Forget About Governor Newsom. Just Vote NO Recall
If you like magical thinking, you’ll love Paffrath's scheme. Toll roads, open carry, homelessness solved in 60 days, free ponies for everybody...the list goes on.
The Recall election is a referendum. What is being voted for or against, however, is not a politician; values are at stake. Don’t be confused by promises that the cartoonish representation of California’s chief executive going away will change the course of history. Or just about anything, for that matter.
The Republicans who’ve funded the recall effort see it as a way to “win” a statewide election without actually getting enough votes to be representative of the electorate. Except for the egos of the top tier of GOP candidates, it doesn’t matter who wins.
The winner may as well be Lassie, the miracle dog of 1960s TV fame, should a candidate on the list for #2 Question claim the job. This individual will be in office for all of 14 months. (There is a regular election next fall.) Their legitimacy will be questioned from Day One, since the winning percentage of the vote will amount to one in five ballots cast, if they’re lucky.
Regardless of their party affiliation, they’ll face a hostile legislature and bureaucracy, and they won’t get to do much of anything, other than provoke chaos. Sorry, folks, it takes a team to govern, and none of these folks could put one together in the time allotted.
The “victory,” should Newsom be voted out, will be a symbolic one for the forces of darkness. Nothing more or nothing less. It’s voting for MAGA without the Former Guy on the ballot.
People who should know better are trying to talk voters into making a choice on the number two question on the recall ballot.
KCBS pundit Doug Sovern argues: “Surrendering your right to have a say on that second decision goes against the very point of the franchise.”
538 pollster Nate Silver tweeted: “Pretty much always, if someone tells you not to vote, they are giving you bad advice. If you live in California and leave the recall line blank, you are partly disenfranchising yourself and are making a mistake.”
California Voter Foundation president Kim Alexander says voters will be confused about not voting on Question 2.
All this advice would make sense if this were an ordinary election, or even an ordinary recall (is there such a thing?).
Let’s take Gov. Gavin Newsom out of the equation for a second. Based on the reasoning being used by recall advocates, virtually any Democratic (or many Republican) governor would be facing a recall.
What started out as an anti-immigrant screed (that is still the language officially being voted on), morphed into a referendum on measures being used to limit the impact of the worst pandemic in a decade.
Every single one of the anti mask/vaxxer protests is made up of people who want any governor who will respect their freedom to sicken the rest of us. Recall Newsom signs and petitions are omnipresent at these events.
They’re telling us who they really are. Pay attention. Look at the rest of their signage. Conspiracies? Check. Lack of respect for others? Check. Support for authoritarians? Check. Etc. etc.
Despite his admittedly stupid actions in the name of flouting his privilege, Gov. Newsom isn’t the problem. Airbrush him from California’s political landscape and the only thing missing would be his public relations word salads.
Let’s forget all the GOP candidates for a second, even though it’s virtually assured that one of them will be the top vote getter.
The remaining choices include nine Democrats, ten no party preference candidates, a libertarian, two Green Party members, one crusty Libertarian, and entertainer Angelyne, who’s promising an annual Bubble Bath Day and UFO convention. (Here’s my review of everybody on the ballot.)
The Democrat who’s getting some buzz is YouTube phenom Kevin Paffrath, 29, a millionaire businessman. He’s touting a Survey USA poll showing him as the leading candidate to replace Newsom.
Please, do read his plan for California. If you like magical thinking, you’ll love Paffrath's scheme. Toll roads, open carry, homelessness solved in 60 days; free ponies for everybody...the list goes on.
Want more? If you’re willing to give up your email address to loony tunes Epoch Times, you can watch an interview with Paffrath. Wait? What? This would be like Larry Elder giving an interview to whatever passes for a North Korean newspaper.
THIS is what you’ll get when you just pick a name on Question 2.
By the way, the only other candidate (Larry Elder doesn’t need to; he’s a regular) to sit down for a video interview with the Epoch Times is Republican Anthony Trimino.
I’ll give Trimino credit. He gets it.
This isn’t about a recall. It’s about a reckoning.
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