It had been the commandment to Americans after World War II to go forth and multiply. Orange County listened, and exploded. The government said to fight Communism. Orange County listened, and went berserk.- Rick Perlstein,
Before the StormWhat can I say about Orange County? It's the fifth most-populous in the nation, with 3 million people. It's the home of Disneyland and John Wayne Airport. It was the home base of Richard Nixon, Walt Disney, and noted fascist John Schmitz, Republican congressman who was expelled from the John Birch Society for "extremism." It's the OC, and it's crazy as hell.
The seeds were sown long before Orange became the epitome of suburban sprawl. One of the men who engineered the county's secession from Los Angeles in 1889 was a Confederate veteran and ex-Klansman,
Henry Head. In the 1920s, when only ~60,000 people lived there, this then-rural, white Protestant enclave was swept by the "new" Klan; city signs outside Anaheim met visitors with "KIGY" (Klansmen I Greet You).
From 1940 to 1970, the OC's population went from 130,000 to 1.4 million, as it was swarmed by affluent WASPs fleeing the liberal cities and the frigid Midwest. This is when Orange really acquired its reputation. The county was always conservative- Franklin Roosevelt, in the Depression years of 1932 and 1936, remains the only Democrat ever to win here- but these new arrivals were often proud early adopters of extremist doctrine. And they saw no contradiction between their ferocious hatred for taxes and their equally ferocious support for massive "defense" spending in their county.
In the early 1960s, the John Birch Society, the Minutemen, and the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade ruled the OC. In the 1964 Republican primary, Barry Goldwater lost the rest of the state to Nelson Rockefeller, but his smashing margin in Orange gave him all of California's delegates- and the Republican nomination. He won 56 percent against LBJ in the general election, and later joked that he "carried six states and Orange County."
As recently as 2004, George W. Bush won 60 percent here, and his popular-vote margin was his biggest in the nation (although not so impressive compared to his daddy's 1988 showing, when he racked up 68 percent). Yet...
Cruising through the county on a summer Sunday last year, Barack Obama picked up a cool $1.2 million. In November, a place that fancies itself "the reddest county in America" gave the Democratic nominee for president nearly 48 percent of the vote. -
Newsweek magazine
Obama's 48 percent was the best showing for a Democrat since 1936. And that's been coming for awhile. Orange used to be overwhelmingly WASP, but it's now 33 percent Latino, 16 percent Asian, and 2 percent black. The housing collapse didn't do the GOP any favors, either. And Orange Countians may have been fanatical Commie-haters (
"suburban warriors"), but they don't seem so interested in fighting abortion and gay rights.
That's not to say the old OC we all know and "love" is completely gone, though. Megachurches like Rick Warren's command many thousands of votes, and "Birther queen" Orly Taitz calls Orange County home.
Still, it's only a matter of time before the county falls to the "Democrat Party." And when it does- when this ultimate symbol of gonzo conservatism votes for a
socialist!- I'm going to laugh and take a shot. Or three.
When will it happen?
