Opinion: California takes on a new responsibility in U.S. politics: Enlightening the rest of the country (via latimesopinion )
, she said she has come to believe “that the way to change people’s minds is to have impact and direct contact and to open hearts and minds. … Polarization is not working. We need to adjust our strategy.”a political action committee, seeded with $10 million that he never needed to spend as he cruised to reelection in this blue bastion, that is designed to “take the fight to the red states.
Similarly, in response to red-state attacks on trans people, Californians are seeking to ensure that our state’s doctors can provide gender-affirming care to patients from across the nation.We’re past the era of ‘It’s the economy, stupid.’ Now elections are decided by hot-button issues. California’s governor knows Democrats can win if they set the terms of engagement.
Rather than walling off the state as a sanctuary against Trump-era policies, California’s leaders are actively positioning it as a haven that red-state residents can visit to seek gender-affirming care or reproductive care. Is this a fight to change policies, or a battle to win the narrative? It’s both. Atkins’ idea is that to change laws in rural areas, you must first change hearts and minds. The direct contact she prescribes could come through state employees traveling to other states again, or from those who travel to California to seek out its social freedoms. The hope is that each type of interaction will set off a chain reaction that shifts opinions, and eventually policies, across America.
Will it work? There are reasons to believe in and to doubt this project. California absolutely possesses the policymaking expertise to craft laws and regulations that become models for other states to follow. It’s long been a leader in areas such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting internet privacy, regulating autonomous cars, controlling gun and ammunition sales and safeguarding voting rights.
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