lott said something stupid, is that a surprise? But is that an excuse? The Senate Majority leader shouldn’t sacrifice his position or reputation just to make an old man feel better. Saying something stupid is just the tip of the ice-berg with Lott. I still do not recall the “Byrd” ads, but I would say publicizing the fact that in this day and age a man was dragged behind a truck resulting in his death because he was black is worth it to prevent this type of behavior.