One of the Biggest Losers of Election Night: The Register’s Opinion Writers

November 3, 2010 Uncategorized 13

We’ve noted all along that Orange County is home to a half-million plus registered Democrats who are virtually ignored by the Orange County Register’s editorial pages (not the news pages, the folks who write the editorials).  Let’s see how these guys did.

They backed Meg Whitman for governor. She lost.

They backed Carly Fiorina for senate. She lost.

They weighed in on a single congressional contest between Rep. Loretta Sanchez and State Rep. Van Tran, pulling for Tran (fascinating there was no “throw the bums out” mentality for John Campbell or Ed Royce or Dana Rohrabacher).  Tran lost big.

They suggested no recall of Capo Unified trustees. They were recalled and replaced with candidates who care about teachers and students.

They were a no vote on Measure R in Irvine that provides city assistance to IUSD/TUSD schools. It passed by large margins.

They were a solid Yes on Prop 23 that would suspend AB32 and hurt the thriving green technology economy and were a solid No on Prop 25 which passed allowing budgets to be passed with a majority vote.  Passed and passed.

They even gave fawning coverage to Nevada’s Republican Tea party Senate candidate Sharon Angle. She lost (will she break out her “2nd amendment remedy” to seize power?)

So Democrats effectively control virtually every Constitutional office in California this morning.  Loretta Sanchez won easily over a “strong candidate” in an anti-Democratic/anti-incumbent election cycle.  California voters elected to invest in green/environmental issues and to break the gridlock for passing budgets in Sacramento while preserving the two-thirds vote needed to increase taxes and fees.

So when are these guys going to fess up that it is they who are out of touch with California?

I’m hopeful this election brings change to the Register’s editorial desk and with that change, the inclusion of a more sweeping exchange of ideas that include points of view that are liberal, conversative, Libertarian and all flavors in between.  That is a true definition of “freedom” Gentlemen. 

Add some liberal, left wing columnists and watch your Letters to the Editor basket overflow. And perhaps your circulation numbers will improve. Don’t ignore a market of 500,000 because you do so at your peril.

13 Comments

  1. Slight correction: I think you mean the Register was a “Yes” on 23, which would have suspended AB 32. Thankfully, Prop 23 was defeated, not passed.

  2. The Register also, in several editions, recommended a no vote on Measure H in Capistrano Unified. This is the measure that changes the way school board trustees are elected from at-large to by-trustee areas.
    Measure H passed with more than 65% of the vote.

  4. We will all end up paying. The Enterpreneurs lost. The Unions won. Look around U. What do we have in Santa Ana, Anaheim and more. When the # of Government workers outnumber the Employed Private workers we are in trouble. Some people realized it and voted the right way some people are short sighted and will end up paying for their mistakes when the State goes Bankrupt.

  6. Minor typo. You referred to measure S instead of measure R the Irvine School Support Initiative. They recommended no and 1) refused to make public the data on Irvine Unified they claimed was so damning and 2) refused to publish my letter pointing out errors and misleading statements in their opinion.

  7. Minor typo. You referred to measure S instead of measure R the Irvine School Support Initiative. The OCR recommended no on R and 1) refused to make public the data on Irvine Unified they claimed was so damning and 2) refused to publish my letter pointing out errors and misleading statements in their editorial.

  10. Don’t give them any ideas Dan. The sooner that organization burrows in, the sooner OC might get a legitimate news outlet.

  11. “So when are these guys going to fee {sic} up that it is they who are out of touch with California?”

    I don’t think the unabashedly and unapologetic Libertarian Orange County Register harbors any misapprehension regarding their failure to appeal to the majority of Californians. However, in arguably the two most important political races on the state ballot this year, Governor and U.S. Senator, the voters in Orange County, by a significant margin, agreed with the Orange County Register’s endorsements.

    If you believe they are in “peril” based on their editorial POV, it seems you may have stumbled upon a great money making idea. Perhaps you can get a few of those 500,000 registered Democrats to pony up with you to start a paper in Orange County that reflects all points of view. However, before you do, you might check out the substantial subscription numbers in OC for the allegedly centrist (liberal to all but the dull) L.A. Times – they would be your real competition. You might also want to find out why they ceased publishing their failed Orange County edition.

    I would argue that the OCR is the regional counterpoint to the LA Times. Contrary to your opinion, the only true peril that the OCR might face would be an attempt to mimic the L.A. Times.

  12. The LA Times actually published conservative columnists in their opinion pages, as does the NY Times and WashPost; the WSJ even runs liberal columnists. In the free market of ideas, the Register’s editorial pages fall woefully short of providing a robust forum for debate. I’m actually surprised that a “libertarian” newspaper endorsed no libertarians.

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