LA Times 12/24, CA not so blue anymore?

[rumpel]

long article but an important read.

COLUMN ONE
In GOP They Trust
* Murrieta is a city of affordable housing and deep conservatism -- a reminder that beyond the coasts, California is trending Republican.

snip

Here in the stout heart of red California, voters snort with disdain when they hear that President Bush's strong victory caught America's Democrats by surprise. Not a single Murrieta precinct swung Sen. John Kerry's way in the bitterly fought 2004 election; in many parts of town, 70% or more of the electorate cast ballots for Bush — a strong show of red unity in one of America's bluest states.

The same values that drew voters here to Bush in the first place also led many of them to Murrieta, the self-proclaimed gem of the Temecula Valley, where streets are safe, schools are good and housing is more affordable than in many other parts of California.

Churches outnumber bars here some 15 to one, 40% of the residents are of school age, and 71% are white. Murrieta's population has quadrupled since 1990, as thoroughbred ranches and chaparral-covered hills due east of Orange County have given way to subdivisions with names like Pacific Oaks, Sedona, Meadowlane.

"People come here with their families, and they want a conservative lifestyle that they can re-create," said Mayor Pro Tem Kelly Seyrato, who moved here nearly 15 years ago with his wife from Los Angeles County so they could buy a house and start a family. "We were able to recapture the fresh neighborhood of the '60s feel…. It had a lot of promise out here."

snip

Bush lost California resoundingly last month, so it is easy to forget that more people voted for him in this state than in any other in America. With population and political clout clustered in Democratic Los Angeles County and the San Francisco Bay Area, it's also easy to overlook the rapid spread of conservative California.

article interviews several people, why they support Bush

full story:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-murrieta24dec24,0,3305579.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[thebaghwan]

1. Well I wouldn't stop to take a piss in their worthless city.

[zann725]

2. What a crock! The only area Red area of CA is in located in Gov's house!

Though LA Times has printed an oddly large number of drifting-Right stories the last few weeks. Not at all indicative of their audience here in L.A. No wonder they're "giving away" the Sunday Times at only $1 lately. Just can't give that "not-so-Right" news away!

[DBoon]

3. Keep their kids out of public universities

Yeah, let these "no tax" people pay for their own kid's college in a private institution.

And maybe when they get old, let them pay for private health insurance.

Keep the public benefits for those of us who understand their needs.

[TheFarseer]

4. I hope I don't lose my brains if I ever have kids

I think most people, when they have kids, decide they have to protect them from sex and drugs and naughty words. These are minor issues (that the republicans have unrealistic solutions to anyways) compared to an irreversible flow of jobs overseas, record budget deficits, the irreparable destruction to Social Security, raping of the environment etc etc etc. Someday people will wake up and realize that.

[The Sheik]

5. California will always remain the way it is currently...

but as the article cited, a strong conservative movement is being founded in central, especially southern central california. The Republicans are gathering in the desert strongholds of fields and every inhabitant can live there life not knowing liberalism and its benifits until they head west to cities like Los Angeles and San Franciso. The housing may be affordable, but the economy in central California is the pits, the weather is terrible (it can be january and feel like June,) and overall, its just pretty ugly.

[femme.democratique]

6. What is this BS about a "strong" victory?

Yeah right, 56+ million people voting STRONGLY anti-Bush does not equate a strong victory....

[PROGRESSIVE1]

7. .

[rumpel]

8. The writer completely ignores our questions about the elections

like all MSM, as if it does not exist. The rosy world according to *

Yet, some of the people she interviewed do not seem to completely embrace the repub agenda, except the retired activist teacher, who calls historical facts "revisionist". This is the same issue, that came up with the Department of Education, when Lynn Cheney complained, she wanted more mention of all the "good" that was done, promting changes in publications already printed. It is extremely dangerous to have these political views injected into history education. Education of our young should always be neutral.
The fact that revisionists call historical fact "revisions" is a an often used tactic, liers call the others liars, thieves call the victims negligent etc.. "Clear Skies & Healthy Forrest". The point of teaching history with all it's glories and atrocities is to learn and not repeat the mistakes.

It is a scary and unfortunately a succesful tactic we have witnessed, to have education politicized, and Clear Channel owning 1200 radio stations, dissemanating skewed views to commuters, who have to sit in the vehicles for hours, just to go to work.
It is brainwashing of the masses.

and the comment of one guy, who says illegal aliens bring "disease, and it is a national public health issue", is not even worth responding to.

The activist teacher commenting that the GOP really wanted to defeat Boxer, just makes me more convinced that the election results are incorrect.

The data will provide the information whether "more people voted for him in this state than in any other in America" proves to be true.

[mirandapriestly]

9. There has been a lot of "hints" that California is turning red

I remember articles during the election saying that Bush was doing so well in Cal. Makes me wonder what they have up their sleeve.

[Higans]

20. If California turns red it will be because the Media has been

ordered to turn it red. and no other reason.

The continuing question of "How do you audit a vapor vote?"

Is E-Voting ME-Voting? Prove it!

This is the case the the Main Stream Media won't go near. instead they will talk about Scott Peterson for hours, or some puppy down a well when the real story....the one they won't touch....is that democracy is under attack by hackers.

[yojon]

10. Headline is horsesh*t

What they really mean is that Murietta is trending repuglican.

There were 100 Kerry signs for every b**h sign in Palo Alto.

[sandnsea]

11. $300,000, affordable housing???

Wow. My CA home was $25,000 in 1976. Minimum wage was $2.30. What's wrong with this picture? What's wrong with these asshats who support this kind of an economy?

[Pithy Cherub]

12. What does the LAT think we annexed Nevada -

CA is blue. TLAT is basing their laughable analysis on flawed data - sorta like some exit polls. It is a republican's dearest wish to turn CA a different color - not gonna happen. Major political seat to a governor - under CA circumstances... after that it is blue!

