Regardless of the Iowa caucuses going down 1,700 miles away from California — and the temperature being a lot colder right here — the Golden State, its elected leaders and its insurance policies have been a relentless goal within the lead as much as the primary presidential nominating contest within the nation Monday.
Former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) could possibly be a “hedge fund maven,” given how a lot cash she has made within the inventory market whereas in workplace, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis informed Iowans. He accused GOP rival Nikki Haley, the previous U.N. ambassador, of telling extra lies and being “extra liberal than Gavin Newsom.” Haley mentioned she is as afraid of a Kamala Harris presidency as she is of one other time period for former President Trump.
Bashing California, one of the crucial liberal states within the nation, is a grand custom within the GOP. However Republican presidential candidates could also be focusing on the state and its politicians extra this cycle as a result of they’re a greater goal than President Biden.
“Biden isn’t as motivating a villain as different Democrats is perhaps. So the Republican candidates are primarily operating a destructive marketing campaign towards California,” mentioned Dan Schnur, a politics professor at USC, UC Berkeley and Pepperdine.
He pointed to DeSantis’ assault on Haley throughout a debate final week as proof.
“The very worst factor Ron DeSantis might consider to say about Nikki Haley in the course of the debate was that she is perhaps extra liberal than Gavin Newsom,” Schnur added. “For an Iowa Republican — or any Republican for that matter — that’s a fully terrifying idea.”
California was as soon as a Republican stronghold, launching the political careers of Presidents Nixon and Reagan. However conservative assaults on the state have ramped up within the a long time since Reagan left workplace.
In 2002, former President George H.W. Bush even apologized for referring to American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh as “some misguided Marin County hot-tubber.” By 2012, California was essentially the most disliked state of any within the nation, in accordance with ballot of People by Public Coverage Polling. About 44% of these surveyed mentioned they considered the state unfavorably.
At the moment, GOP fundraising appeals bleat concerning the state’s residents — particularly Hollywood celebrities and tech billionaires — fueling Democratic campaigns, even though the state additionally offers an outsize quantity of political donations to Republican candidates.
This electoral cycle, DeSantis in contrast Haley to Newsom, whom he debated in November, at a CNN face-off in Des Moines final week.
DeSantis introduced up Pelosi whereas lamenting the shortage of guidelines on members of Congress whereas campaigning at Jethro’s BBQ in Ames.
“I simply assume now we have an issue with Congress … they’re nearly indifferent from the folks. They reside below completely different guidelines,” he mentioned, including that he has not traded shares since being elected to workplace and in contrast himself to Pelosi. “They make a killing out there … and I don’t assume the congressmen ought to be capable to be doing the inventory trades. I feel we have to reform that.”
Haley raised Harris, the present vice chairman and former U.S. senator and state legal professional basic, as she mentioned why she believes Trump shouldn’t be reelected president.
“Y’all realize it, chaos follows him. And we will’t be a rustic in disarray and have a world on hearth and undergo 4 extra years of chaos as a result of we received’t survive it,” she informed supporters at an occasion area in Ankeny. “You don’t defeat Democrat chaos with Republican chaos. And the opposite factor we want to consider: We will by no means afford a President Kamala Harris.”
California ought to overhaul its fiscal scenario and insurance policies earlier than questioning why Iowa ought to have such an vital function in deciding on the nation’s presidential nominees, mentioned former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who has household connections to California and has spent substantial time within the state.
“Possibly you should get your home so as. California has obtained the largest deficit and California is transferring within the unsuitable course,” Branstad mentioned in an interview. “California has obtained a lot going for it. It’s a fantastic state, it’s got nice climate and all that stuff. However now persons are leaving due to the tax burden and the hostility and all of the rules.”
