Opinion A4 Monday, November 30, 2020 — DAILY REPUBLIC
This week’s question:
Should California’s undocumented immigrants be excluded from the census? Go to www.dailyrepublic.com/pulsepoll to vote.
The right stuff
Strange days now in America
W
hat does that mean? America hasn’t seen an election like this since Richard M. Nixon-John F. Kennedy in 1960. For those of you not alive or old enough to remember the controversy surrounding that election, here’s a broad outline. The election was hotly contested and resulted in a large turnout. The results were very close as the popular vote difference was only 112,827 or 0.17% for Kennedy. Irregularities raised serious questions as to illegal voting. Similar to today, Senator Kennedy benefited from a higher Democrat voter registration over Vice President Nixon. Kennedy was a Roman Catholic and Nixon a Protestant. There was a recent economic recession (1957-58), which hurt the incumbent Republican Party. Those who remember may recall press coverage of accusations of voter fraud in two crucial states: Illinois and Texas. Then as now, Illinois is split politically, with the north heavily Democratic. The state Democratic Party was dominated by Chicago’s (Cook Jim McCully County) political machine controlled by the infamous six-time Democratic Mayor Richard J. Daley. As described by Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko in his 1971 book “Boss,” Daley was heavily courted by the Kennedy campaign as a known “king-maker” able to deliver whatever number of votes was needed in his area for any given election. The southern half of the state with small towns is heavily agricultural and predominately votes Republican. The old political joke about people’s grandfathers being good Republicans until they died and being reliable Democratic Party voters ever since rang true. The second questionable area was Texas, dominated by Kennedy’s running mate, Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson was the Senate majority leader at the time and had accepted the nomination for vice president at the Democratic Party convention. He was also known as a “party boss,” a “king-maker” and a man who delivered votes as needed. Nixon spoke with then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower told Nixon to contest the election and demand an investigation. Nixon declined, saying he didn’t want America embarrassed before the world. Who knows what would have happened had he done so and prevailed. No Kennedy brothers’ assassinations, possibly no Martin Luther King Jr. assassination. Now, wouldn’t that have been wonderful? Maybe no Vietnam war, no Watergate. Who knows? Like the old Dylan song lyric: A simple twist of fate! Another messy election in 2000 resulting in a 37-day legal battle (Bush v. Gore). The U.S. Supreme Court settled that election, telling the Florida Supreme Court they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Today some things are different and some aren’t. A difference is the Republican Party is the champion of the middle class, constitutional rights and capitalism. What I dubbed the Democrat Socialists Progressive Peoples Party oddly has become the party of billionaire propagandists, socialism, racial violence and rage, with America constantly at fault. Wow! Is President Donald Trump right to object to this voting debacle inflicted upon us? I say yes. If for no other reason than to show just how ridiculous this mass-mailed ballots fiasco is. But what really is shown is the brilliance of our Founding Fathers definitively placing elections in the jurisdiction of the legislatures (representatives of the people) of the states, not the governors, secretaries of state nor the courts. In fact, only the legislatures have control under the authority of the U.S. Constitution in Article 2, Section 1, Clause 2. Our educational system seems deficient in American history and civics. Why? Progressivism? It’s for parents and teachers to remedy this. The Democratic Party is putting our constitutional governance in serious jeopardy. This must be stopped. The U.S. Supreme Court may have to decide this election, too. President Abraham Lincoln warned about a house divided against itself in the famous Lincoln-Douglas senatorial debate of 1858. We know what happened. Funny, it was the same two political parties involved in that fight, too. Jim McCully is a member of the Solano County Republican Central Committee, Vacaville resident and former Northwest Regional vice chairman of the California State Republican Party.
DAILY REPUBLIC A McNaughton Newspaper Locally Owned and Operated Serving Solano County since 1855 •
Foy McNaughton President / CEO / Publisher
T. Burt McNaughton Co-Publisher
Glen Faison Managing Editor
Commentary
Progressives continue to hurt Dems
R
between 47 and 60 percent of ep. Abigail Spanberger, Democratic primary voters D-Va., went ballistic viewed socialism favorably. on the party’s left wing Indeed, one poll even found during a conference call that Democrats who viewed recently, blaming her unexsocialism favorably outnumpectedly narrow re-election on calls to “defund the police” bered those who said the and “socialism.” “We do not same of capitalism. Socialism need to use the word ‘socialdoesn’t play well with swing ist’ or ‘socialism’ ever again,” Henry Olsen voters in Spanberger’s educated, affluent suburban she said. Spanberger is right district, but it’s what a as a matter of political strategy, but she’s delusional if she thinks majority of Democratic voters like. The potential list of wedge issues the party’s left is going to go quietly. Centrists such as Spanberger face for representatives such as Spanthe unpleasant fact that progressive berger is almost endless. Packing the views are held by either the majority Supreme Court is an obvious or a strong minority of the party’s example, with one poll showing a voters. Take the “defund the police” majority of Democrats backing the movement as an example. Polls taken concept while a majority of Amerithis summer showed large majorities cans oppose it. The primary exit polls of voters opposed the idea. An showed a majority of Democrats in Economist/YouGov poll from June every state supported a “government found that 53 percent of voters (health-care) plan for all instead of opposed defunding the police while a private insurance.” Between 42 and Politico/Morning Consult poll found 51 percent of Democratic primary that 58 percent of registered voters voters also think the economic opposed it. Both polls, however, system in the United States “needs a showed the idea being supported by complete overhaul.” A majority of Democrats (44 percent and voters in Spanberger’s district 48 percent, respectively). The fact probably don’t agree with Democrats that a majority of independents on these issues, but her party’s opposed defunding the police in both majority is not going to give way polls is beside the point to progressimply to make her comfortable. The fact is that the Democratic sives. No party will suppress Party coalition is extremely diverse. discussion of an idea that a plurality It ranges from self-described of its voters support, no matter what “democratic socialists” such as Sen. the potential consequences. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. The same is true of socialism. Socialism polls poorly no matter what Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to conventional liberals such as House survey one looks at. But those polls also find that a majority of Democrats Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to have a favorable view of the ideology. centrists such as Spanberger. The A summer Gallup analysis found that party’s voter coalition extends even further to frustrated former Republi65 percent of Democrats have a favorable view of socialism, while the cans who voted Democratic out of 2020 primary exit polls found distaste for President Donald Trump.
