Having grown up in a rural farming community, I know the value of hard work, respect for the law, and respecting and supporting your neighbor. In California’s back country, faith and freedom go hand-in-hand. Self-determination and self-reliance were always the goal for many people whom I’d come to know as conservatives.
California has enjoyed a legacy of conservative leaders from Ronald Reagan to Pete Wilson. But while Democrats in Congress were tough on immigration in the early 1990s, it was Prop. 187 that became the downfall of the conservative movement in California. And it hasn’t stopped there.
The continued ineffectiveness of the conservative movement in California and other coastal states has been hampered by two things: the religious right (aka Christian nationalism) and former President Donald Trump.
California continues to get more and more expensive — that’s why I was forced to move out of my home state.
While simple economic principles are at play, the increasing size of government and policies enacted by the one party that rules California has not helped the situation.
California’s conservative movement lost its first love: the working-class family. It lost its second love: fostering communities where business and personal freedoms thrive.
This loss of direction happened not only with Prop. 187, but also with Prop. 8 — and it happened under the banner of Christianity.
The Bible teaches us:
- “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21).
- “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galations 3:28)
- “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1-2)
- “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35).
Christians are supposed to bring love and light into the world. You cannot be a Christian and hate someone. You cannot be a Christian and be anti-immigrant. You cannot be a Christian and be anti-LGBT. These are tools of the wicked one.
Conservatives stand up for individual rights and personal freedoms. You cannot be a conservative and support legislation to take someone’s freedoms away; that’s authoritarianism.
You cannot be a conservative and say only certain people are welcome in this country; that’s racist, xenophobic and a tool of wickedness.
Trump is not a conservative or a Christian. He is an egotistical, tantrum-throwing, unsuccessful businessman who, from all accounts, apparently suffers from dementia or some sort of memory issue.
He drove up the debt. He further divided the country at a time of civil unrest. He failed to protect our country during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chaos follows him wherever he goes. That’s why he was NOT elected to a second term in 2020 — because America had had enough.
The comparisons of Trump to Reagan are a fallacy, although, he may be a crook like Nixon.
Ronald Reagan was a kind man who wanted what was best for California and America. Sure, he made mistakes like every person in elected office, but his heart was in the right place.
Reagan wasn’t indicted multiple times. Reagan did not start an insurrection. Reagan respected the law, the Constitution and the will and needs of the people. Trump has no respect for anyone or anything but himself.
It’s time for new leadership. It’s time for a change. The conservative movement in California will never be able to accomplish anything if it maintains this unholy alliance with the religious right and Donald Trump.
That’s why we need someone like Nikki Haley, a daughter of immigrants, a successful businesswoman from a working-class background who went on to become a two-term governor of South Carolina and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Instead of casting a vote for a self-centered candidate who already had his shot and failed, it’s time to vote for someone else.
A vote for Nikki Haley is a vote for change across the nation and in California. You cannot elect conservatives to California’s legislature and enact common-sense reforms when the Republican Party continues to flirt with fascism, but you can if Nikki Haley becomes the new face of conservatism.
Eddie J. McCoven is a former San Diego resident who calls himself exiled in Las Vegas.