President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020 in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

America is at a crossroads.

I realize we say this nearly every election cycle, but I truly believe this time it is very real. The rise of Bernie Sanders and the ensuing chaos in the Democrat party is indicative of this opinion. Watching second amendment rights getting squashed under the boot of state government in Virginia is indicative of this opinion. Watching California descend into the hell that comes from a one-party super majority is indicative of this opinion. We are now faced with deciding how we want this nation to proceed – as a nanny state in which a few powerful elites hold our fates in their hands, or as a nation in which We the People know what is best for our own lives based on our experience, geography and intelligence.

Here in California we are often the butt of jokes from conservatives and Republicans from outside the state who dismiss us as “getting what we voted for” and then tell us we just need to sink into the ocean already. It’s understandable but unhelpful. The truth is, many of us are not voting for this at all, but we are overwhelmed by three cities that also happen to be some of the most populous cities in America. Most of us don’t enjoy the way this state has become a one-party state, but we are overwhelmed by urban areas, voter fraud and massive amounts of lobbyist dollars that basically own Sacramento. It seems hopeless, but something has happened recently that makes me think we may be on the precipice of an historic shift in the Golden State. If Trump can take advantage, he could very possibly flip this state in the popular vote, and have a huge affect down ballot.

If you’ve followed me for the last couple of months you’ve seen me raging about AB5, the California law that dropped and put nearly a million independent contractors out of work or under the threat of losing work. The consequences were swift and brutal. In the span of a few months the electoral mood here has gone from business as usual to “Vote the bums out”.

The California electorate is extremely tolerant of Sacramento’s nonsense (which should be obvious). We live in a gorgeous state, one of the most beautiful in the union if you ask me. People will put up with a lot just for the honor of calling this home. And to be fair, most of the people who vote for what ails us aren’t being stupid or evil, they just genuinely believe these laws are helpful. They care, they just don’t necessarily understand all the “unintended consequences” of the “help” they’re voting for. They do not deserve your scorn for that. When AB5 came along it rocked the world of almost every faithful Democrat voter. There is hardly a business or a person here that isn’t tied to independent contracting in some way, and since we have that super majority it is strikingly and undeniably clear that this is the California Democrat party that has done this to us. There is simply no one else to blame, even if we wanted to. What’s worse, the response from Democrat elected officials has been underwhelming at the least, downright dismissive and rude at its worst.

The bill’s author – Lorena Gonzalez (CA-80) – has been flooded with emails, calls and social media pleas to reverse her position and support her constituents who are begging for help. Her response has been anything but diplomatic. From calling her faithful Democrat voters “trolls and bots” to telling them those freelance jobs they love aren’t “real jobs” anyway to using vulgarity to accuse them of being Trump voters in disguise, she has been nothing but churlish, obscene and insulting. It isn’t just her…it is almost every Dem politician in the state. Republican voters may already be familiar with this type of ignorant and smug response, but they’re used to it. They expect it. Democrat voters most certainly do not. They value their politicians and believe their political class has their best interests at heart. They want to vote Democrat and yet when faced with the smug cruelty of the Lorena Gonzalez’ of the state they are now at their own crossroads.

I’m about to make a purely anecdotal statement, so take it for what it’s worth but…

I’ve never seen so many Californians willing and eager to cross the aisle to vote Republican as I have in the last two months. There are many who will back me up on this.

Do they want to vote for the California GOP? No. Do they want to vote for Trump? No. That being said, more than anything they want to be heard and since the California Democrats are willfully ignoring their voices, many feel a GOP vote will be the only way to make an impact. They’ll go back to voting for the party they love and are loyal to, but they’re for sure not going back to it if they don’t have jobs or are forced to move out of state because of AB5.

The stakes are real and critical and I’ve never seen so many people throwing aside political divisions for a unified cause. We vote with our wallets and Newsom and Gonzalez have taken the last dollars out of our wallets and then thumbed their noses at us for complaining about it.

Obviously Trump can’t repeal AB5 as President, but he can do something that would be hugely effective for the lawmakers who are willing to do just that. What we need is for him to show up in all the places tradition says he doesn’t belong and make a simple statement…

I hear you. I know you’re hurting, this isn’t fair and AB5 is wrong in every single way. I’ll stand with you to fight this where I can.

I cannot stress enough what a game-changer it would be to have this president mention California voters and this bill by name. I know the popular vote thing has been a thorn in his side since 2020. If nothing else, a popular win in California would be quite a vindication. But besides what it would do for him personally, it could change the down ballot elections significantly.

Democrat voters are desperate for help. Don’t shut them down because you hate their politics. Give them a reason to change their minds, at least for one election.

Trump can do this. His 2016 election message to faithful Dem voters (particularly in the black community) was, “What do you have to lose?” and I believe this same sentiment would go very, very far here in California.

We’ve already lost our jobs and our faith in what is now clearly a very broken state political system. What’s one vote in one election?

If Trump pushes just a tiny bit harder here, it could be everything.