Every year around this time, I return to Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” But this year, the story hit differently. Maybe it’s because California feels like it’s standing at its own crossroads, caught between who we were, who we are, and who we could be. Or maybe it’s because Dickens offers something we don’t hear enough in politics today: the promise of redemption.

That theme has stayed with me as I revisited the books that shaped my leadership this year — Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “Team of Rivals,” Henry Olsen’s “The Working Class Republican,” and even Mel Robbins’ freeing mantra, “Let Them.”

Each one, in its own way, reminds us that change is possible. People can change. Systems can change. And yes, even politics can change, if we’re willing to confront the truth. So this December, I found myself wondering: If Dickens wrote a “Christmas Carol” for modern California, what would he show us?

The Ghost of California Past

Not long ago, California was defined by possibility — a state where families could afford to plant roots, build businesses, and trust that the next generation would be better off. These weren’t partisan dreams; they were shared values. Henry Olsen writes about a conservatism centered on the working class — on dignity, responsibility and the belief that government should expand opportunity, not replace it. But these values weren’t just conservative; they were........

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