Republicans try to get out the Trump stain

Good morning. On behalf of The Sacramento Bee’s editorial board, welcome to The Take, your opinion-politics newsletter. Please sign up for it here.

Some of us focused on the Tim Kaine-Mike Pence throwdown. Others of us chose to rock with Sir Paul McCartney. Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger touted their fight against climate change, and wondered why Republicans don’t join in. Shawn Hubler focused on her adopted city and urged it to strut a little bit more.

Take that

National security experts, military leaders and many other Republican leaders have denounced Donald Trump’s candidacy.

Now, Republicans Mickey Edwards, who represented Oklahoma in the House from 1977 to 1993, and Tom Coleman, who represented Missouri from 1976 to 1993, are urging other ex-Republican congressional members to sign on to a letter opposing the GOP nominee.

The letter says: “Sadly, our party’s nominee this year is a man who makes a mockery of the principles and values we have cherished and which we sought to represent in Congress.”

It goes on: “In nominating Donald Trump, the Republican Party has asked the people of the United States to entrust their future to a man who insults and mocks the handicapped, urges that dissent be met with violence, seeks to impose religious tests for entry into the United States, and applies a de facto ethnicity test to judges.”

It concludes: “We are proud of our service in the United States Congress and proud that we served in that role as Republicans. It is in that spirit that, as Donald Trump’s unfitness for public office has become ever more apparent, we urge our fellow Republicans not to vote for this man whose disgraceful candidacy is indefensible. This is no longer about our party; it’s now about America.”

Expect to hear more about the letter and its signatories very soon.

Four takes on the veep debate

The Bee: The heated vice presidential debate didn’t change the trend lines of the presidential race. Mike Pence did more to help himself than running mate Donald Trump.

L.A. Times: A polished Mike Pence couldn’t defend the indefensible.

Raleigh News & Observer: In this vice presidential debate, Mike Pence couldn’t erase what Donald Trump has said.

Jim Geraghty, National Review: By almost any measure, Mike Pence is doing a fine job as Donald Trump’s running mate.

Take a number: 23.4 percent

Registered Democrats in California now outnumber Republicans 8.2 million to 4.88 million, Secretary of State Alex Padilla reports. Continuing their slide, Republicans accounted for 26.8 of the registered voters, down from 29.4 percent in 2012. Democrats’ share rose to 45.2 percent from 43.6 percent in 2012. Voters with no party preference ticked up to 23.4 percent, ever closer to the Republican share. Congressional Republicans Darrell Issa, Steve Knight, David Valadao and Jeff Denham no doubt notice that Republicans have lost market share in their districts. It’s only a few percentage points. But if 2016 becomes a wave election, a few points could matter.

Our take

Editorial: It would be a bit much to say that approval of one Assembly bill led to the international action. But California’s pioneering legislation certainly helped dramatize the need to act, and illustrated steps that governments could take.

Shawn Hubler: Civic pitches alone, just by being civic, rarely trump a place’s existing image. That takes magic, and it has to be organic, and it has to happen over and over, until it gives a place a new mythology.

Joe Mathews: New accountability system could leave poor students behind.

Helen Hutchison of the League of Women Voters and Teresa Casazza debate former state Sen. Art Torres on whether Proposition 54 will lessen or strengthen special interests’ influence at the Legislature. Hutchison and Casazza: Prop. 54 will make Legislature more transparent and accountable. Torres: Prop. 54 plays into the hands of special interests.

Their take

Orange County Register: Proposition 64 is the first step toward a rational drug policy. It will gives California the opportunity to not only regulate the marijuana industry, but to make adjustments and clarifications when necessary. We disagree.

L.A. Times: Proposition 57 is a much-needed check on prosecutorial power. We agree.

Chico Enterprise-Record: After having lived through a plastic bag ban in Chico, we adapted. We’re over it. While we hate laws that take away choice from consumers, and we still think responsible adults can recycle their plastic bags, the ban still offers a choice. We definitely agree.

Chicago Sun-Times: In this election, your voice is being drowned out by big unions and billionaires.

Syndicates’ take

E.J. Dionne Jr.: How Donald Trump corrupts the GOP.

Dana Milbank: Mike Pence must give Republicans buyer’s remorse.

E.J. Dionne Jr.: Vice presidential debate becomes a messy brawl.

Thomas L. Friedman: Let’s get Vladimir Putin’s attention on cyberhacking.

Leonard Pitts Jr.: Our hierarchy of death.

Herding third party cats

Backers of Sen. Bernie Sanders are running out of reasons to hold out against Hillary Clinton. The Nation magazine, the first national publication to endorse Sanders in the Democratic primary, put out a compelling argument why progressives should support Clinton. Some Sanders supporters are backing Libertarian Gary Johnson, but Johnson’s running mate, former Gov. Bill Weld, told the Boston Globe that he is focused on stopping Trump. – Foon Rhee, @foonrhee

Mailbag

Congress is the source of these terrible loopholes, and Congress can get rid of them. – Don Perera, Rocklin

This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 5:31 AM with the headline "Republicans try to get out the Trump stain."