It looks like some of you are really holding out hope for that Calexit thing. About 32 percent of Californians are in favor of toying with breaking off from the rest of the U.S., according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. That number is up 12 points since the last time data was collected.
California has 39 million residents, the largest population of any U.S. state, and an economy that would be the world’s sixth largest if we were a country of our own. An overwhelming majority of the state voted for Hillary Clinton, and that seems to be what has turned the volume up on the chatter about breaking off.
The Calexit movement already existed before the election, as a small and unlikely grassroots campaign, but the election and inauguration of President Trump seems to have brought the idea into the mainstream conversation. Yes California, one of the major organizers of Calexit activists, has seen their mailing list swell from less than 2,500 names before the election to over 115,000 by the inauguration, according to a Reuters wire service report.
Secession movement activists have requested official approval from the state to start collecting the signatures they need to initiate a statewide ballot referendum campaign. Their goal is to have the measure on the 2018 California ballots. Calexit-ers visibly turned out for anti-Trump protests in Los Angeles and San Francisco over the weekend and they’ve begun signing up volunteers, staging events, and even launching local Yes California chapters in Los Angeles, Orange County and elsewhere across the state.
While almost a third of Californians would be open to the idea of secession, the idea of California taking off on its own is considerably less popular across the rest of the country. Nationally, only 20 percent of the poll respondents think Calexit is even worth considering.
What do you think about the idea? Is it ridiculous to even speculate that it's an option? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
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