Twenty years later, the supply-side revolutionaries who swept into power with Reagan have become entrenched, causing many Republican voters to worry they are out of touch with what the American people want. In California, that disenchantment has resulted in stagnant GOP registration over the last decade, while the number of third-party and independent voters has jumped dramatically. For the last five years, President Clinton has been able to outmaneuver Congress consistently by adopting fiscal responsibility over large tax cuts. It was the issue that came crashing onto the national stage in 1992 with the candidacy of Ross Perot, and one that helped sink the presidency of George Bush, who was still advocating Reagan-style tax cuts. Where the party is and where the people are have become two different things.
Polls confirm Madrid's theory.
When both candidates tested their tax plans, opinion polls in New Hampshire, a state where tax cutting is religion, showed that Republicans overwhelmingly favored the McCain plan. In 1998, Bush secured more than 40 percent of the state's Latino vote, and close to 60 percent support from Texas women. Arguably the most conservative member of the Assembly Republican Caucus, Bruce Thompson, and the most liberal, Jim Cunneen, signed a petition in January 1999 urging Bush to run. But the fact was, the Republican Party alienated people in this state, and here was a guy who knows how to mend fences and build the party back up. Bush friend and former Wilson booster Gerald Parsky was also taking trips to Austin, reporting to the governor about how a Bush candidacy would play among the state's donor community.