Latest column: California GOP continues its plunge into irrelevance

Latest column: California GOP continues its plunge into irrelevance https://t.co/Y076HUeP7D

— Dan Walters (@WaltersBee) April 2, 2017

...Republicans dominated the state’s politics for much of the 20th century – personified by Ronald Reagan – but began to fade as the century closed.

The new registration report shows Republicans declining to just 25.97 percent of the state’s 19.4 million potential voters, 9 percentage points below the party’s nearly 35 percent share in 2000.

Oddly, however, Democrats didn’t gain. In fact, they’ve dropped about a half-point to 44.77 percent since 2000. The big increase came in voters without a party preference, from 14.36 percent in 2000 to 24.51 percent in 2017. By next year’s general election, they may outnumber Republicans....

It is an eye-opening field guide to an unruly and hard-to-understand group, many of them born and bred Democrats.

Very perceptive piece on Trump's core supporters. https://t.co/TdX3WNd5Ub

— Steve Forbes (@SteveForbesCEO) August 1, 2016

I wonder what would happen if you used a derogatory term for blacks in a headline? Media double standard at play. https://t.co/h57QndRhGd

— Mark (@MarkMizzouSteel) July 31, 2016

.@nypost: "Why ‘white trash’ Americans are flocking to Trump?" https://t.co/qdodnE52AQ

maybe they're tired of being called 'white trash?'

— Doc Thompson (@DocThompsonShow) July 31, 2016

Half of all Americans live in the red (largest) counties, half live in the (smallest) orange counties

Half of all Americans live in the red counties, half live in the orange counties pic.twitter.com/HhPsP2WOlC

— Conrad Hackett (@conradhackett) November 29, 2015

Forget What You’ve Heard: Republicans Have the Demographic Edge for 2016

Forget What You’ve Heard: Republicans Have the Demographic Edge for 2016 http://t.co/HIpymBu8VG #tcot

— PJ Media (@PJMedia_com) September 6, 2015

Is this the political map of the future?

◼ If you’re a political junkie — or at least if you’re a conservative political junkie — you’ve probably seen the map. - Michael Barone/Washington Examiner @michaelbarone

It’s a map of the United States showing the congressional districts won by Republicans in red and those won by Democrats in blue.

It looks almost entirely red, except for some pinpoints of blue in major metropolitan areas and a few blue blotches here and there — in Minnesota, northern New Mexico and Arizona, western New England, along the Pacific Coast.

Of course it’s misleading. Congressional districts are of basically equal population, and Democrats tend to roll up big margins in densely populated areas. So while voters have elected at least 244 Republican congressmen and probably will end up with at least 247 — more than in any election since 1928 — the map overstates their dominance.

But it does tell us something about the geographic and cultural isolation of the core groups of the Democratic Party...

Like a female tsunami...

When You See This Map of America by Gender Majority, You’ll Swear That Women are Taking Over

◼ CLICK HERE for an animated gif of gender majorities by age and county location from 1900-2013.

The blue blocks are counties with male majorities, and the red are those with female majorities. It cycles through based on age groups; so it starts from 0-19 and moves through time to 20-44, and so on.

Exit polls show all demographics shifted to GOP after 2012

◼ Before and during the election, plenty of speculation arose as to the composition of the turnout and which demographics may have contributed more to Republican success. - HotAir
◼ The 2014 electorate wasn’t just older and whiter than 2012. It also voted more Republican. - Washington Post

Elections come down to turnout, yes, and Tuesday night was great turnout for the Republicans. But when every demographic group votes more heavily in one direction than two years prior, that effect is multiplied significantly.

About That 'Permanent Democratic Majority'

◼ The ideological composition of the American electorate hasn't changed dramatically. Self-identified liberals were 25% of voters in 2012 and 23% in 2008. Conservatives were 35% of voters in 2012 and 34% in 2008. - Karl Rove/Wall St. Journal

Demography isn't destiny because nothing is permanent in politics—and Democrats' insistence to the contrary will likely lead them to overreach, ignoring issues such as jobs, anemic growth and deficits in order to tackle gun control and climate change. That would be good for Republicans. Governing from the hard left sunk Democrats in 2010 and would cost them again in 2014.

Dependency and the Threat to the GOP: Why We Need a Great Leader

◼ The only way to preserve the promise of opportunity in America, and protect the GOP’s political prospects, is to end a substantial part of the dependency state.... - Mario Loyola/National Review

The model here may not be Reagan, who was only facing a few years of stagflation. The model may be a leader such as Margaret Thatcher and Charles de Gaulle, each of whom was able to reverse a national decline that was already well under way, and which had come to seem irreversible.

If conservatives are to meet the challenge that the dependency state poses to their political prospects, the first step is to find a leader who can unite the country behind a mission of national renewal.

Many single women, a key bloc, are avoiding GOP

◼ (S)ingle women, already one-quarter of the electorate, represent the most serious threat to the party's viability. - AP

"There was just no way I could have supported any Republican this year," said Stevenson, 31. "They skew so much to the religious right. ... They focused so much on taxes. It's not something that women in my demographic really care about. I've never heard my friends lament their taxes."

...Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who wrote a book with (Kellyanne Conway, a Republican pollster) on the women's vote, said unmarried women are a tough group for the GOP to crack.

"Any way you cut it, this demographic is much more on their own and much more precarious and much more interested in a safety net," Lake said. "If you're married, you're much more likely to be a churchgoer and have your church as a community. If you're married, you're much more likely to have owned your home for a while and have that community to rely on. If you're married, you're more likely to have your spouse to depend on...."