Governor Gavin Newsom easily survived the recall election by effectively running against Larry Elder and former President Donald Trump, and based on the commentary from OC’s hardcore right-wingers, I’m going to declare the California drought over due to the vast amount of conservative tears.
It’s damn hard for a talk show host to run for office when there are hours of commentary good political consultants can pick apart. Elements like slave owners deserve reparations for their lost “property,” no minimum wage, no mask mandates, firing teachers, damn the environment and lets free up developers, and stuff like that. I’m still waiting for my friends of the right to tell me which of their civil rights is at risk and how Elder was going to save the state with supermajorities in the State Assembly and State Senate belonging to Democrats.
Will a “run against Trump” strategy work in 2022? It depends on the district and depends on the state. Places in OC where the yes on recall did well still lie in Rep. Michelle Steel’s district and in Young Kim’s, so there’s work ahead for Harley Rouda, Jay Chen and the DPOC ahead of the midterms.
But in this special election, a hat tip to Rusty Hicks and the CDP and to Ada Briceno and the DPOC for doing the hard work to get it done. This was a positive victory for Democrats in California and the rest of the country. It should not be lost on Republicans how motivated Democrats still are to defeat Trumpism once and for all.