That coalition could unify in opposition because they could agree on getting rid of Trump. It’s hard to see, however, what they could agree upon in government that could possibly satisfy the progressives that Spanberger was complaining about. This yawning chasm is the greatest challenge facing the likely president-elect, Joe Biden. The former vice president has spent a career leading from the shadows of the Senate, crafting compromise behind closed doors. As president, however, he will have to lead from the White House’s bully pulpit. The executive branch has enormous authority to set the national agenda through its regulatory apparatus, and both houses of Congress will surely wait for the president to set the legislative agenda. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in particular, will force Biden to make the first move in anything of importance. In all cases, if Biden hews to the center to garner support from Republicans and Democratic centrists, the party’s left could explode; if he veers to the left, McConnell will block proposals in the Senate and executive orders will be decided by the conservative Supreme Court. It’s a task that would tax even the most resourceful president. Democratic centrists such as Spanberger cannot run from this conflict; they might pray, but the cup will not be taken from them. The Democratic Party today simply contains too many people who hold left-wing political views for them to be easily silenced. Henry Olsen is a Washington Post columnist.
cALmatters Commentary
Bad optics can sink political careers
I
state’s consumer economy to n real life politics, as opposed to the textbattle Covid-19. book variety, hard fact The jury on Newsom’s is much less imporhandling of both is still out, tant than image or, as politbut they could be politically ical pros put it, “optics.” overshadowed by the bad We had a stark lesson in optics of ancillary aspects. that axiom this year when An obvious one is NewDonald Trump talked himself som’s tone deaf attendance at out of a second term as Dan Walters a gathering of political president. For months he operatives at a very expensive dismissed the severity of the restaurant in Napa as he was Covid-19 pandemic, even as infection beseeching 40 million other Califorrates, deaths and the public’s fears nians to avoid such gatherings zoomed upward. because of Covid-19. Ultimately, he was viewed as not When an account of the birthday only uncaring but unwilling to offer party was published later, Newsom leadership in an existential crisis, belatedly recognized that it pictured and lost to Joe Biden, one of the most him a hypocrite and issued profuse lackluster presidential candidates in public apologies. However, mea American history. culpas do not automatically repair the We have another example of damage. optical failure in California’s recent Meanwhile, Newsom faces past – the recall of Gov. Gray seemingly endless managerial Davis in 2003. disasters, with the DepartShortly after being re-elected in ment of Motor 2002, Davis confronted two simultaVehicles and the Employment neous crises, a hole in the state Development Department – two budget stemming from a mild agencies that directly interact with recession and a near-collapse of ordinary Californians – in the California’s electrical power system. starring roles. Although Davis was not responsiThe DMV has always been the ble for the emergence of either crisis, state agency that Californians love to he was perceived as having mishanhate, but anger reached the white hot dled them and paid the stage when those with business had ultimate political to endure hours-long waits. price. Eventually, things returned to a Gavin Newsom is now mid-way more normal state of frustration, but through his first term as governor just as DMV’s woes faded from the and he, too, is facing twin crises, the public consciousness, EDD entered it. pandemic that undid Trump and a EDD was tasked with distributing severe recession resulting from his the emergency pandemic unemployorders to shut down much of the ment aid but muffed it spectacularly,
generating hatred among millions of suddenly jobless Californians who depended on the payments to feed and house themselves and their families. Phone calls went unanswered and unprocessed claims for benefits piled up and at one point, Newsom suspended new applications to let EDD concentrate on its shameful backlog of claims. However, new problems emerged. The state auditor, Elaine Howle, sharply criticized EDD for continuing to print Social Security numbers on documents sent to claimants, seeing it as an avenue to identity theft. Just last week, it was revealed that inmates in state prisons and local jails had fraudulently and successfully claimed as much as a billion dollars in benefits from EDD. EDD is now seen as a department incompetently handling legitimate claims for vital benefits while incompetently paying those benefits to prisoners who use obviously phony, even comical, names and Social Security numbers they simply make up, including 123-45-6789. Newsom’s gubernatorial career won’t be undone by an ideological revolution in blue California, but it could be short-circuited by bad optics – a perception that he’s out of touch and incapable of managing even routine governmental business. CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more columns by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.
