California GOP at Crossroads as Voters Recoil From Trump-Led Capitol Chaos
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- The future of the Republican Party in California is being reshaped amid the turmoil and chaos that unfolded Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol.
"Winning elections from here on out -- I think definitely what happened yesterday complicates this," said Contra Costa Republican Party chairman Matt Shupe.
That vision will ultimately be determined by voters but some Bay Area political experts have an idea about what's to come.
"Any Republican in the Bay Area has no choice but to disassociate themselves at least from Trump's actions, if not the whole Trump legacy," said Stanford University political science professor Bruce Cain.
"The Republican Party is going to have to shift back to articulating a vision that's based more on what it wants to do and can do, rather than based on an individual person," said Hoover Institution Fellow Lanhee Chen.
"The middle class does not want instability. They don't want an authoritarian government and things that will undermine business conditions," Cain said.
In November, more than 6 million Californians voted for President Trump.
"We need to start presenting voters with something to vote for, rather than something to vote against," Schupe said.
"It's a governing vision premised on accountability, responsibility, on trying to do better for the taxpayers. I think that kind of vision for the Republican Party could be effective in California but Republicans are going to have to spend some time articulating it," Chen said.
"When you violate the rule of law and the norms of democracy you're going to lose a lot of people in suburban areas," Cain said.
