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Letters to the Editor: There is no saving the Republican Party after Trump

Nov. 9, 1994 front page of Los Angeles Times
(Los Angeles Times)
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To the editor: The most damning indictment of the GOP is found not in the text of Kurt Bardella’s essay, but in the brief biographical information at the end.

Bardella once worked for Rep. Darrell Issa, one of the most conservative representatives of one of the state’s most conservative counties. One can infer that Bardella is himself a strong conservative. Yet the GOP has gone so far astray, embracing superstition and xenophobia over science and caution, that even the most dedicated conservatives have joined organizations like the Lincoln Project in a desperate attempt to save the party from itself.

Soon, the only people left in the GOP will be those who are so blinded by their hatred and their conspiracy theories that they can no longer see through the smoke of the fires they have lit.

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Geoff Kuenning, Claremont

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To the editor: The Republican Party is not capable of reaching out to Latino voters in any real way because that is antithetical to its one remaining core principle, which is to keep power in this country in the hands of white people. That’s what “Law and Order” means: violently suppressing nonwhite demands for justice and an end to systemic racism. It most certainly does not mean suppressing violent white power protests.

White Power. That’s all they’ve got left, folks. That’s your Republican Party. No other vision for governing. No clue about how to address the massive existential challenges we face in this century. They shouldn’t even call themselves the Republican Party any more. Really, they’re just the Party of Whatever Garbage Trump Tweeted This Morning.

Barbara Carlton, El Cajon

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To the editor: Kurt Bardella repeats the myth of Pete Wilson’s ghost as the California GOP’s problem.

With a two-thirds majority required to pass the state budget, year after year our state has suffered because of Republican minority blockage. If a Republican dared cross the line to support passage, party purists would support a primary challenger, thus ensuring moderates leave the party.

In frustration, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger supported two initiatives — top-two primary candidates go to the general election, and a citizen redistricting commission — to allow more moderate voices. The anger at the decade of Republican purity and minority blockage of consensus governance, however, turned these two initiatives into a Republican “off” switch.

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Don’t blame Pete Wilson, who has been gone for more than 20 years. Blame 10 years of ideological purity over governance.

Norman Rodewald, Moorpark

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