From San Diego to Hollywood to Silicon Valley and Napa, through Gold Country to Mount Shasta (yes, that’s in California too), this lovely state of ours consists of diverse subcultures.
While different places in California vary in their political identity, let’s face it ““ from an outsider’s perspective, California is known as the “Land of the Liberals.”
Living in a comfy Bruin bubble, and in the larger liberal L.A. bubble, makes it easy to assume that the rest of the country is primed for Democratic political change; candidates like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have tried to capitalize on this.
However, somebody elected Bush in the first place, and he did get re-elected.
Oh yeah. There’s this little thing called the rest of the United States.
As presidential hopefuls for 2008 announce their intent to run, I am looking for a candidate who can appeal to my needs as a student and as a liberal, and according to a Daily Bruin exit poll, I am in the majority.
Sixty-one percent of UCLA students supported Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides, according to the poll, while 28.5 percent voted for Republican Schwarzenegger.
Though the actual results of the election were quite the opposite, this is indicative of one thing ““ UCLA students go against the grain. The only problem? In the context of the U.S., we forget what the grain is.
Though the Republican majority lies in Southern California, primarily the Inland Empire and outside of Los Angeles, Democrats capture the more populous cities of Northern California.
In 2006, 42.5 percent of Californians were registered Democrats and 34.3 percent were Republicans, and regardless of political affiliation, we are a state that has pushed the envelope on issues such as same-sex marriage and affirmative action.
“California is different from other states due to the disparity of wealth here,” said Ashley Wise, a third-year communication studies student from New Mexico.
She asserted that the ranging socio-economic classes are a large reason for the liberal population. In Los Angeles especially, the Hollywood elite and poverty-stricken areas of East Los Angeles balance each other’s interests.
In other places, candidates generally have to appeal to the major economic classes, and this influences their political affiliation.
Jason Chiu, a 2005 UCLA alumnus and native Californian, has experienced the Midwest firsthand by living in Houston, Texas, after graduation to pursue a career as a pilot.
“I did experience culture shock. I was surprised by the lack of diversity and I really started to miss the composition of Los Angeles. It’s a different lifestyle,” he said.
It is understandable that politicians want to gain the support of all “lifestyles” from the more liberal cities to the conservative pockets.
Especially because Obama and Clinton represent politically underrepresented groups, they must work to show that their ability to lead overcomes any stigma about the populations they represent.
According to a New York Times article, Mitt Romney and Rudolph Giuliani attempted to persuade conservatives that they are representative of the Republican Party despite their liberal track records. If being hypocritical leads to a party nomination, then why not?
As the election nears, we will see if the Democrats do the same. UCLA students and Californians may be ready for the first black or female president, but the rest of the U.S. might not be.
E-mail Lorenz at tlorenz@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.