"Orange County," the California collection of 34 cities and 3.2 million residents once described by President Reagan as where "all the good Republicans go to die," died Tuesday. It was 129 years old.
Long famous for its wealth, whiteness and conservative values, Orange County is survived by its offspring, who include a population that is about 60% people of color, some of the most crowded and poor neighborhoods in the United States and a Republican Party that's on the ropes. Once reliably red, the official cause of O.C.'s passing is a case of the blue flu, which turned its politics more purple than Barney the dinosaur.