Herpes vs. Gonorrhea
If you love watching two mid-level Republicans fight over a district, get ready for all your dreams to come true.
So now that Proposition 50 has passed, Orange County denizens will have the pleasure of watching two longtime Republicans/Donald Trump bootlickers fight for the remnants of what once was (but a few days ago) a profoundly different CA-40.
By pleasure, I mean, well, a grotesque sight to behold.
One of the Republicans is Young Kim, a perfectly pleasant and equally dull incumbent who has been known to battle back against Trump’s extremism once every 17 years. The other Republican is Ken Calvert, the Riverside County rep whose 41st Congressional District was torn apart and fed to a goat (oh, and who also is terrified of Trump the way a gnat is terrified of a dragon). Kim has $4.7 million in cash in her stash. Calvert’s got $3 million.
This, from the New York Times, makes my heart sing …
Calvert later told Patch: “I look forward to helping President Trump to deliver lower taxes, to bring down housing costs, secure our borders, make our streets safe and bring real results for the families of this district for years to come. Together, we will Make America Great Again.”
Glub.
Put differently, there’s something sorta dope about watching two hard-right Republicans suddenly forced to rip out one another’s spleen. It serves these folks right, and I hope they spend all their money demonizing one another.
However, I would enjoy this more were the reconfigured 40 somehow in play for the Democrats. And as much as I want to believe it is, and as much as I would love to see a Lisa Ramirez or Perry Meade or Esther Kim Varet shock the state, well … eh … ah, we’re talking about a district that now leans (at bare minimum) nine percentage points Republican. That is not merely a small amount to overcome. It’s a Grand Canyon-sized gulf. Impossible? I suppose not. Likely, no.
So … where do we go from here? I truly have no idea. But if it involves a pair of Trump worshipers reducing themselves to half-naked whimpering sprouts blowing bubbles into a typhoon, I’m buying a front-row seat.
In 2024, across the country, 28 GOP House members won by 10 points or less. In VA and NJ the Dems won by well over 10 points. Anything is possible, especially against vacationing House members who have not worked in 6 weeks, got paid to stay home, and stayed silent as people in their districts were swept off the streets, can no longer afford insurance, and for the neediest among us the lifelines are cut. If I ran the Dems, I’d start campaigning NOW. I am not surprised Kim said the ads start in April, nothing positive going to happen before then (or after for that matter) that can change how she performed in this moment.
I'm not sure all hope is lost. When you look at the numbers from Virginia, there were some pretty huge swings in some pretty red districts. Here at home, orange county went by nearly nine percent for prop 50. Riverside went by over eleven percent. I know that in orange county, there is a difference between the western and eastern half of the county. However, those numbers should give everyone some hope.
Additionally, it looks, at least right now, that Young Kim and Ken Calvert are going to try to out-maga Each other. That, of course, seems like a losing strategy, given the results of Tuesday's election.I guess Republicans will never learn. If anything another year of tariffs and ice raids is really going to sour people on the republican party, even in the reddest parts of the state.