One Party, Fewer Choices

Democratic Party officials in Orange County are fond of saying that there are more Democrats here than in many states, and that enrollment is fourth-highest among all California counties. But that’s a pretty hollow boast, somewhat akin to the San Francisco Giants bragging about how many runs they scored against the Oakland Athletics in the World Series.

Everyone knows which party is the winner in this county; and it is not Franklin D. Roosevelt’s but Ronald Reagan’s. Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by nearly 200,000. They have locked up every congressional and county board seat and all but one legislative district--and that one is mostly in Los Angeles County. Given the current demographics, it is unlikely that things are going to change soon for Democrats.

This might not matter except that there is a long tradition in this nation of a two-party system that leaders of both parties say stimulates healthy competition. While non-election years are usually quiet on the political front, Democrats in Orange County have lapsed to such a low ebb that the party is having trouble keeping an organized party structure afloat. Recently, the party’s executive director quit because there wasn’t money enough to pay him.

Local Democratic leaders are downplaying the party’s inertia. They say when there’s an election, and candidates to work for, things will turn around. But, unless they get organized, there is likely to be little fund-raising apparatus in place to support candidates in the next election cycle.

That means fewer choices and less discussion of important policy issues for all voters, no matter what their party affiliation.