California Republicans Downplay Their Toxic Brand to Survive

[Galraedia]

It’s tough being a Republican in California these days. The GOP hasn’t won a gubernatorial or U.S. Senate race in the state since 2006. Democrats appear to have an entrenched supermajority in the state legislature. And thanks to the top-two primary system that voters imposed in 2010, Republicans are no longer guaranteed a spot on general election ballots, a fact that was dramatized when two Democrats competed in the Senate general elections in 2016 and 2018. To the extent that the GOP had any optimism about changing the partisan dynamics of California politics, it was dissipated by their disappointing performance in the 2021 campaign to recall Democratic governor Gavin Newsom. Republican opposition to Newsom’s reelection this year is feeble.

Sure, there are significant pockets of Republican support in California, and in 2020, they had a bit of a comeback in U.S. House races. But even then, it involved clawing back four of seven House seats the GOP lost in a calamitous 2018 election.

But as Californians vote in their June 7 primary (since every registered voter was sent a mail ballot, votes have already been rolling in for weeks), there are three notable Republican personalities who have a chance to win in this enemy territory — but not with conventional strategies. Two of them have discarded the toxic party label and a third is downplaying it in a way that acknowledges Democratic domination. But all three are running on conservative themes that are resonating elsewhere in this midterm election, only without the loud-and-proud Republicanism.

The best known of the trio is probably billionaire developer and veteran GOP donor (and member of the board of the Ronald Reagan Library Foundation) Rick Caruso, who suddenly announced he had become a Democrat on the eve of launching his candidacy for mayor of Los Angeles. His signature developments (epitomized by the Grove) are aesthetically pleasing and orderly mixed-use commercial and residential communities that Angelenos may compare favorably to the rising crime and homelessness affecting other public spaces in their city. His stated desire to “clean up L.A.” is a quite literal appeal to the “order” part of an otherwise traditional law-and-order campaign message (he also wants to hire more police officers and in the past has been a vocal advocate of controversial “broken windows” policing strategies that often target minor crimes contributing to “disorder” rather than violent crime itself).

Read more: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/06/california-republicans-downplay-their-toxic-brand-to-survive.html

[Historic NY]

1. Play stupid and no one will notice

[chowder66]

2. I'm worried that a lot of people are going to vote for Caruso.

People are fed up with the crime and homelessness around here. While I too am tired of it, it's a difficult problem.
Californians keep pushing back on housing for the poor because they don't want it in their neighborhoods and refuse to acknowledge this or don't even know about it... so to them Caruso sounds like a change they may want to try out.

He will most likely either run into the same problem or come up with a solution they will also disapprove of. I think any Mayor is going to have a rough go of it. I'm hoping Karen Bass wins but I don't know.
We absolutely need a new Sheriff and I'm hoping people vote for Robert Luna. He seems like a good fit for our problems.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

3. Same here. I'm voting for Karen Bass and Robert Luna (for Sheriff)

But have serious concerns that Rick Caruso will win the mayoral race.

The ad spending has been unprecedented and--I hate to say it--has been very effective in building him up and tearing Bass down (especially when it comes to those who don't closely follow politics and don't really know Karen Bass).

Caruso has been running as "Democrat Rick Caruso" despite joining the party 19 days before he announced and after a long history of backing Republicans. And nevermind this is not an (officially) "partisan" race.

What has been especially deft on his part is his ability to "dog whistle" to more conservative voters on issues like homelessness and crime, while at the same time loading his spots with black faces and endorsements that blunt the overt appearance of racism.

Few politicians are able to have it both ways. Caruso is doing so. At least for now.

If he were running as "Mayor Trump," as some have tried to suggest, he would get trounced here in LA. Instead he's played the game masterfully, which is easier to do when one has 36 million dollars to throw into a campaign (so far) IMS.

As for the Sheriff's office, Alex Villanueva has got to go. I'm embarrassed that I (and many other liberal Democrats) voted for him the last time. I can't think of another vote in my lifetime that I deeply regret (or even slightly regret), but that was one was a vote that I fervently wish that I could take back.

Villanueva needs to go and Luna seems like the consensus choice to replace him.

[chowder66]

7. Let's hope L.A. figures it out as they did with Whitman and Fiorina but I don't have high hopes.

I'm with you on Villanueva. I voted for him as well.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

9. Caruso seems to be running more in the mold of two-term LA mayor Richard Riordan

who was also a billionaire, as opposed to the mold of Whitman or Fiorina (and he is certainly not running as Mayor Trump).

Unlike Riordan, who was a moderate pro-business Republican running for an officially "non-partisan" office, he is running as "Democrat Rick Caruso."

With his massive ad spending Caruso seems to be successfully re-inventing himself.

Our hopes need to be for a run-off, based on my gut-check—as I've seen very little polling data.

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

[chowder66]

15. My fingers are definitely crossed.

[denbot]

5. I'm 6+ generation L.A, my father's from Chavez Ravine, his mom a hill to the west call Palo Verde

I'm more concerned with the billionair class and their shills poseing as democrats, and torpedoing our ajenda. Hell even an idiot can see through the troll tried and true concern angle, always ending with the billionaire being "no difference".

Don't-cha-think chowder66?!?!

[chowder66]

6. My only hope is that Los Angelenos will do what they did to Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina

who spent 162 million (Whitman) and about 60 million (Fiorina) on their campaigns. Nothing is better than watching all that money come in to the state and not electing them to office.

[uponit7771]

16. +1,

[ripcord]

14. Sadly the votes against Bass are votes against the democratic party

Many people see Bass as more of the same, there have been democrats leading Los Angeles for 29 years and people are now blaming that leadership for the criminally high rent prices, crime and homeless.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

4. Another interesting example of running away from the GOP brand is Young Kim

the Orange County Republican congressperson who ran (and lost) to Democrat Gil Cisneros in the glorious blue wave election of 2018, when Republicans got shellacked in their traditional strongholds.

Kim unfortunately won a rematch with Cisneros in 2020.

Now it is notable that she runs against "liberals," including an opponent on her right, a Republican named Greg Raths who she inexplicably tries to link with Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden (which is doubly weird since Biden took the district over Trump).

And her tagline is "vote for Conservative Young Kim. Not "Republican" Young Kim. Not even in what was traditionally a deep red Republican district.

All while ignoring Asif Mahmood, the only Democrat in the race.

It is weird one.

[Initech]

8. Yup, that's my district.

We unfortunately have a lot of MAGAholes here. It's definitely weird. I voted for Asif, hopefully he wins.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

11. Unfortunately Asif Mahmood seems to have established very little media presence

from what I've seen from here in Los Angeles.

If I did not know better, I might assume that the far-right Republican Greg Raths (who Kim attacks as a "liberal" in her ubiquitous ad campaign) was the Democrat in the race.

Definitely weird.

[Initech]

12. Yeah even I didn't know who he was.

But literally anyone has to be better than Young Kim. Anyone.

[Sympthsical]

10. Good luck

I saw a GOP gubernatorial candidate the other day, and she was full on right-wing Trumpian. All I could think was, "What state do you think you're running in?"

It's true that California does have some deep, deep red areas in the rural, less populated regions of the state, but they don't win you a statewide election. Pandering to whatever's happening in Lassen County isn't going to work in LA and SF.

All I can think is the object of the exercise is to raise their own profile for either other future races in different parts of the state or some other role in private industry or conservative organizations.

The goal can't be to win, because there is just no way.

[lindysalsagal]

13. It's legislate-by-shock-value: Normal statements don't put you out in front

They have to "out-crazy" each other to get air time. We're screwn.