After the Election: Who Won Locally and Why
The recent article by Lanie Jones and Josh Getlin, “At 30-Year Low, Democrats Face Tough Task to Regain Power” (Nov. 9) gave a truly sober assessment of the present condition of the Democratic Party in Orange County. In the aftermath of a complete Republican sweep on Nov. 4, the local Democratic leadership has only itself to blame.
Apparently, given the mediocre record of performance for the past few years, the Democratic Party seems to be confused, and slow in coming to recognize its own internal problems. The resulting confusion has created a lack of leadership and harmony, and an inability to present Orange County voters with credible Democratic candidates.
A perfect case in point of Democratic disunity during the last election, in which a peculiar demographic struggle between northern and southern Democrats took its toll, was the June primary in the 38th Congressional District, putting Richard Robinson against Dave Carter.
The much politicized intra-party conflict between the Robinson and Carter camps gave the voters an impression that there were two Democratic parties in one county. Interestingly, the political melee turned divisive when active Democrats were no longer swinging each other from the left and right, but rather from north and south.
Yet, with the election just barely passed, it is quite amazing to hear the Democratic Party chairman, John Hanna, already armed to the teeth with hot air and spurious threats against his opposition in 1988. The voters do not care for the hype when one, especially in Hanna’s position, should be humble.
VAN TRAN
El Toro
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