Everyone locally with whom I converse (or, put simply, talk) seems to believe California is a haven for drug users, tree huggers and brazen perverts.
And while everyone in California enjoys a street parade or two, on occasion, I am at a loss as to why this opinion exists.
There are folks here who have visited there and who have lived there. Each, to a person, was a Republican, it seems. They loved being there when Reagan was president and when Arnold was governor.
Having experienced both -- plus Pete Wilson, Gray Davis, Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom -- I can say there wasn't too much difference in the living conditions within the state under any of them. It was Wilson who shut down all of the state's power plants and opted to buy power from other states. Gray Davis was the guy who got the short end of the stick. California was buying its power from "red" states....and once Davis got into office, those states jacked up their fees for said power. Davis tried to absorb the increased costs with state monetary surplus but came up short when it was made public. Arnold then stole the governorship, IMO, with the help of the GOP. Arnold was not a good governor. He alienated law enforcement and teachers from the start by attempting to drastically cut their pension plans. He did not succeed. The state hobbled along during that tenure. When Jerry Brown got elected again, things changed. By the time he was finished, he had restored California's budget surplus and made the state the 7th strongest economy in the world. Gavin Newsom (whose first wife is now the "girl friend" of Donald Trump JUNIOR) has faced some major issues during his terms, including being the first governor in the country to shut his state down during the early days of pandemic. Newsom is a survivor, however. He was a great mayor for San Francisco, and he may prove to be one of California's best governors.
I guess i have had all that on my mind for some time. It's hardly a civics lesson, to be sure, because I have (and own) my political biases.
But people here can hold some very weird ideas that aren't based in truth. Just doing an exercise in cobweb removal.
