Nate Silver looks at decline of GOP in Bay Area presidential vote (moving, racist)

[YongAe]

Those of you who think California is so destroyed because of Democrats, perhaps you'd enjoy moving down to a redder state like Mississippi where welfare and poverty is low and nobody leaches off the government. Oh wait..

[sav858]

Kind of amazes me how hard it is for some to admit CA democrats have done a bad job at running this state. It's not like admitting that means Republicans would be any better overall. The political system is too polarized in both directions.

[YongAe]

Originally Posted by sav858

Kind of amazes me how hard it is for some to admit CA democrats have done a bad job at running this state. It's not like admitting that means Republicans would be any better overall. The political system is too polarized in both directions.

The previous governor for 8 years was a Republican, why are you singling out one side here? Not to mention the next fiscal year CA deficit will be down to 1 Billion.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by YongAe

The previous governor for 8 years was a Republican, why are you singling out one side here? Not to mention the next fiscal year CA deficit will be down to 1 Billion.

Look at who has controlled the state legislature for decades, they have far more power than the Governor and stay in office far longer. I'm not just looking at the state level either but also the local level. Democrats have been the one's in power for a long time, why are you so resistant to criticize them? I don't like a lot of republicans today so I tend to vote democrat more often than not but what bugs me is people who think democrats can do no wrong.

Yes our deficit is PROJECTED to be down to a billion but if you have paid attention those projections are off more times than not. But either way it's an improvement overall so I will give credit to Brown and the legislature for that. Still doesn't fix the fundamental problems with this state though.

[EdJS]

Originally Posted by Tomlcsc

It must be a coincidence that CA is regularly ranked the 49th or 50th worst place to do business in the USA.

California may be ranked as one of the worst states to do business in, yet many major companies still have their headquarters here and do most of their work here: Google, Apple, Oracle, HP, the list goes on. I guess it can't be THAT bad here.

[BayDude]

Originally Posted by EdJS

California may be ranked as one of the worst states to do business in, yet many major companies still have their headquarters here and do most of their work here: Google, Apple, Oracle, HP, the list goes on. I guess it can't be THAT bad here.

I wonder if all those companies pay (full) california taxes?

The only companies that seem to be able to consistently put up with California's business environment seem to be (highly profitable) tech companies. I suppose if it's ok for them it is for me, however that does raise questions about the diversity of job opportunities in the state. Jobs seem increasingly bifurcated between highly technical, highly skilled jobs and poorly paying service jobs.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by EdJS

California may be ranked as one of the worst states to do business in, yet many major companies still have their headquarters here and do most of their work here: Google, Apple, Oracle, HP, the list goes on. I guess it can't be THAT bad here.

they do business in the worse state, somehow manage to pay their employees very well plus give lots of perks and many are some of the most profitable companies. Now the usual bunch will point out the ones not doing so well like HP. Every industry has some companies that can't make it. Also not doing well in the tech industry isn't quite the same as elsewhere. My point is similar to the one I made in another thread; the state will only ruin things if the individual or business lets it. Rather than telling poll takers how bad it is here, they simply took advantage of what was here and capitalized on it. Whiners, whether individuals or companies fail, go getters succeed.

[ketch89]

Educated people vote democrat, what else is new?

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by ketch89

Educated people vote democrat, what else is new?

well id break it down like this:

Not all conservatives are stupid. We have some smart ones right here on C-D

But it seems that the overwhelming majority of stupid people happen to be conservative.

[kttam186290]

Originally Posted by ketch89

Educated people vote democrat, what else is new?

Yes, and so do lots of uneducated people.

Did you ever listen to the episode of Howard Stern where, before the election, he asked random people in Harlem about whether or not they thought Obama's pick of Paul Ryan as VP was a "good idea"? That was just one of many similar questions that were posed to would-be voters.

As a Democrat, it was extremely embarrassing and painful to listen to. It was also a reality check in that it reminded me that there are very uninformed and ignorant people in the Democratic Party also.

I'd say that the stupidity pendulum swings both ways!

To the original point of this post, though, I think Republicans lost the Bay Area because of their stances on social issues and the perception that the entire GOP is anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-environment, anti-immigration, etc.

One of the last moderate Republican officials from the Bay Area was Congressman Tom Campbell whose district was the Silicon Valley. He was quite popular.

When Ron Paul came to Berkley, he was a hit there and was warmly received!

That says a lot.