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This story might actually fall under the "and hope" part of this forum's heading--at least for those of us who aren't fans of our current POTUS and the policies he, and most congressional Republicans champion. Every single house district, six in total, within Orange County, CA went "blue" this time, flipping four of the most stubbornly "red" districts in CA. My mom, who lives in one of those districts is ecstatic, because she has hated her rep for years, but her politics are not typical of the area.
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/20/669330214/democrats-demolish-the-orange-curtain-in-orange-county
It has been of interest to me, because I grew up in Newpor Beach, CA, as a member of one of the few Democratic families that lived there (my dad was a professor at UC Irvine, and the house he purchased for 30k in 1970 was in what was then a relatively modest, "white working class" area of Newport Beach, but it gradually "gentrified" over the years). The first time I voted in a primary there, the June before I went off to College in Northern California, I remember how eyebrows went up when I said I needed a Democratic ballot.
Why and how the Republicans have, at least for now, fallen from grace in "red" Orange County, is an interesting puzzle. There were rumblings of this in 2016, when more Orange County folks voted for Clinton than Trump. I was hoping that Trump's unpopularity in such a conservative bastion (he polled poorly there before the election) was a sign that he'd go down everywhere red, but alas, it turned out to be in vain.
So the cautionary note is that this formerly red stronghold in a very blue state is not typical of Republican strongholds everywhere, nor of formerly blue states like Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin that are becoming redder. People in Orange County tend to be well educated and quite wealthy, and many are older and retired (because young families can't afford to move into many of its neighborhoods unless they get some help from their own parents). There's no way I could afford to live there, given my profession, unless I'd moved in with my mom or commuted great distances to work, as my brother (a doctor) does.
The Republicans I grew up with adored Reagan, but it was less for his rhetoric about abortion, women's rights, the environment, and creationism and more because he promised tax cuts for the rich and his stance on social issues reinforced a social order that had been beneficial to them historically. At least that was my take on it as a teen who had more interest than most teens in politics.
There are still a lot of very rich, white people in Orange County for whom voting their pocketbook would have meant voting for Trump in 2016 and for the GOP representatives in 2018.
Does this outcome mean we're finally seeing the beginning of the end of this unholy alliance between the fiscally conservative but socially more moderate branch of the GOP and the socially conservative, anti immigrant, anti environmental, anti science branch that should be fiscally liberal and pro labor but somehow isn't? Note that these "new" Democrats aren't in the Sanders camp by any means (are pretty moderate, even somewhat conservative, fiscally). Still, it's interesting that relatively wealthy people of a fiscally self-interested bent decided not to vote for incumbent Republicans when the economy is doing well (by wealthy standards, at least) and their own taxes have been lowered.
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/20/669330214/democrats-demolish-the-orange-curtain-in-orange-county
It has been of interest to me, because I grew up in Newpor Beach, CA, as a member of one of the few Democratic families that lived there (my dad was a professor at UC Irvine, and the house he purchased for 30k in 1970 was in what was then a relatively modest, "white working class" area of Newport Beach, but it gradually "gentrified" over the years). The first time I voted in a primary there, the June before I went off to College in Northern California, I remember how eyebrows went up when I said I needed a Democratic ballot.
Why and how the Republicans have, at least for now, fallen from grace in "red" Orange County, is an interesting puzzle. There were rumblings of this in 2016, when more Orange County folks voted for Clinton than Trump. I was hoping that Trump's unpopularity in such a conservative bastion (he polled poorly there before the election) was a sign that he'd go down everywhere red, but alas, it turned out to be in vain.
So the cautionary note is that this formerly red stronghold in a very blue state is not typical of Republican strongholds everywhere, nor of formerly blue states like Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin that are becoming redder. People in Orange County tend to be well educated and quite wealthy, and many are older and retired (because young families can't afford to move into many of its neighborhoods unless they get some help from their own parents). There's no way I could afford to live there, given my profession, unless I'd moved in with my mom or commuted great distances to work, as my brother (a doctor) does.
The Republicans I grew up with adored Reagan, but it was less for his rhetoric about abortion, women's rights, the environment, and creationism and more because he promised tax cuts for the rich and his stance on social issues reinforced a social order that had been beneficial to them historically. At least that was my take on it as a teen who had more interest than most teens in politics.
There are still a lot of very rich, white people in Orange County for whom voting their pocketbook would have meant voting for Trump in 2016 and for the GOP representatives in 2018.
Does this outcome mean we're finally seeing the beginning of the end of this unholy alliance between the fiscally conservative but socially more moderate branch of the GOP and the socially conservative, anti immigrant, anti environmental, anti science branch that should be fiscally liberal and pro labor but somehow isn't? Note that these "new" Democrats aren't in the Sanders camp by any means (are pretty moderate, even somewhat conservative, fiscally). Still, it's interesting that relatively wealthy people of a fiscally self-interested bent decided not to vote for incumbent Republicans when the economy is doing well (by wealthy standards, at least) and their own taxes have been lowered.
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