Republicans about to become an afterthought in California Capitol

The San Jose Mercury reports:

Now that Gov. Jerry Brown has decided to take his tax hike initiative directly to the voters, will Republicans have a role to play in the Legislature in 2012?

Or will they be relegated to little more than a cranky but irrelevant presence in the Capitol, holding fast to their anti-tax ideology but with little to show for it?

Increasingly marginalized with dwindling statewide registration numbers, Republicans have already lost leverage on the budget and may soon lose it on taxes if new district lines leave Democrats in control of both the Assembly and the Senate.

Perhaps the Republicans' last chance to have a legislative impact was in talks with the governor last spring, but that blew up in their faces when they wouldn't budge on allowing a temporary tax extension to go before voters.

"They're taking a stand on principle, but the price of principle is exclusion from decision-making," said Jack Pitney, a former Republican operative who now teaches government and political science at Claremont McKenna College. "For the time being Republicans have very little influence in the Capitol."

Great moments in one party rule.