Enough With the Handwringing

I haven't delved into the latest voter registration report from the California Secretary of State's office, which shows that Democrats are strengthening in the state while the rise of delcine-to-state voters is completely coming out of the hide of Republicans. By November it's clear that we'll have well over 7 million Democratic voters in California, and possibly under 5 million Republicans.

This isn't going away and can't be redistricted into balance. There is exactly one Congressional or legislative lawmaker in the ENTIRE Bay Area (Guy Houston in AD-15, and that seat will be strongly challenged in November). Pray tell how redistricting will somehow "remedy" that. Nationally, the trend toward Democrats is occurring in suburban and exurban districts. These are the only remaining Republican strongholds, and they're dissipating. With the sucky job picture in the state - worse than Pennsylvania or Ohio - and the rise in citizen activism to protest disaster capitalism, this wave is not likely to subside.

The Democratic leadership in Sacramento is trying to cement their legacy in vastly different ways, one with edge-tinkering and the other by demanding that the entire legislature works for change. The next two elections will use the current legislative district lines regardless of what happens with any redistricting initiative. This is the moment to capitalize on the trashed GOP brand in the state and across the nation, and capture a 2/3 majority and the governor's mansion, changing the vote threshold and allowing the legislature to actually govern.

This starts with the SD-12 recall, where Simon Salinas will run a strong campaign and needs to be supported. It's a referendum on the GOP. The fretting about some random initiative is pointless compared to getting a 2/3 majority today.