Mainero and Smoller: Response to Wagner

Community Opinion
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Supervisor Don Wagner quibbles with typos and minor details, but fails to acknowledge the big picture about race relations and the Covid-19 crisis. Wagner refuses to address the fact the Board of Supervisors rejected the call to put a discussion of the renaming of John Wayne Airport, an avowed White Supremacist, on the agenda of its July 14 meeting or before voters. Just like Trump, Wagner fails to take responsibility for the County’s failed response to the Covid-19 crisis, which is why virus cases and deaths in Orange County have, since late May and early June, spiraled out of control. The County needs leadership, not political gamesmanship.

Mainero and Smoller: The GOP is Self-Destructing

Community Opinion
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The Chapman professors—one conservative, one progressive—argue that Donald Trump is proudly taking the national and local GOP over a cliff. The president’s exploitation of America’s racial divide and rejection of science is being emulated by Orange County Republican electeds,  to their political peril.

Curry: The Way Back for Republicans

Community Opinion
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Keith Curry, former Mayor of Newport Beach and Republican activist called out Trump in 2015 as being the downfall of the Republican party. Today he argues his prediction was spot on. He discusses next moves for the Republican Party.

The OC GOP’s Delicate Dance in the Age of Trump

Immigration
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There was a time when Republican officials in the “reddest county in America” were not at all shy about deriding our porous borders and condemning those who advocate amnesty for unauthorized immigrants. But their approach has become more nuanced in recent years.

How Politics Obscures the Truth About Voter Fraud

Election 2016
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Whether someone thinks voter fraud is a widespread problem, often depends on their party registration. Meanwhile, voter suppression remains an issue in certain corners of the country, and Orange County has a checkered past.