OC GOP Numbers Dropping (What Do You Want To Do About It?)

The Orange County Register reported that Republican registration has dipped below 40%:

Republicans’ share of voter registration has fallen below 40 percent for the first time in the county’s history.

That’s 8 percentage points more than the Democrats’ share. but marks an ongoing slide from Republicans’ 22-point dominance in 1990, the GOP’s zenith in the county, according to county elections statistics updated this week.

The first question to ask: why have Republican numbers declined in otherwise reliable conservative bastion? The Register continues:

The growth in voters with no party preference – at 24 percent, up from 10 percent in 1990 – is a key part of the shift. While Democrats’ current 32 percent share of registration has stayed fairly constant since 1990, the GOP share has fallen from 55.6 percent. 

Some of the key factors behind the Decline To State uptick: Republican lawmakers in Washington routinely distance themselves from and diminish their base. Why are GOP leaders in Congress trying to push immigration "reform", when they should be fighting to dismantle and repeal Obamacare. They leadership just reauthorized the cronyist Ex-Im Bank, even though the grassroots vividly opposes these corporate handouts. The Republican organizations in other states are doing an incredible job of enacting reforms. Yet in California, Republicans are a smaller part of a bigger fight, and if state lawmakers choose to go left instead of stay right, more Republicans will reregister.

Granted, the demographic changes have forced Republicans to retool their message, and they are just now engaging different ethnic communities, but these outreach efforts are long overdue.

About this unsettling trend, Jon Fleischman wrote for Breitbart CA:

In Orange County, long considered one of the few bastions of conservatism in California, voter registration trends have been decidedly poor for the Republican Party, with GOP registration dropping below 40% of registered voters for the first time ever.

Now it's time to put a face of constructive criticism on this outcome. "Decidedly poor" does not mean "destined to be poor". I am still at a loss as to the goals of editors on key conservative news sites. Do bloggers want to describe the slow decline of the state? Are they interested in awakening readers with growing alarm about these disturbing trends?

Fleischman reminds readers of solid wins in Orange County, notwithstanding the registration issues:

This drop in GOP registration has not yet translated to losses in partisan offices in Orange County, nor has it impacted the all-Republican Board of Supervisors. But if these trends continue, it is only a matter of time before more Democrats start to win election to office in the this famously Republican turf.

For the record, economic nationalist and culture warrior Pat Buchanan was sounding alarm bells about Orange County nearly a decade ago. Today, Republicans occupy every seat of the Board of Supervisors. A Republican mayor governs San Diego, and has attracted trace opposition, if any. Republicans in California are reasserting local priorities to redevelop a strong bench of candidates for Congressional and statewide elections.

Yes, numbers are dipping, but they are also declining with the Democratic Party, too, as more liberal voters find that pushing Big Government and Big Brother economic policies have hurt them more than helped.

On a final point, I reached out to a well-connected politico about this Orange County dilemma. Here were his thoughts: "Reach out to Decline to states and get them back."

Sounds like a plan to me.