Orange County

The California GOP is in big trouble-- even in the corners of the state they still dominate. All 4 Republican congressmembers in what was once the Republican Party heartland-- Orange County-- are holding on by a thread. Hillary won all 4 districts and independent voters have had it with the GOP and are teaming up with Democrats to replace Darrell Issa, Ed Royce, Mimi Walters-- who never even bothered to move away from the beach and into her own district after being elected in 2014-- and Putin puppet Dana Rohrabacher.

That was some Daily Beast post yesterday about Comrade Rohrabacher! I wonder if it means he'll retire?

Democratic Party self-funders JB Pritzker and Gil CisnerosReuters began their report on this weekend's parliamentary election in the Czech Republic: "Czech billionaire Andrej Babiš won a thumping victory in Saturday's election as voters shunned traditional parties and

Laura Oatman entered the race to replace Dana Rohrabacher in a district that flipped to the Democrats in 2016-- Hillary beating Trump in CA-48 (coastal Orange County) 47.9% to 46.2%. The 2016 PVI (R+7) is a now more winnable R+4. When we first spoke with Laura she had very high hopes that the Democratic Party, though she recognized it as flawed, would embrace a candidate like herself.

Monday morning, after Mike Pence's nasty little stunt over the weekend, the NFL's Player's Association felt compelled the release a statement on their members constitutional rights:

By the end of the week, a lot of people were saying Trump's tax plan would fail because of Republicans in New York and New Jersey. They're flipping out because Trump wants to eliminate the federal tax deduction of state & local taxes.

Lottery winner and "ex"-Republican Gil Cisneros wants more than just his $266 million lottery winnings and his $10 million mansion in tony Newport Coast. He wants the word "Congressman" in front of his name. Fancy!

When Dana Rohrabacher was first elected to Congress in the '80s his Orange County district was beet red. Last year, nearly three decades on, the PVI was a very daunting R+7. Next year, Rohrabacher faces a more hostile environment. Trump lost the district to Hillary-- albeit narrowly-- and the PVI shows a slide towards the Democrats.

I wonder how staunch conservatives in towns like Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel and Fountain Valley feel about their Representative being referred to as "the pro-Russia congressman." That exactly how the San Francisco Chronicle labeled eccentric-- some would say crackpot

The jumpy video above is from a CA-45 (Orange County) Democratic Forum hosted by the Laguna Woods Democratic Club. Notice Brian Forde, an "ex"-Republican using Republican talking points about "access." Access means anyone can buy health insurance-- if you're rich enough to afford it. Forde may have switched his party affiliation a few weeks or hours or months ago and may be trying to appeal to low-info Democrats but... he's still just a Republican. Right after he spoke, Kia Hamadanchy, a former staffer for Sherrod Brown, talked.