Humboldtian

A new Field Poll reveals that George W. Bush's approval ratings among voters in the Golden State continue to plunge. Only 28 percent of us think that Bush is doing a good job, while 64 percent believe Bush is doing a bad job in the White House.

Eight percent of voters polled had no opinion....how is that possible?

Bush's approval ratings here in California have been under 30 percent for nearly 15 months (since September 2006). Not even Richard Nixon acheived this low in California. Nixon's approval rating nose-dived to 24 percent just before he resigned from the presidency in 1974, after being caught-up in the Watergate scandal. But not even Nixon rated such low approval for the length of time Bush has achieved in California.

California GOP spokesman Hector Barajas told the Sacramento Bee he blames negative politicking by the Democrats for Bush's woeful image in California.

Is the California Republican Party really that out of touch with voters in this state? Perhaps that explains why Republican party membership is on the decline statewide....and here in Humboldt also I suspect. I know a couple of local residents who have changed their voter registration from Republican to "decline to state." Members of my extended family who have been registered Republicans for decades are bailing on the GOP also.

The California Republican Party faces some tough times if its message doesn't change. It stands to lose even more ground to the Democrats in the Legislature (when I first typed that word it came out Leftistlature) and in Congress. Last year an unknown Democrat defeated Republican Richard Pombo for the 11th Congressional District (Tracy, near Stockton) seat in Congress. That defeat sent shockwaves through the California Republican establishment. Just a few years earlier, Pombo held a hammerlock on that seat, in a district that has always voted Republican.

But apparently the GOP prefers to live the State of Denial. Because it appears the party has no plan to change. It is increasingly at odds with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger, who is more aligned with the Democrats in the Legislature than members of his own party in the Legislature.

The California GOP should be listening to Republican faithfuls such as George Sauerbier, a 59-year-old Republican who lives in Truckee (the High Sierra). "I feel that the war (in Iraq) is nothing more than a show to enhance the profits of big corporations," Sauerbier, who at first supported the war as a crusade against Islam, told the Bee. Sauerbrier lives in the 4th Congressional District, once a lock for the Republicans, like the 1st District (Humboldt's congressional district) is a lock for the Democrats.

Now the 4th District is tottering, on the verge of falling to the Democrats because the incumbent, John Doolittle (never has a name been so fitting), is caught up in the Jack Abramoff scandal. Last year (before the probe into his Abramoff connections began) Abramoff narrowly fought off a challenge by Democrat Charlie Brown. Brown's credentials as a retired Air Force colonel overshadow his caricature name, and in 2008 he is likley to oust Doolittle, if Doolittle runs again.

Doolittle is under pressure from the GOP not to run again so the Republicans can put up another candidate without Doolittle's baggage. So far Doolittle has been defiant, refusing his party's request. But even if another Republican defeats Doolittle in the primary, my bet is still on Brown in the November general election. Losing this seat to the Democrats was unthinkable just a few years ago.

It will be worth watching how the California Republican Party conducts itself in the coming election year.