Ah, yes, the evil, dirty, rotten scoundrels of the left! They’re CHEATERS! Vote-stealin’, election-rigging, hockey-stick ballot drops in the middle of the night doin’, communists!
Okay, now that we've got that stupid 💩 out of the way, take a seat, analyze, and perhaps we can take something away from this conversation, or add to it something the Alta Historian has not thought of, or thought about yet.
I highly suggest that everyone read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. It’s open source and free. I’ll use three quotes from this ancient text to frame my argument:
“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war.”
I’ll give you a regional example of candidates in the 40th and 48th Congressional Districts. The 40th is a deep “red sink,” with two veterans of Congress: Young Kim and Ken Calvert.
In the 40th District, Democrats have the following candidates making some noise: Joe Kerr, Ester Kim Varet, Lisa Ramirez, and Dr. Tiffanie Tate — all younger than the incumbents — four candidates, each with websites, logos, statements, and all the fixings. There are videos, people of all backgrounds, and to the uninformed voter (which, let’s be honest, is most voters), the statements made by these candidates are mostly moderate, with subtle notes of leftist ideology that could be overlooked — or even palatable — to those who are themselves moderate and/or dissatisfied with Republicans or the incumbents on the right. The Democrats' candidates are clearly targeting the middle — the no-party-preference crowd — they already have won their base, and so too have Republican candidates, for that matter. The battle is for the middle.
Darrell Issa is in the 48th Congressional District, a district reconfigured by Prop 50. And if you think the Democrats in the 40th took the machine-gun approach, here are the Democratic candidates for the 48th: Ammar Campa-Najar, Abel Chavez, Corinna Contreras, Marc Iannarino, Curtis Morrison, Ferguson Porter (no relation to Katie), Brandon Riker, and Marni Von Wilpert.
This group is another variety of regular-looking people, different backgrounds, and let’s face it, identity politics is a real thing. Democrats will go down in the socioeconomic political history books as Hall of Famers of this era for their intersectional approach.
Of all the Democratic names I’ve listed, they already held a Congressional Candidate Forum in December 2025 for the 40th and 48th, paid for by the Riverside County Democratic Party. And it was sold out. I don’t care if they sold ten tickets — optics are key. Videos of this event have already started appearing as clips on social media. Here’s how they prefaced the event flier:
“Join us for an engaging candidate forum where you’ll hear directly from our Democratic candidates on the issues that matter most to our community. This is your opportunity to meet the candidates, ask questions, and learn about their vision for our counties’ future.”
You know what Democrats listed right under the flier? A donation button, of course. That is what Sun Tzu would call “winning before you go to war.” And if Republicans are mad at me while reading this? Good. Now do something about it. I know there are a fleet of keyboard warriors. Have at it.
Could you imagine having a base of voters after the Democratic leadership of Karen Bass, who let the Palisades burn, along with POTUS hopeful Gavin Newsom and the LA County Board of Supervisors (technically non-partisan, but you know, ask #33, Alex Newhouse), allowed Altadena to burn as well? Burned. Nothing but ash. Many have no insurance. And the Los Angeles Times is framing the blame on Edison (an investor-owned utility—IOU for short, no joke). See who Edison gives money to, and then be afraid. Very afraid. Allegedly.
The homeless money? Poof. High-speed rail that is either so fast we can’t see it, or it doesn’t exist. I think we’ll ride on an alien craft 👽 before we see a human buy a ticket from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
Let me yield the floor to you and ask: What problems in the last 30 years have Democrats solved in California? I can give you one — the problem of getting elected.
Let’s not mention the high cost of living, lefties on social media hinting at a swipe at deleting Prop 13, the over-regulating, or the unbelievably low literacy rate for the fourth-largest economy in the world. Thirty years of Democratic rule in California, and you know what? They still win.
It’s not their record. It’s their grit. The willingness to throw everything at the wall, and some of it sticks. Look at Maxine Waters. I remember her on the megaphone during the chaos of the 1992 LA Riots. I was but a wee little lad. Just not good. Everyone knows it. But she’s still in office, and Waters was born before Hitler invaded Poland.
This brings me to my next Sun Tzu quote:
“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”
All of the aforementioned fall into this category. But that’s not it. In the 40th, Democrats are weak. But let me ask you this: has any central committee or the state GOP put on any similar event? Are they reaching the base of their party outside of fancy dinners or wineries? I secretly love these types of events, but everyone there is already sold.
This plays right into the narrative that Republicans don’t care, a gift for Democrats. And no matter how hard you screamed during Prop 50, the voter base gave it right back by giving nothing to Republicans.
And speaking as a marketing he/him, Democrats in California make good media. They have nice logos, nice websites, emails, and events. They’re inviting. And they’ll try anything. Why? No, better question: why not?
Some of these Democratic candidates on the ticket are not qualified. Not qualified, not in the slightest. My two Holland Lop bunnies had more constitutional knowledge than most people running for legislative positions.
Now to the third and final point, Democrats have done well in California, using Sun Tzu as my framework:
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
I saved this one for last because it’s the most obvious. Just look at how many state, federal, and local races Republicans haven’t seriously challenged for years. Then the narrative becomes: they can’t win that district because it’s too blue. No.
Send someone in with pedigree and money, as Steve Hilton said at a lunch, “We need 58 hometown heroes (every county at least) to run,” and in two cycles (I theorize, and the numbers suggest), you’ll move the needle.
Look at Mike Cargile: 30.7% to 41.6% in two cycles. In Takano’s 39th Congressional district, in two cycles, Aja Smith went from 36% to 42.3% to 44.5% with David Serpa. Every last one of those candidates was up against a machine without money, with small teams (of great people). Credit should go to them. Blame? You know who.
In many ways, I feel bad for the candidates who are brave enough to do it on their own time. Their own dime. Their heart and brainpower. Their passion. It’s expensive. There are candidates toyed with by Republicans as well: endorsements withheld, not invited to speaking engagements, or, worse, given three minutes to talk when they are invited.
You’re asking them to be the Great Houdini, but his modus operandi required at least ten minutes. Just because some of you only need three minutes to finish doesn’t mean they don’t need more time. Running for office as a non-dawwwwling Republican is a repeated blow to the gut, as if the California GOP are all descendants of J. Gordon Whitehead. At this point, flipping a seat in California by Republicans might as well be magic.
Democrats will run an old boot in a race and fund it to see what happens. They test theories. They sometimes eat each other; they are the political version of the Yautja culture. But it works, and that’s what keeps them front-and-center in the media.
Republicans — don’t be mad at the Democrats. Politics is a game. Watch House of Cards. Read The Federalist Papers. It’s about an inner ideological and political dialogue that Republicans don’t have, aren’t willing to have, and what Democrats use to build excitement.
If that’s not the truth, if this essay is incorrect, then what is it? Their fabulous policy? The intellect of their candidates? Their excellent fiscal management?
Clearly. No.
Then…what?
Signed, Alta Historian. HELP‼️
P.S. If nobody ever reads this, let this stand as a primary source of the moment many Americans realized something fundamental was breaking, and that the choice to act still existed. And if the republic collapsed, I’m sorry, I tried. :’ (
Bibliography | Notes
Smith, Hayley. “Feds Sue Southern California Edison over Deadly Eaton Fire.” Los Angeles Times, September 4, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-09-04/feds-sue-southern-california-edison-over-deadly-eaton-fire.
Riverside County Democratic Party. “2025 JFK Awards Celebrates Success.” Riverside County Democratic Party, 2025. https://www.riversidecountydemocrats.org/2025-jfk-awards-celebrates-success/.