Orange County No Longer Nixon Country — It's Tea Party Country!

Hey. Wow.

The New York Times discovers The O.C.!

Yeah, we actually have diversity down here, and there's still a whole lot of patriotism left. But NYT is watching and waiting, hoping for that demographic tide to topple the county's GOP hegemony:

Orange remains a Republican county, at least relatively: an influx of immigrants certainly does not equate to automatic Democratic gains, here or anywhere else across the country. Many Vietnamese immigrants are socially conservative and run for office as Republicans. Until the increased identification of the Republican Party with tough measures on immigration in recent years, Latino voters were also clearly in play for Republicans. Most elected officials in Orange County are Republicans.

But the political texture of this county, which is larger in population than Nevada or Iowa, is changing, and many officials say it is only a matter of time before many Republican officeholders get swept out with the tide.

Well, it ain't happening any time soon, not if local tea party action is any indication: