If you don’t vote, we can’t win

October 30, 2025

OPINION by ANDY CALDWELL

One of my favorite movie lines, because it made me think, was in “Chariots of Fire.” Chariots of Fire is a true story, a 1981 film about two British track athletes, one a determined Jew, and the other a devout Christian, who compete in the 1924 Olympics.

The film was the winner of four Academy Awards including best picture. Harold Abrahams is afraid he can’t beat Eric Liddell. He tells his girlfriend, “If I can’t win, I won’t run!” She aptly observes, “If you don’t run, you can’t win.”

Too bad republicans (and a good number of independents) in California don’t have wise and discerning girlfriends! I have witnessed several elections over the years where the margin of victory by which the Democrat won was the exact number associated with conservatives who didn’t vote because they thought they could not win.

It is a very perverse and disastrous self-fulfilling prophecy to lose because you don’t think you can win, when the only thing you had to do to prove yourself wrong was to vote.

I am often asked, “What can I do to make a difference?” The simplest thing is to get involved and recruit other “unbelievers” to do the same. Today I will outline three things you can do.

The first is vote Proposition 50 is before voters, and it is as extremely important as it is devious. The fake excuse to redistrict California mid-census has to do with Texas doing the same.

But Texas redistricted because it was found to be in violation of the laws pertaining to how districts can be drawn in light of the Voting Rights Act. Regardless, Texas had a legitimate reason to redistrict, while Gavin Newsom’s Prop. 50 is nothing less than a raw power grab.

What is at stake? The elimination of all but three congressional seats held by republicans in California.

The goal? Shift the balance of power in the House back to Democrats to stonewall the Trump agenda.

What to do? Vote! And urge everyone you know to vote no on Prop. 50. The deadline to vote is this Tuesday.

Prop 50 suspends California’s Citizen’s Redistricting Commission for purely partisan purposes.

Don’t let Newsom get away with it.

Speaking of voting. One of the things the corrupt Democratic political machine relies upon to win in California is various types of election machinations ripe for fraud.

This would include so-called “ballot harvesting” which allows bundlers to drop off hundreds of ballots gathered under, at best, suspicious circumstances. The cure?

The requirement to vote in person and show an id to do so! The proposed ovter ID ballot measure, if approved by voters, would become a state constitutional amendment that requires citizenship verification for all voter registrations and government-issued ID for casting a ballot in an election.

But, before voters get a chance to approve this measure, we need your help to get it on the ballot! That means the organizers must get enough signatures to get the measure before voters.

Please visit the following website to download the petition and urge your family and friends throughout the state of California to do the same.

The third issue that needs your immediate attention is an effort by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer’s Association to shore up Prop. 13. The passage of Prop 13 was a seminal event in our tax and spend state back in the 1970’s.

Prop. 13 accomplished several things for taxpayers. First, it capped the rise of property tax from year to year. This was so essential to property owners who were losing their homes, that they owned outright, because the meteoric rise in property taxes was literally taxing them out of their homes.

The second provision of Prop 13 required a two-thirds vote to raise local taxes. Well, to make a long story short, both our politicians and our courts have been whittling away at these protections and the HJTA would like to shore up and bullet-proof Prop. 13.

This is another instance where we need your help qualify this measure for the ballot by downloading a petition, signing it, and mailing it right now, today!  You can find this petition here.

In conclusion, I recently spoke at a church about Charlie Kirk and what his life and death represented about America. In essence, Americans have two birthrights.  The first as believers in God, in general, the second as Americans whose founding DNA recognized that our divine rights come from God, not government.

The question before those who will not stand up for truth, justice, and the American way as Charlie Kirk did, is why have you sold or squandered your birthright? If you are interested in hearing more, go to time mark 39 minutes.

Andy Caldwell is the executive director of COLAB in Santa Barbara County and host of The Andy Caldwell Radio Show, weekdays from 3-5 p.m. on  FM 98.5, FM 99.5, AM 1240, AM 1290 and FM 96.9.