It’s perhaps no surprise that those who don’t acknowledge the true “science” on COVID also wouldn’t acknowledge the reality on elections. But so it is with the California recall results, which have Democrats crowing that the outcome was a vindication of COVID-19 restrictions and a repudiation of “Trumpism.”
In fact, some leftists claim it’s a green light to run on continued lockdowns, mask mandates, and COVID Ritual in general. In response, some conservatives may be saying, “Don’t threaten us with a good time.”
As most know, failing Democrat governor Gavin Newsom prevailed in the recall effort by a wide margin, approximately 64 to 36 percent as of this writing. This set the spin machine into high gear.
CNN wrote that Joe “Biden calls Newsom recall results ‘a resounding win’ for ‘strong vaccine requirements.’”
“‘No’ is not the only thing that was expressed tonight,’ Newsom, who will now finish out his term, said Tuesday night,” CNN related in yet another article. “‘We said yes to science, yes to vaccines, yes to ending this pandemic.’”
Deadline wrote that “Newsom is likely to see his victory as an affirmation of his Covid-19 policies, as exit polls said that the coronavirus was the number one issue in the state. But it also may be a roadmap for him and other Democrats going into next year’s midterm elections, in that they will embrace Covid-19 restrictions as an electoral winner.”
Then there’s RawStory’s David Cay Johnston, who apparently has won a Pulitzer Prize. “A clear repudiation,” his headline blared — “Larry Elder’s mammoth defeat may signal the death rattle of Trumpism.” The outcome is “a powerful message for those Republicans who think their future lies with Donald Trump and Trumpism,” he then opined in his opening line. “It doesn’t.”
To all this, commentator Monica Showalter responds incredulously, “Really? A blue-state governor with a huge Democrat-registered majority somehow won his recall election? Not a lot of news in that. Nor is the breakdown — the rural counties voted against him; the big blue coastal cities voted for him.”
As NBC’s THINK put it, understating the case but rendering more rational mainstream media analysis, “To be sure, California is an imperfect test case for the anti-Trump strategy.” No doubt, and here’s reality:
Democrats have an almost 2-to-1 Golden State registration advantage over Republicans, and Newsom’s recall margin was less than 2 to 1 — even with rampant vote fraud. (In fact, the Dems’ registration edge will surely end up being greater than the recall margin.)
Then there’s Trumpism. Accepting for argument’s sake that the election was a referendum on the phenomenon — and Democrats and their public-relations team (the US media) did tie the leading candidate against Newsom, Larry Elder, to Trump — what should be concluded?
The recall margin, again, stands at 64 to 36 percent. Yet Trump lost California in 2016 by 61.73 to 31.62 percent, an even greater spread. So following the logic that California should be viewed as some kind of bellwether, Trump should have lost the presidency that year. He won, though, of course.
The truth is that the thinking embraced here — that as California goes, so goes the nation — only applies to longer term cultural trends, as the state is on the cutting edge of societal devolution in a civilization steadily drifting “left.” But the recall results don’t tell us anything more about a national election next year than the Golden State’s 2016 choice told us about the national election that year.
Moreover, history informs that the recall was always a long shot. Only two governors have ever been recalled: North Dakota’s Lynn Frazier in 1921 and California’s Gray Davis in 2003. Even former Republican Wisconsin governor Scott Walker beat back a recall effort in 2012 by a comfortable margin, despite overwhelming media bias against him.
As for Gray Davis’ 2003 removal, it was an exception as he was terminated by Hollywood giant Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not only was the latter a “moderate” of European birth who couldn’t easily be tarnished as a “right-winger,” but he had steroid-level celebrity star power. He paled in comparison to Elder substantively and was an awful governor, but style-wise was hard to beat.
In reality, that Newsom was ever imperiled in the first place speaks volumes about the Democrats’ agenda’s unpopularity, inclusive of its irrational coronavirus restrictions. As NBC’s THINK put it, the governor “faced what in late July seemed like a realistic chance of getting recalled. At the time, a University of California, Berkeley/Los Angeles Times poll frightened many Democrats by finding 47 percent of the electorate favoring Newsom’s recall and a bare 50 percent favoring his retention.”
So what happened? Well, the media transitioned the recall effort from a referendum on Newsom’s record to an Elder/Newsom contest. Showalter explained the turnaround well:
Newsom in fact ran an ad hominem hate-Elder campaign, painting him solely as “Trump,” and unfortunately, Elder could not fight it. Newsom had cash from his billionaire patrons across the country that Elder could not match, as well as the support of the entire Democrat political machinery. Newsom also had unions working hard to increase turnout, which means he’s got favors to repay.
Elder also had other significant disadvantages, starting with his status as an outsider. Worse still, he distanced himself from Trump (and his operatives) early on. That deprived him of political muscle even as he was painted with the “Trump” brush, leaving him the worst of both worlds. Newsom had the entire Democratic establishment backing him, starting with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Realize also that Elder, being a radio host and columnist, faced an obstacle average politicians don’t: a paper trail as long as Newsom’s failure list. And given that a social commentator will use devices such as hyperbole along with presenting facts, it’s easy finding among his millions of words written and spoken something that can be taken out of context and used to demonize him.
The bottom line is that California’s recall outcome only tells us something about California — and about what will happen to the rest of us well down the road if our country keeps getting Californicated.
