Why do so many California voters keep voting for bad Democrat politicians?

[Cowboy T]

I think this is something worth exploring sincerely, without getting snarky or insulting people. Yes, I know it's tempting, very often given the behaviour of today's Democrat politicians in California (and elsewhere!). But to get that to change--which I assume you all want--is going to take some changes in strategy and tactics.

1.) Trump won a lot of Independent voters in good part because Democrats and their allies in the various media kept insulting "Trump supporters" as being neo-Nazis, insurrectionists, this, that and so on. Many Independent voters got tired of it and gave Democrats the middle finger in November. Therefore, us doing that to Democrats will result in the same thing, especially in states like California.

2.) Right now, and for good reason, "Republican" = "religious wing-nut claiming Christianity" to a lot of folks who aren't Conservative Christians. It doesn't matter if you think that's wrong, not if you want to convince non-Christian, non-Conservative voters not to vote for today's Democrats. If you do, they will tune you out the same way many Independents tuned out the rabid leftists in November. I would suggest that the Republican Party ditch the religious stuff from the platform, totally. Completely. If you want to practice Christianity or any other religion, or even none...fine! Great! That's true religious liberty. Currently, the Republicans are pushing Christianity, and it's turning a lot of people in California off.

3.) It's high-time that the Republicans proactively repudiated the Confederacy. The Civil War is over, and the Confederacy lost...thank goodness. Unfortuantely, there appears to be tacit approval of this "Lost Cause" mindset and has been for decades. That ain't gonna work when you're talking to California voters, folks. At this point, not actively repudiating the Confederacy is tantamount to supporting it in the minds of a whole lot of those voters. Again, whether you agree with this or not is irrelevant in the minds of those voters that you need to convince not to vote Democrat...if you want the Democrats out of power, that is.

4.) Far too many White Republicans appear to be scared to death to actually go into racial-minority communities, make their case, and ask them for what they'd like to see happen. In other words, actually engage with and talk with these voters. When I've asked these White Republicans why they won't do this, their objections have ultimately boiled down to, "oh, but my safety! They'll attack us on sight!"

That's gotta change. For example, Black voters across the nation voted against Democrats this last Presential election in higher numbers than we've seen in decades. That's because Trump went and talked with them, where they live. He met with them. He wasn't scared to go to them. We all saw the result of that in November. As bad as the Democrats are at present, Republicans and others have a golden opportunity to make their case to a lot of these voters. But you've got to actually go and do it. The most important step is to show up.

Don't believe me? Got your hackles up? Well, just look at who actually gets elected in California. Look at the General Assembly. Look at the Governor's Office. Democrat super-majorities. What the California Republicans are doing--and not doing--is directly contributing to this state of affairs. Is that what you want to continue happening?

[IronsightsRifleman]

Liberalism is an illogical mental condition.

When conservatives see a problem they make plans to solve it. They might open a new business, or seek employment, or adopt the cause through a hobby or volunteer work. Their reward is to see the situation improve.

Liberals go looking for a problem so they can yell and scream that other people should be solving it. They protest, petition, legislate, and tax. They don't care about improving the situation. Their reward is in vitrue signaling and having pet problems to complain about.

My young niece supports open immigration and is a huge fan of the Black Lives Matter movement. She enjoys telling me what a racist I am. She doesn't have a single black or Latino friend. She gives money to the Democrat party, but has never donated time or money towards improving the plight of any of the people she is supposedly so concerned about.

[WOODY2]

Liberalism is an illogical mental condition.

When conservatives see a problem they make plans to solve it. They might open a new business, or seek employment, or adopt the cause through a hobby or volunteer work. Their reward is to see the situation improve.

Liberals go looking for a problem so they can yell and scream that other people should be solving it. They protest, petition, legislate, and tax. They don't care about improving the situation. Their reward is in vitrue signaling and having pet problems to complain about.

My young niece supports open immigration and is a huge fan of the Black Lives Matter movement. She enjoys telling me what a racist I am. She doesn't have a single black or Latino friend. She gives money to the Democrat party, but has never donated time or money towards improving the plight of any of the people she is supposedly so concerned about.

