Newsletter: Opinion: Can California save America from Donald Trump?

Good morning. I'm Paul Thornton, The Times' letters editor, and it is Saturday, April 9, 2016. Have you filed your taxes yet? If not, here's another excuse to procrastinate: Let's look back at the week in Opinion.

Establishment Republicans are in panic mode over the possibility that Donald Trump will head into the party's convention with enough delegates to secure the nomination. Columnist Jonah Goldberg, an influential conservative writer who joined the #NeverTrump movement more than a month ago, hopes the wisdom of the crowd can come up with what his party's elite have failed to achieve: a solution for depriving the Republican front-runner of the nomination.

Goldberg lists several reader ideas, the most intriguing of which involves a humble state you might have heard of that rarely plays a big role in electing presidents. Read to the end of this excerpt for Goldberg's appeal to Golden State liberals:

Appeal to his inner child

Most solutions on offer are equally otherworldly. Trump is a narcissistic, spoiled 6-year-old in the body of middle-aged man, writes Joel Koury with modest exaggeration. (Trump is older than middle-aged.) The only thing that he will respond to is a giant bribe. So we have to offer him something better than the presidency. I say we designate him the 'supreme leader' for the entire world. Give him Australia to develop and convert into golf courses and casinos all emblazoned with his name. Perhaps realizing the problems with this scenario, Koury also suggests that the GOP settle things Founding Fathers style, with a duel. My money is on [Ted] Cruz, I saw his bacon-wrapped machine gun commercial.

The Kasich factor

An inordinate number of well-intentioned Democrats believe that John Kasich should ride the Trump candidacy to the Oval Office by one odd scheme or another. Kasich, says one reader, should sign on as Trump's running mate and then appeal to Trump's patriotism to get him to resign. Another suggests that Congress impeach President-elect Trump, giving Kasich the presidency.

California firewall

Perhaps the only plausible solution on offer from a significant number of readers: Get California Democrats to vote Republican. A significant loss in winner-take-all (by district) California virtually assures Trump will fall short of the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination on the first ballot. And as I discussed last week, if Trump doesn't win on the first ballot, it's unlikely he ever will.

Anticipating the discomfort some Democrats might feel, Mark Treitel, a Los Angeles lawyer, advises, “If someone is ever asked why they voted for a Republican, they can say they did it to stop Trump.”

What I like about this solution is that it turns Trump's talking points on their head. Trump constantly boasts about how many Democrats he's bringing into the process. If it's OK for non-Republicans to vote for Trump, what's so terrible about them voting against him?

» Click here to read more.

Here's what letter writers have to say about voting Republican to stop Trump: Laura Brown of Pasadena declares she'll switch her party registration just so she can vote for one of Trump's competitors, with one caveat. She writes: "I'll be changing back to 'decline to state' exactly one minute after I vote on June 7." Reader Marcy Rothenberg declined enlistment in the Republican establishment's anti-Trump army, saying that members of the party should "suffer the political consequences they have earned." L.A. Times

In case you needed one, here's another reminder of Trump's unfitness to be president: His purported strategy to build an immense border wall by withholding remittances from immigrants and holding Mexico's economy hostage until its government agrees to pay for it is immoral and reckless, says The Times' editorial board. Also, it might backfire spectacularly: "If Mexico's economy crumbles, more Mexican workers would probably seek jobs in the U.S., exacerbating the problem Trump insists he's trying to fix." L.A. Times

Yes, women really should vote for Hillary Clinton because of her gender. Author Nancy L. Cohen says "pure self-interest" ought to motivate women to support Clinton over Bernie Sanders. She writes: "A large body of research has been devoted to answering a fundamental question: Do women substantively represent women more effectively than men do? In hundreds of studies examining large data sets of roll call votes, bill sponsorship, laws enacted and other measures the answer is clear. 'Across time, office, and political parties,' political scientist Beth Reingold writes in a comprehensive review, 'women, more often than men, take the lead on women's issues, no matter how such issues are defined.'" L.A. Times

It's 2016, and a man sits on Texas' death row because he's black. No, really. Convicted murderer Duane Buck was sentenced to die in 1997 based in part on a psychologist's testimony that being black is a reliable indicator of future likelihood to re-offend. Because of a procedural mistake by his lawyers, Buck's sentence has yet to be overturned. That is absurd, says The Times' editorial board. L.A. Times

Think California gun owners will surrender their large-capacity magazines? Think again. One-half of the measure being pushed by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom — the part that would subject ammunition buyers to background checks — makes sense. But the provision that would ban possession of certain magazines already belonging to long-term gun owners is destined to fail in its implementation. The vast majority of gun owners simply won't comply with the law, writes UCLA law professor Adam Winkler. L.A. Times

No, "marijuana turns users into losers" isn't a good argument for prohibition. Responding to a column by George Skelton, Paul Armentano writes that Californians are poised to decriminalize and regulate cannabis precisely because it is a psychoactive substance that should be kept out of kids' hands. But just because marijuana has ill effects for people who use too much of it doesn't mean its use should continue to be largely illegal. L.A. Times

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