Letters to the Editor: Is California a liability for Democrats nationally? Readers debate

To the editor: I am confident there is no single “The Reason” that President-elect Donald Trump won. Each person voted the way they did for their own reason. I would, however, like to offer the observation that so many of us are quick to condemn others who do not agree with us. (“If Democrats want to win back the American people, does California need to stand down?” Nov. 19)
Some progressives declined to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris because of the Biden administration’s policy toward Israel. So, is the Trump policy more to their liking?
Some honest, hard-working Americans voted for Trump due to their concerns about immigration. Did they not know or care that a bipartisan measure to address border security could have passed Congress earlier this year, but Trump killed it because he wanted to campaign on immigration?
Being Americans, we have no common ancestry or shared religion. We therefore have no common, reflexive philosophical and societal views that a shared culture and religion would provide. All we can share — and for that very reason, what we must share — is a fundamental respect for each other.
As my father told me, there is not a person alive who cannot teach you something. Each of us, including me, needs to shut up and listen more.
Jack Quirk, Porter Ranch
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To the editor: In this election, for the first time ever, I did not vote for anyone running for the state Senate or Assembly. I am a Democrat, and if Gov. Gavin Newsom had been on the ballot, I would not have voted for him or his opponent — because unfortunately, the only thing crazier than a Sacramento Democrat is a Sacramento Republican.
Newsom is to Democrats what Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is to Republicans — two peas in a pod, ideologues, but on opposite sides of the political spectrum.
I am an elementary teacher, and California Democrats lost me with their latest moronic education law forbidding elementary schools from taking away a student’s recess as a natural consequence for, let’s say, misbehaving on the playground. This is in addition to the law banning student suspensions for whole class disruptions. How can we educate students if we can’t even maintain a classroom environment conducive to learning?
In the next state election, I won’t leave my ballot blank for the party that dares to run a moderate candidate focused on using existing resources to find solutions to pressing problems.
George Garcia, Long Beach
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To the editor: Why should Democrats be asking why they are out of touch with the American people?
If anything, they should be asking why they continue to assume that the American public possesses the critical-thinking skills required to distinguish an honorable, qualified candidate from one with a long history of corruption, lying and sexual abuse, whose goal is to exact retribution on his enemies and make more money.
Why do Democrats continue to “play nice” when all their opponents have to do to win is stoke their base’s hatred of “the other” and stubbornly insist that the other side cheated with absolutely no proof?
How will we tell our kids that the country was OK with a president who is a felon and adjudicated sexual abuser, because under no circumstances would they vote for a female president?
Jennifer Rabuchin, Burbank
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To the editor: The lead story in The Times’ Nov. 20 print edition was about how California Democrats have shot themselves in the foot by being out of touch with the American people.
I was surprised that, in this long article, the word “immigration” never appeared.
Following the Nov. 5 election, multiple commentators noted that immigration was a major issue of concern to voters. Polls during the past few years have shown that a strong majority of Americans — a larger share of voters than the proportion that backed Trump — want reduced levels of immigration and oppose sanctuary-state and -city policies.
Ben Zuckerman, Los Angeles
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To the editor: While your headline suggests Democrats are looking in the mirror, the article also quotes Republicans about what went wrong.
The truth is Democrats learned the hard way that running to represent the people with the support for former Rep. Liz Cheney — an extremely conservative Republican from Wyoming — wasn’t a good strategy. Remember, in Congress she voted with Trump most of the time.
And stop using identity politics against the Democrats. Trump ran as a white Christian nationalist — that’s identity politics.
Furthermore, look at the actual election result — this was no mandate. The Democrats also need to make sure that every vote in every race is counted. Look at the congressional races in California, where we do just that.
Democrats who run on democratic values win.
Erica Fox, Studio City