Gavin Newsom - Still the Governor of California

How did Gavin Newsom (below) survive an attempt to recall him as governor of California and put a right-wing wacko in his place?

Perhaps this map explains it.

This is a map showing the rate of COVID contagion in the United States.  Red states are at a level of high contagion, and orange states are one level lower than that.  California is one of only three states, along with the District of Columbia, to be at the lower level of contagion.  (The other two, as you can plainly see, are Connecticut and Vermont.)

Governor Newsom's policies on containing COVID are working.  More people are getting vaccinated in California than most other states.   Newsom committed some unforced errors early on in the COVID crisis, like eating at a swank restaurant when most of the state was under lockdown, but California voters forgave him for being human. All the had to do was look at the alternative, and Newsom was happily to show it to them in the form of Larry Elder, who threatened to undo COVID mandates and restrictions and also undo a lot of popular social programs (which wasn't possible, since the legislature would still be Democratic), as well as appoint a Republican U.S. Senator should incumbent Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein die or resign (which was probable, since Senator Feinstein is 88).  But mainly he successfully portrayed Elder as a California version of Donald Trump, which wasn't that hard to do, and now many Democrats looking at the treacherous terrain for the 2022 midterms are thinking of doing what Newsom did - rally the base to come out and vote against Trumpism and the Republican extremists who embrace it.

They'll have to do more than that.  Newsom also found enough time to tout his stands on issues like the environment and abortion at a time when half of the state is on fire and Roe v. Wade might not survive its fiftieth anniversary (in January 2023, the month the next Congress convenes).  He also cited his own record as governor.  Democrats in 2022 need something to get voters to vote for them, not just against Trumpism.  They need to pass that infrastructure bill in Congress.  They need to at lest try to get Roe v. Wade codified.  They also need to win big in more competitive gubernatorial races later this year, New Jersey and Virginia.  And they need to get voters to have confidence in the outcomes of the elections - like in California, where Larry Elder conceded after threatening to charge fraud if he lost.  (It was such a blowout, he had no choice.)

I certainly would have voted to keep Newsom if I had been a California voter.  But, since even those who voted to keep him could have voted for someone to replace him if the recall were to succeed, I still would have voted for someone.

Of course, I would have written in Janet Evans.

Because why would I have voted for Caitlyn Jenner? 😛