by Daniel Nardini
They know they are in trouble. The Republican Party of California is now battling an uphill fight because of its unpopularity within the state as well as among Latinos nationally. This is not hard to figure out. The Republican candidate for president who is the front runner is Donald Trump. Despite his numbers slipping, he is still the front runner. This is not good for Republicans—Trump has accused Mexican immigrants and Americans of Mexican descent of being “rapists” and “murderers,” and has basically called them the garbage of Mexico. And of course, Trump has basically condemned people from Central America as well. In short, Donald Trump has portrayed himself as the very image that the Republican Party in many states have tried to get rid of—a white male rich person filled with prejudice, racism and campaigning on stereotypes and hate.
The Republican Party of California is trying to cast itself as a “diverse” party “friendly” to Latinos and not trying to do even half the things that Donald Trump says he will do if elected president. All I can say to the Republicans in California is best of luck. It is very, very hard to divorce themselves from the extreme ideas and positions of their presidential candidates. If they cannot do so, then their chances in California, which are already not too good, will be that much worse. And if California should go Democrat, then many other states, including key states, may go that way too. This is in many ways what decided the last presidential election in 2012. Obama simply won because he campaigned and campaigned hard in key states that gave him more than enough electoral votes to be reelected. More than that, Obama won because he won most of the African American vote, the Asian American vote, and the Latino vote.
Even if the Republicans win most of the “white” vote, this will not help them in California. With a very diverse population, the Republicans cannot count on just one section of the state’s population to help them win. They have to seek the Asian and especially Latino vote in order to defeat the Democrats. But with how badly presidential candidates like Donald Trump have poisoned the well, this may be the undoing of the Republicans in not California but throughout the country.
Trying to Dilute the Poisoned Well
by Daniel Nardini
They know they are in trouble. The Republican Party of California is now battling an uphill fight because of its unpopularity within the state as well as among Latinos nationally. This is not hard to figure out. The Republican candidate for president who is the front runner is Donald Trump. Despite his numbers slipping, he is still the front runner. This is not good for Republicans—Trump has accused Mexican immigrants and Americans of Mexican descent of being “rapists” and “murderers,” and has basically called them the garbage of Mexico. And of course, Trump has basically condemned people from Central America as well. In short, Donald Trump has portrayed himself as the very image that the Republican Party in many states have tried to get rid of—a white male rich person filled with prejudice, racism and campaigning on stereotypes and hate.
The Republican Party of California is trying to cast itself as a “diverse” party “friendly” to Latinos and not trying to do even half the things that Donald Trump says he will do if elected president. All I can say to the Republicans in California is best of luck. It is very, very hard to divorce themselves from the extreme ideas and positions of their presidential candidates. If they cannot do so, then their chances in California, which are already not too good, will be that much worse. And if California should go Democrat, then many other states, including key states, may go that way too. This is in many ways what decided the last presidential election in 2012. Obama simply won because he campaigned and campaigned hard in key states that gave him more than enough electoral votes to be reelected. More than that, Obama won because he won most of the African American vote, the Asian American vote, and the Latino vote.
Even if the Republicans win most of the “white” vote, this will not help them in California. With a very diverse population, the Republicans cannot count on just one section of the state’s population to help them win. They have to seek the Asian and especially Latino vote in order to defeat the Democrats. But with how badly presidential candidates like Donald Trump have poisoned the well, this may be the undoing of the Republicans in not California but throughout the country.