To the Editor:
After reading Michael Medved’s essay “Open Up That Golden Gate” [September 2014], I’d like to offer an alternate strategy: Wait until California slides into bankruptcy, and then (as in Michigan) the people will wise up and listen to reason.
I would rather have Democratic rule than RINO rule. At least the Democrats are honest. Earl Warren was one of the most liberal justices; Arnold Schwarzenegger won because he hoodwinked the Republicans and was also quite liberal, passing global-warming legislation that is destroying California’s economy and will continue to do so for years to come. Hiram Johnson was the running mate of the first RINO, Teddy Roosevelt, who (along with Johnson) was also a progressive. With Republicans like these, who needs liberal Democrats?
The goal should be good governance, not simply Republican governance.
Ted Heumann
Orange, California
Michael Medved writes:
Congratulations to Ted Heumann on coming up with the most original strategy I’ve yet heard for rebuilding the Republican Party in California. He apparently hopes to persuade Golden State voters to flock to the conservative banner in order to follow the inspiring example of Michigan. I’m not at all sure that the booming Bay Area will wish to emulate Detroit, or that it’s a clever bit of marketing to echo a discredited line from the Vietnam war: “We had to destroy the village in order to save it.”
As to Mr. Heumann’s stated preference for “Democratic rule” over “RINO rule,” it ought to be obvious that one-party rule of any sort counts as an abomination. This approach to governance works poorly in Beijing, Pyongyang…and Sacramento. As to the dismissive hostility toward Earl Warren, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Teddy Roosevelt, and Hiram Johnson: Whatever their ideological shortcomings, these Republicans counted as supremely successful politicians who won landslide victories through the course of long careers. So did another leader of the California GOP who some might also deride as a RINO: Ronald Reagan, who as governor signed legislation legalizing abortion, as president granted amnesty to 3 million illegals, and as both governor and president raised taxes on numerous occasions.
Isn’t it high time to call off the RINO hunt? Religious denominations may on occasion feel the need to pursue heretics and squelch heterodox tendencies in the ranks, but any political party that gives in to the temptation to purge and purify risks its own rapid extinction. A RINO (a “Republican In Name Only”) still helps us more than a politician who resists Republican affiliation of all kinds. Even the great Churchill learned to work with Stalin in order to trounce a common enemy, Hitler, so one could only hope that indignant conservatives might learn to work with more moderate elements in California in order to defeat the oppression of one-party, hyper-progressive control. Ultimately, political success still depends on addition, not subtraction; on multiplication, not division. Without a concerted effort to build coalitions and expand the conservative base, we will miss the chance not only for Republican governance, but for good governance of any kind.