It's not your fault your sibling failed parenting 😂

[Old4eyes]

I could never figure out why they kept voting for the folks they did. Possibly lazy and going for name recognition, the hope of a freebie, the promise of Shangri-La.

I just knew that in my life time, things were not going to change and was blessed to have the opportunity to leave and took it. For those of you still there and fighting the good fight, good luck, you'll need it.

[Jimi Jah]

For many liberals, politics has replaced religion. Like with religion, they are true believers. They don't let facts nor reality get in the way of their beliefs.

[Mute]

It's a messaging problem. Everything you said is a problem for the GOP is perception rather than reality. Granted, your points aren't completely off base, they're only a partial picture. There is more diversity in the party than hard core Democrats wants to believe or accept, but the mainstream media has done a solid job of making that perception reality for a majority of CA blue voters.

[M1NM]

Free S***t. A belief that charity is compassionate. Thinking that aliens have a right to invade our country because their own country is a Shole. I hope Trump denies the 3.4 billion Newscum has asked for Medicaid is denied. This will really help point out the error of our 1 party rule in Commiefornia.

[gunuser17]

I do not believe that it is only a messaging problem - it is a freebie problem and those that get government aid don't want that to go away. 35% of Californians receive some form of public aid - SNAP, Medicaid and other programs. Messaging may be an issue for the over 16% that are on social security. Then you have the hard core democrats/socialists that truly believe in their cause. Add that up and there is a strong impetus to keep those that give you free things or feel guilty over not giving more free things in power. Tough to overcome in states like California, Illinois and some others.

[Sgt Raven]

Don't forget that California has the 'Top Two' Primary system and many times it is 2 Democrats per position in the General Election.

[CessnaDriver]

Wish I knew. Certainly all the local "news" contributes. Rarely do they criticize the great and mighty team blue's "leadership" results. Pure collusion.

[TrappedinCalifornia]

1.) Trump won a lot of Independent voters in good part because Democrats and their allies in the various media kept insulting "Trump supporters" as being neo-Nazis, insurrectionists, this, that and so on. Many Independent voters got tired of it and gave Democrats the middle finger in November. Therefore, us doing that to Democrats will result in the same thing, especially in states like California.

I've been known to say something similar. It's one thing to call an apple tree an apple tree. It's something else to call an apple tree a stink bush because you don't like that particular type of apple. Logic rather than passion has always been the diametrically opposing forces inherent to the Republican/Democrat split in the electorate. Put another way, each has their own version of 'logic' (one deductive, one inductive) and the rules of logic dictate that you cannot 'logically' mix the two. Simply playing the game the way "they" do puts both sides at a disadvantage since neither is good at the other way of playing. What you have to do is promote an 'understanding' for the perspective of each and then focus on the common/shared elements.

2.) Right now, and for good reason, "Republican" = "religious wing-nut claiming Christianity" to a lot of folks who aren't Conservative Christians. It doesn't matter if you think that's wrong, not if you want to convince non-Christian, non-Conservative voters not to vote for today's Democrats. If you do, they will tune you out the same way many Independents tuned out the rabid leftists in November. I would suggest that the Republican Party ditch the religious stuff from the platform, totally. Completely. If you want to practice Christianity or any other religion, or even none...fine! Great! That's true religious liberty. Currently, the Republicans are pushing Christianity, and it's turning a lot of people in California off.

That's a bit oversimplified. You can't reasonably demand that Republicans stop being Republicans by 'abandoning' a significant part of their voter base. What would be 'reasonable' in my opinion is the adoption of a more 'nuanced' platform rather than one which appeases the extremists on both sides. For instance, there are ways to talk about abortion rather than simply NONE vs. ALWAYS. If an 'intermediate' stance violates your sense of right and wrong, bear in mind that you are violating their sense of right and wrong. It's like the gun debate. We resent and fight all the limitations which are closing in on the point of denial of what we view as a Constitutional right. They resent our any time, any place, whatever we choose demands as being scornful of what they (in some cases, rightfully) perceive as rights.

