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REACTIONS

California politicians had mixed reactions to Donald Trump's victory.

Jerry Brown California's Democratic governor called for unity following Trump's election.

"As President Lincoln said, 'A house divided against itself cannot stand,'" Brown said. "With the deep divisions in our country, it is incumbent on all of us especially the new leadership in Washington to take steps that heal those divisions, not deepen them."

"In California, we will do our part to find common ground whenever possible. But as Californians, we will also stay true to our basic principles. We will protect the precious rights of our people and continue to confront the existential threat of our time devastating climate change."

Alex Padilla California's secretary of state sharply criticized the addition of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a staunch opponent of illegal immigration, to Trump's transition team.

"Mr. Trump's selection of Kris Kobach to the immigration transition team sends a deeply troubling message that telegraphs an imminent assault on our collective voting rights and civil rights," Padilla said.

Ken Calvert "Throughout this campaign Donald Trump echoed the deep frustrations of many Americans about the lack of economic opportunities and the direction of our country," the Corona Republican congressman said.

"As President-elect Trump said ... now the real work must begin to enact the policies that will put our nation on a different path."

Is it a momentary release of anger? Or the start of something more?

That question lingers after a wave of protests in California and elsewhere against Donald Trumps victory Tuesday, Nov. 8 in the presidential election. Thousands on Wednesday and Thursday took to the streets to express their outrage about a candidate denounced by foes as a champion of racism, misogyny and homophobia.

Thousands protested in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other large U.S. cities. Protesters also rallied on college campuses nationwide.

Locally, a walking protest took place in downtown Riverside on Wednesday night and UC Riverside students planned to meet Thursday night to talk about protest plans. High schoolers Thursday walked out of classes in Montclair, San Gabriel and other Southern California schools.

Trumps underdog win over Hillary Clinton stunned her supporters as the real estate mogul and reality TV stars base of blue-collar whites outmatched Clintons coalition, which relied heavily on ethnic minorities. Republicans now control the White House, Congress and the majority of governorships and state legislatures.

After Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, the tea party movement rose and lifted the GOP to a congressional majority while providing an organized, sustained resistance to the Democratic president. Will there be a tea party of the left, or will the spirit fueling this weeks protests fade in the course of the Trump administration?

Its too early to say, said Renee Van Vechten, a political science professor at the University of Redlands. The tea party, she said, didnt take shape until about a year after Obama took office and grew with the help of talk radio and clearly defined leaders.

Yelling isnt enough. You cannot sustain a scream for a long time. It dies down over time, she said. Anger has to be channeled.

Van Vechten drew a distinction between an explicity anti-Trump movement and general opposition to the new president.

For an actual movement to take shape, it would be distinguishable because it coalesces around a set of principles that the opposing party leaders (Democrats) either havent fully embraced, or because of policies that seem unachievable without their activism, she said.

Occupy Wall Street grew organically because it seemed to people that Democrats and Republican politicians were in bed with Wall Street, and change had to be forced by activism from outside the system. Same with the tea party movement.

WHICH TRUMP?

Mark Peterson, a professor at UCLAs Luskin School of Public Affairs, said the anti-Trump protests arent a flash in the pan.

We have never had a president-elect like Donald Trump, who in the course of his career and the campaign has done so much to be offensive to such a large range of groups, Peterson said.

Trumps actions as president will influence the intensity of his opposition, Peterson said.

Read more here:
Will Trump spur a tea party of the left? - Press Enterprise