[illflem]

13. Calif is what it is

Red twice for Reagan just as many now red states were blue for Clinton. Many folks could care less about party affiliation, they just vote for the candidate they like best.

[TayTay]

14. It could change in a heartbeat

This is scary stuff. The tools that the extreme rightwing is bringing to bear elsewhere in America are being brought to bear in California. Folks are only hearing one voice and it's not a liberal one. Between conservative radio and Faux Awful News, people are learning that liberalism is evil and there are not enough countervailing views being heard. Thank Gawd for Media Matters, Air America and the independent liberal talk shows that are starting to come out. It's nowhere near the powerhouse that the conserveratives put forth, but it is a significant start.

[brindis_desala]

17. you make an excellent point

It is essential that we find wealthy donors to begin a liberal network now that PBS has become another corporate mouthpiece. The problem of course is advertising. But if we don't restrain these corporations from giving money to political candidates we're toast. In the meantime we must all try to only buy from neutral or progressive sources.

[savistocate]

26. & you make an excellnt point...

http://www.buyblue.org

That presumed political analyst spotlighted a county that does resemble RW of Nevada --another as close as NM.
He could have as easily isolated the Northeast counties which are all rural and much the same as Idaho-Dakotas-Mont.
The Central Valley equals Neb-Kansas-Iowa (by half), & South.

[Menshevik]

15. these people are nuts

"They believe that the news industry is peopled with hard-core Democrats — even conservative Fox network, insisted an indignant Bruce Blanton."

Uhhh yeah, tons of Dems at Fox :eyes:

[TNMOM]

16. what poppycock!

my family lives there. no way, I'd call them Republicans.

[caligirl]

18. I live in the bay area and I am not surprised by this, I was surprised

to see 44% of the stste support Bush. As housing costs have soared here, my house has tripled in value since 1995, <1550 sq ft 3/2 with highly sought after schools among the top 10 in the state and houses here start at 700,000,the silicon valley downturn didn't effect the prices> more people are forced out to the valley, as people move here from out of state they don't have the funds for these prices so they too are choosing the valley over the coastal areas. We have seen huge growth east of Livermore(a republican dominated area east of Oakland.) Tracy and Modesto,basically the valley from Sacramento south, lots of housing has been built in the past few years. If you can't take home about 72,000 a year you can't afford to live here. When we moved in in 1989-90 it was 56,000 needed to make ends meet.
But when I saw Alameda County results for President I was surprised and concerned to see a larger vote for Bush in this county which includes Livermore and several other communities that vote Republican, Pleasanton, San Ramon as well. But they have never been as strongly republican, or so I thought, as the votes show. Bush won many precincts in those areas.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

23. Diebold just settled for $2.6million over vote fraud in Alameda County.

There was massive election fraud in California AGAIN.

California is the next neo-con-man target, not Iran.
The Gropenfuhrer is talking about 'special elections' next year to redistrict the state to make it 'redder' the way Tom Delay did in Texas.

So the LA Times is doing some advance PROPAGANDA WORK to justify the fraudulant election results of the recent past and those about to be committed.

"The same values that drew voters here to Bush...
...churches outnumber bars..."

Oh! I get it!
Repubs are God's Chosen Few and
Dems are a bunch of drunks who like anal sex.

This is called running the ball down the field as far as you can. This ball is the bogus 'moral values' meme the MSM is working against the Dems, like Faux's O'Reilly working the 'Christmas Under Seige' crap to suggest Dems hate Santa/God/Jesus/Mom/Apple Pie etc.
Yeah, right...

[rumpel]

24. yup. the special election has to be stopped at all cost!

[sepia_steel]

19. First of all

1. So. Central Cali being red is nothing new. A lot of farms, dust, mountains - rural. I DO know Reps. there (however they didn't all vote for *)

2. It seems as if California was a perfect place for * to pad his whisper of a margin, and I believe I saw a few 'math posts' here to support that.

The author is trying to make something out of nothing.

[Peace Patriot]

21. L.A. Times generally has higher standards than this...

caligirl: "Bush won many precincts in those areas."

We don't know what Bush "won." Same thing about the "red" states. We don't know how they really voted. CA, despite having a more aware and active Sec'y of State than many states--that is, he sued Diebold, and gave us the option of asking for a paper ballot--our votes are still centrally and electronically tabulated by guess who?

sepia_steel: You're absolutely right about the central valley--always has been Repug ranchers, a few Christian nuts, and a lot of Mexican workers (who may some day save us by proposing that California rejoin Mexico, when the Bush Nazis come kicking down our doors again to steal whatever we create--our budget surplus, our computer engineering genius, our children...).

I did just a small nibble of research on the vote in a place I know very well: San Bernardino (a conflicted place, once strong union/lib Dem, but ALSO home of the John Birth Society and the Christian anti-communist Crusade).

Bush 55%
Kerry 43%

Lib Dem woman for Senate: Boxer: 50%
RW Repug white male Jones for Senate: 45%

No way this vote is on the up and up. Kerry votes GOT STOLEN.

The L.A. Times is a fairly decent newspaper, as corporate media goes, but they have their heads up their asses on this one. They're just like everybody else who's arguing about "what it all means." "It" being a crapload of "no vote for president" ballots in black precincts in Ohio, and Bush fascists voting for Barbara Boxer in San Bernardino.

[sepia_steel]

22. absolutely right.

[rumpel]

25. I also think Optiscan machines can not be trusted.

and as for the media, I immediately had the impression that right after the election, the tone changed to favor *. even the so called "liberal media".

[lthuedk]

27. CA is trending towards Bush vote padding through BBV manipulation.