| Sadly some who consider themselves leaderstry to take credit for things they did not do or were actually opposed to. For instance: the Los Angeles Times ran thisheadline, “Column: Theleader of California’s Republican Party has a strategy for success: Nevermention Trump”, on March 2, 2019.
The good news is that the winning California congressional candidates ignored her, as they openly endorsed President Trump and won.
While telling candidates to ignore Trump, she was protecting the founders of the Lincoln Project who are delegates to the California Republican Party. She opposed the mention of Trump, but by her silence and inaction, supported the several CRP delegates that openly supported Joe Biden.
Just like the L.A. Times story from last week, showing how strategy and policy won these races, Congressman Tom Campbell shows the unique situation where the DEMOCRATS hurt themselves by putting Prop. 16 on the ballot, assured GOP victories.
There are several important statements in this article. It shows that Jessica Patterson is trying to take credit for something she had nothing to do with. The most egregious example is Jessica taking credit for 624,000 Republican registrations while Chair—without noting that she had NO voter registration program for two years and the registrations came from the DMV “Motor Voter” program.
Here are some key statements from the OC Register article by former Congressman Tom Campbell:
- One of the congressional races was in the Central Valley, where Republican David Valadao won back the seat he lost to TJ Cox in the Democratic landslide of 2018. Both elections were decided by less than a point. A fair interpretation of that outcome would be that the heavily Hispanic district based on an agricultural economy remains a toss-up. The 2018 election went Democratic by 962 votes; the 2020 election went Republican by 1,522 votes. This race hardly indicates a broader rebound for the GOP in California.
- Neither do the other Republican Congressional pick-ups provide evidence of a Republican resurgence. In Orange County, incumbent, first-term Democratic congressmembers lost when they were running against Asian American Republicans, but won otherwise. The Asian American vote was particularly energized by the presence of Proposition 16 on the ballot which threatened to give the University of California the power to admit or deny admission to students based on their race. Asian Americans are 15 percent of California’s population but 36 percent of UC admissions. Every other major ethnic group’s representation at UC is lower than its statewide population. It was obvious to the Asian American population that Prop. 16 was a direct threat to their children’s opportunity to go to a UC campus.
- Properly understood, therefore, the outcome of the congressional elections in Orange County was not an endorsement of the Republican Party, but an artifact of the landslide rejection of Proposition 16.
- In contests for the State Legislature, Democrats gained two state Senate seats while losing one Assembly seat. This is hardly an argument that the GOP is surging in California. The Democrats grew their control of the California Senate from 72.5 percent to 77.5 percent, while accepting a slight drop from 76.25 percent of the Assembly to 75 percent.
- If Republicans consider that outcome in the California Legislature a victory, they are engaged in massive self-deception.
I’ve talked for years about how we need to accept where we are as a Party. The “Back to Basics” approach is quite literally accepting where we are, figuring out why we are where we are, and doing something about it. Celebrating re-taking 4 of 7 lost seats in Congress, a fluke of Prop 16 in the Assembly, while ignoring a net loss in the legislature is not an honest assessment of where the CAGOP really is. We won’t survive doing the same exact thing again from 2021-2022.
The pillars of my campaign for Chairman of the CAGOP are simple, rebuild county parties, register voters and focus on getting them to the polls. As of right now, I am aware of 17 County Parties with 6 or less elected members. When combined with a net loss of 1,200,000 voters, should set off alarm bells in every like-minded activist for the Republican Party.
For years, we have been told to focus only on things that pay people’s salaries to the detriment of the fundamentals of party building. This needs to stop, otherwise Tom Campbell’s piece in 2022 will say the same thing all over again with even smaller numbers in all areas of state government.
I am providing answers and solutions for the CAGOP, this is why I am running for CAGOP Chairman. Steve Frank, candidate for California Republican Party Chair.
Steve Frank
Candidate, Chair of the California Republican Party
To support me, go to www.frank4leadership.com. |
Excellent and very accurate article.