The California U.S. Senate Race Falls Flat

After twenty-four years, California has an open US Senate
seat. Yippee!

Batty Barbara “I can stand up to bullies!” Boxer finally got
the message—no one wants her or likes her—and she announced her retirement.

Excitement ensued for policy wonks like me. I had hoped that
a number of high-profile (even Establishment leaning) Republicans would leap at
the chance to replace her.

And … nope.

I hope and prayed for a year. Even though the June primary
has finally arrived, a conservative’s hopes for a decent, competitive US Senate
race have dissipated. The race for US Senate has slowed down.

Yes, you read the headline correctly.

I have been chomping at the bit about this race since
January last year.

I wanted Stanford Professor, former National Security
Advisor, and then Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to run. She turned it
down, and a good friend of mine delivered the message.

Darrell Issa? He’s rich, well-connected. He knows party
leaders in Washington as well as California. Surely he could finance a decent
campaign. Nope. Dana Rohrabacher or Tom McClintock? They would be great
choices, based on their ideological bent and commitment to conservative
principles.

But … no. They declined to throw their hats into the ring.
Really, can you blame then? Orange County and the Northeast quadrant of the
state of California should be their own, ruby-red states. Then those two could
launch a competitive—and successful—bid for the upper chamber in Washington.

As it stands, California is a massive red state in the
middle (I just got off the phone with a state assemblyman from the Fresno area
more conservative than I could ever hope to be).

California is a tough state to campaign in, even if you are
a liberal Democrat with no regard for the rule of law or the balance of
security and liberty, which has become so casually tossed aside.  38 million residents (not including the
accommodated illegal alien population).

What about San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer? No way. He’s not
even interested in running for Governor. He’s on track for re-election in San
Diego, though.

How times and opportunities have changed (for the worse) in
California. Twenty years ago, the Republican Mayor of San Diego ran for US
Senate and then for Governor. That was Pete Wilson. Despite his weak stance on
life (he’s pro-choice), he stood strong on immigration. He championed Prop 187,
to cut off all taxpayer subsidies to illegal aliens. So did a strong majority
of the state.

Sorry, naysayers, but that measure was not anti-immigrant.
It was anti-illegal immigration. The rule of law matters. Just ask Kathryn
Steinle (oops, her parents, since an five-time deported illegal murdered her in
Sanctuary City San Francisco). After watching anti-Trump protests turn violent
and vicious, Republicans need to take up that law and order mantle again—now.

But resting on your wilting laurels cannot ensure success.
In 1996, Republicans lost their majorities in Sacramento, and a few seats in
Congress, including conservative proto-Tea Party radical Robert “B-1 Bob”
Dornan, to a little-known GOP-turned Dem Latina named …. Loretta Sanchez.

Republicans have steadily lost ground since then, with no
sign of reconciling the family conservatives with the diminishing number of
working-class Californians who just want to love life and see good days.
Election 2016 offers two former CAGOP chairmen (Duf Sundheim and Tom Del
Beccaro), plus an assortment of eclectics, like eccentric millionaire Ron “Raise
the Minimum Wage” Unz and chanceless third-party candidates. My absentee ballot
came with a warning  label: 34
candidates, one vote, that’s it.

Wow!

Democrats could not clear the field for their anointed
Kammy, and Republicans couldn’t stop rapid rabbits from jumping out of the hat.
Election 2016 has showcased a wild primary, and yet California’s general
election is heading towards a top-two Democratic downturn. Korrupt Kamala
Harris (the Attorney General for Democrats, but no one else) attacks pro-life
activists because Planned Murderhood funds her campaign (with the dollars used
to buy baby parts). Her chief rival is Loony Loretta Sanchez, Congresswoman
from Orange, Orange County. From crazy Christmas postcards to her Indian
war-whoop at the Democratic Party convention, she is definitely unconventional.
She is striving to position herself more to the center to scoop up disaffected
Independents and uber-pragmatic (or resigned) Republicans.

Good luck with that.

There is a red lining to this blue cloud louring over the
Golden state. Two Democrats, each with an even chance of winning, will spend
massive sums of money to kill each other. Every labor union, environmental
action group, Big Business interest will plunge millions into this fight.

I tried to ask Congresswoman Sanchez some
questions at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in Inglewood, CA. (Sanchez’
desperate pandering to win the black vote). She blew me off, then the manager
took my phone away and forced me to leave. What kind of a US Senatorial
candidate resists answering questions from concerned constituents?

For this conservative, the US Senate race is dying down.

Will Republicans have a chance at the U.S. Senate again?
Right now, I am not holding my breath, for then the only ruby red anywhere near
that seat would be my gasping head.

Why have Republicans lost their grip on California?

The answer flows from two conflicts.

1. They did not adapt to the coming demographic shifts. I am
not talking about the influx of Hispanics, whether they were illegal
themselves, or their parents came illegally. Republicans have enjoyed the echo
chamber and the circular firing squad all too much. It’s easier to yell at
those you know than to greet those you don’t know …

2. Instead of doubling-down against illegal immigration;
instead of fighting harder to preserve and protect Prop 187; instead of calling
for the recall of the corrupt judge which threw out the measure, Republicans
stayed safe with what little they had gained in 1994.

We need clear principles and convictions, plus a plan to make
it happen. Election 2016 is a warm-up. 2018 may afford better chances.