Blockbuster, Kodak, Sears and the Republican Party of California: damaged brands that either vanish, steadily decline, or are successfully reinvented by their respective leaders. One leader in California hopes the comparison is more like Apple, which floundered in the 90’s, only to re-emerge stronger than ever.
State Assemblyman Chad Mayes has earned the moniker “cap and traitor” among some conservatives. He was ousted as Statehouse Republican leader last year following his support of Gov. Jerry Brown’s cap and trade scheme. He’s facing a primary challenge in his suburban and rural district east of Los Angeles due to the controversial vote.
Mayes is leveraging his support for cap and trade as a means to launch “New Way California.” The organization held its first public event in Los Angeles this month with former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Speakers included CNN’s Michael Smerconish and Fox News’ Steve Hilton. Challenging traditional conservatism is a common theme among all these individuals.
As Governor, Schwarzenegger championed the state’s cap and trade law when it received just one Republican vote in the legislature more than a decade ago. Kasich bypassed Republican legislators and expanded Medicaid under Obamacare. Smerconish served in the George H.W. Bush administration before breaking with the party and supporting Barack Obama in 2008. Hilton was a domestic policy adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron, who sought to redefine British conservatism.
Could such political and media firepower lead the way in reinventing the Republican Party?
A startup organization, New Way California, thus far has a modest presence on social media and the web, no staff, and no evidence of fundraising ability. It has released two Internet commercials — one that asserts climate change is real and another that supports immigration. Its March 21 inaugural event was attended by some 200 people, but offered few policy specifics. Speakers took veiled shots at President Trump’s policies and his tweets, but were vague about what happens next.
To be sure, changing the direction of a political party is a difficult undertaking that often leads to civil war between the more moderate and the more ideologically pure factions within both parties. But one way for New Way California to avoid this might be to tack to the Right on certain issues as conditions warrant.
For example, California has one of the highest tax burdens in the country. Why not propose a flat personal income tax or even consider eliminating it altogether, like Texas, which has successfully wooed jobs and residents from California in recent years? Of course, that would mean shrinking the size of state government, so why not upend the culture in Sacramento by making bureaucrats justify every single penny through zero-based budgeting?
Kasich is one of the nation’s leading experts on welfare reform. His initiatives for linking job-training programs and welfare benefits offer an escape route from poverty. According to one measure, California has the highest poverty rate in the country. Why not go further and require drug testing for certain benefits and refer those who fail to rehabilitation and treatment providers? This balance between compassion and discipline, especially in the midst of an opioid epidemic, would be a first for California if not the nation.
New Way California will not succeed by simply opposing other Republicans and President Trump. It will succeed if it can rethink every aspect of state government, avoiding labels and capturing the public’s attention with bold, inspiring solutions to their problems.
Partisans on both sides have difficulty connecting with the general public. After all, it’s hard to believe that anyone but the most hard-core left is inspired by Democratic leaders positioning the state as the epicenter of the Trump resistance. To quote Apple’s legendary ad campaign: “Think Different.”
Jim Pettit is a GOP public policy consultant who has served under former Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich and on current Gov. Larry Hogan’s “Change Maryland” organization.