3.) It's high-time that the Republicans proactively repudiated the Confederacy. The Civil War is over, and the Confederacy lost...thank goodness. Unfortunately, there appears to be tacit approval of this "Lost Cause" mindset and has been for decades. That ain't gonna work when you're talking to California voters, folks. At this point, not actively repudiating the Confederacy is tantamount to supporting it in the minds of a whole lot of those voters. Again, whether you agree with this or not is irrelevant in the minds of those voters that you need to convince not to vote Democrat...if you want the Democrats out of power, that is.

Nope. That's simply buying into how the Left has portrayed the Confederacy. In many respects, the Confederacy was much closer to the original concept than the U.S. was becoming, even at that point. A comparison of the U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of the Confederate States demonstrates a very close alignment; with the differences being many of the things debated in 1776. Just because 'they' bought into a different side of the debate than eventually emerged and was later expanded upon didn't make them inherently 'evil.' That's without getting into the machinations going on in D.C. at the time and how it came across, particularly to those who believed strongly in a different balance point than the one which was evolving.

Again, this comes back to a more nuanced approach than simply saying "they were evil and should be abandoned as an historical footnote." Such is especially true in that many of the things the Confederacy would have agreed with are actually promulgated as 'mainstream' among Republicans today. It's even something we see on this site, whether many will admit it or not. The problem isn't one of concept, but one of degree. Remember, the Civil War wasn't necessarily fought exclusively over 'slavery.' It was fought over what level of Government controlled, to what degree, and how power was viewed/implemented at the expense of various regions for causes seen as 'greater' by other regions. In many respects, it's very similar to what's going on today. Thus, repudiating the Confederacy is and can easily be viewed as a repudiation of many things Republicans actually espouse, but to a more 'controlled' degree.

4.) Far too many White Republicans appear to be scared to death to actually go into racial-minority communities, make their case, and ask them for what they'd like to see happen. In other words, actually engage with and talk with these voters. When I've asked these White Republicans why they won't do this, their objections have ultimately boiled down to, "oh, but my safety! They'll attack us on sight!"

I tend to start tuning out the speaker as soon as they infuse 'race' into any argument. It's not just "whites" who are scared to death to enter certain neighborhoods. What you're getting at are cultural differences, not necessarily racial ones. Likewise, it's not necessarily exclusively a 'White Republican' problem in that, in many instances, the minority populations immediately become 'hostile' to any presence outside their own race/ethnicity and, in some cases, hostile to anyone viewed as 'different,' even if the race is identical. In other words, viewing it along racial lines is a gross oversimplification and acting on that basis is more likely to exacerbate rather than rectify the problem.

My point with all the above? It's not about being more like "them" or demanding that they be more like "us." It's not about judging some historical event or movement from 200 years ago by today's standards. It's not about trying to ameliorate or negate our differences.

It's about what we share in common and finding a 'balance' which is perceived as 'maximizing' and not 'minimizing,' while allowing that some constraints are inevitable to make a society function.

[offrdmania]

As long as the liberal government keeps giving out free assistance, they will always be voted for. Those receiving the free assistance will never vote out the cash cow.

[tacticalcity]

Frankly I think the school system is the problem. Parents let the school system do the parenting of their children. Especially when it comes to teaching them politics. Mostly because they were raised by the school system and that is where they learned their politics. Meanwhile, people that are drawn to teaching almost always are left leaning. Especially if they want to get support from their peers and want to get promoted. Which is why Democrats make a point of supporting teachers unions, and vice versa. Big government helps those who work for the government.

[ojisan]

Liberal gal I know:
RFK Jr. is not handsome for TV and has a gruff voice, she would not vote for him.
Newsome looks great and sounds wonderful, she will vote for him.

WTF?

[Capybara]

Huge swaths of stupid, brainwashed Commies here will elect Kamala as Gavin's replacement. There is nothing that can be done to change them from NOT voting for that prostitute.