CA Recall: Republicans See Voter Fraud as the Future
In the wake of a crushing defeat in their effort to oust CA Gov. Gavin Newsom, Republicans should decide to play by new rules when it comes to elections.
Rather than run candidates who actually have to appeal to a cross section of voters or have actual proposals for how they’d be better at serving the public interest, party nominees will be given official support based on which candidate can make the most attention getting claims about voter fraud costing them their most recent loss.
Following this logic, conservative talk radio host Larry Elder won the GOP’s moneyball sweepstakes for the 2022 California gubernatorial election. He won by promoting a website urging people to sign a petition claiming election fraud in California before the votes were even counted.
Language used in the was identical to that on petitions circulated online by attorney Lin Wood backing his lawsuit to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s win in Georgia in 2020. Cut, paste, fundraise, and grift. It’s the GOP way.
Via the Associated Press:
Larry Elder, one of the leading Republican candidates seeking to replace Newsom if the recall succeeds, has said he believes “there might very well be shenanigans, as there were in the 2020 election.” His campaign website has a link to a “Stop CA Fraud” website where people can report suspicious voting activity or sign a petition demanding a special legislative session to investigate an election that isn’t even over. The language is lifted from a petition circulated to help former President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the results of last year’s presidential election.
On Monday, Trump, who has continued to promote falsehoods about his loss in the 2020 election, issued a statement saying, “Does anybody really believe the California Recall Election isn’t rigged?”
Via the Daily Beast:
The site, which is paid for by the campaign, includes language that assumes Gov. Gavin Newsom had already won, though no results had yet been released and Elder is still campaigning. “We implore you… to join us in this fight as you are able, primarily by signing our petition demanding a special session of the California legislature to investigate and ameliorate the twisted results of this 2021 Recall Election of Governor Gavin Newsom,” the site says.
Additionally, the website states “statistical analyses used to detect fraud in elections held in 3rd-world nations (such as Russia, Venezuela, and Iran) have detected fraud in California resulting in Governor Gavin Newsom being reinstated as governor.”
As the deadline for votes neared, Elder told Fresno’s KMJ talk radio of plans to run against Newsom in 2022, saying "I have now become a political force here in California, particularly within the @CAGOP, and I'm not going to leave the stage."
I think Elder is correct. In fact, by losing to Democrats by a similar margin that Trump lost to Biden in the state, the radio has put himself into contention for Vice President (or better, if the Big Guy keeps eating cheeseburgers) in 2024.
Sometimes these things just write themselves:
https://twitter.com/shaneharrisnow/status/1438015575473618953?s=20
Of course, Elder’s win is as illusionary as the GOP Healthcare plan. Only 4.52 million people had an opinion on Question 2; the GOP “winner’s” forty-something percent of the vote came from that number.
Think of this as a win-win for the GOP. Consultants, campaign lawyers, front groups, and ad firms will all still get paid even though they know their candidate will lose. No longer will it be necessary to differentiate between right-wing grifting success and electoral success.
***
There is only so much crow for Republicans and their “it’s only a horserace” allies over at Politico to eat with these kinds of election results, so I’d like to make sure people don’t forget KUSI News, who sent Dan Plante out to report on “the real world” and were rewarded with his gem of an Jane Doe average voter interview:
https://twitter.com/KUSINews/status/1437934517751201793?s=20
Nowhere in the story are we told that “voter Stephanie Hamill” hosts a show on the fringe OANN, based on her success as advisor for National Diversity Coalition for Trump.
As for Kevin Faulconer, who somehow thinks he didn't completely blow it, there's always a career in talk radio. He beat KOGO's Carl DeMaio back when, and there's no reason why he can't do it again.
Here's Mark Sumner's reporting on this particular segment of the job market:
For decades now, the AM radio hosts of America have been spreading, keeping the flames of hate stoked high, and metastasizing as they one-upped each other in showing that there was literally nothing they couldn’t get away with. That included spreading conspiracy theories like QAnon. And of course, it included lies about COVID-19, spreading fear of vaccines, promoting false “cures” from hydroxychloroquine to bleach, and laughing at everyone calling for wearing masks or limiting gatherings.
These are the guys who have been out there claiming COVID-19 is a hoax, that reports of deaths are exaggerated, that veterinary medications are safe, and that President Joe Biden is a tyrant for insisting on vaccination. Except none of these six guys will be doing that again. Because all six of them are dead.
Meanwhile, back on the national campaign trail...
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1437786445301829646?s=20
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Credit for original photo used in lead image: Photo: Damian Dovarganes/AP