‘It’s all fallen apart’: Newsom scrambles to save California — and his career

[Dashinka 24,735]

11 hours ago, laylalex said:

I will not be signing a petition to remove Newsom. I do not believe that his missteps relating to COVID have been enough to remove him, and the expense of a recall election that will almost certainly fail (he is still popular in this state) is something we do not need at a time when money is better spent on handling the pandemic. He is up for reelection next year and can be primaried then. I understand that people are upset with him -- I am not a huge fan myself, but I think he has been mostly competent over the past couple of years -- but the timing could not be worse. This isn't a Gray Davis scenario where everyone hates him. If his popularity ratings were in the tank, maybe there would be more support for it. 

 

The reality isn't nearly as terrible as that headline seems, honestly. I am waiting to see who his primary challengers are. A Republican winning in this state is pretty much impossible, so we need a strong Democrat with the chops to run this place. I would have said Alex Padilla but he's a senator as of yesterday. 

 

Some of the Republicans cited in that article -- Ted Costa (self-described political wacko), Jennifer Kerns (led the fight against Prop 8 ) -- aren't exactly straight shooters. Joe Rodota is on the other hand, and I don't disagree with him that Newsom has a particularly hard hand to play right now. Some of it's within his control, and some of it isn't. Personally I do not agree with recall elections. You lump it until it's over, as my mom says. Imagine if there was a law that permitted presidential recall! Don't you think that would have been a massive waste of time and energy halfway through Trump's term, even though his popularity never topped 50%? 

 

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

Do you really think the CA Democrat machine will allow him to be primaried?

[Burnt Reynolds 5,058]

12 hours ago, laylalex said:

I will not be signing a petition to remove Newsom. I do not believe that his missteps relating to COVID have been enough to remove him, and the expense of a recall election that will almost certainly fail (he is still popular in this state) is something we do not need at a time when money is better spent on handling the pandemic. He is up for reelection next year and can be primaried then. I understand that people are upset with him -- I am not a huge fan myself, but I think he has been mostly competent over the past couple of years -- but the timing could not be worse. This isn't a Gray Davis scenario where everyone hates him. If his popularity ratings were in the tank, maybe there would be more support for it. 

 

The reality isn't nearly as terrible as that headline seems, honestly. I am waiting to see who his primary challengers are. A Republican winning in this state is pretty much impossible, so we need a strong Democrat with the chops to run this place. I would have said Alex Padilla but he's a senator as of yesterday. 

 

Some of the Republicans cited in that article -- Ted Costa (self-described political wacko), Jennifer Kerns (led the fight against Prop 8 ) -- aren't exactly straight shooters. Joe Rodota is on the other hand, and I don't disagree with him that Newsom has a particularly hard hand to play right now. Some of it's within his control, and some of it isn't. Personally I do not agree with recall elections. You lump it until it's over, as my mom says. Imagine if there was a law that permitted presidential recall! Don't you think that would have been a massive waste of time and energy halfway through Trump's term, even though his popularity never topped 50%? 

 

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

Impeachment is like a recall throwing out the elected chief executive and Democrats have tried it at least 3 or 4 times in 4 years on Trump making up anything they can. It seems the only time Democrats have that reservation is when it's their own candidates, but Californians have shown even Democrats aren't beyond getting thrown out from extreme stupidity, case in point with Gray Davis. If it's "impossible" nowadays to get wretched people thrown out it's an illustration of just how extreme the state has become, and how much that contrasts with the more conservative parts of the state which has only gotten more liberal since. Presidents shouldn't be subject to recall because it's a huge pain to go through that in every state, but members of the federal House and especially Senate absolutely should be subject to recall. I can tell you if they were, Mitch McConnell would be thrown out faster than you can say orange man bad. 

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

Do you really think the CA Democrat machine will allow him to be primaried?

You do know that CA doesn't really have a primary system right? It is the top two system which is completely different. That means that it is a wide open primary and means that only the two people with the most votes can continue on to the main election. That could be two Democrats, two Republicans, or a Republican and a Democrat

[laylalex 7,300]

4 hours ago, Dashinka said:

Do you really think the CA Democrat machine will allow him to be primaried?

 

3 hours ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

You do know that CA doesn't really have a primary system right? It is the top two system which is completely different. That means that it is a wide open primary and means that only the two people with the most votes can continue on to the main election. That could be two Democrats, two Republicans, or a Republican and a Democrat

Uh, yes. I know how the primaries work here, and they ARE primaries. The party cannot prevent candidates with enough support from getting on the ballot. They are called "jungle primaries" and yes, that means sometimes two Democrats are on the ballot after the primary. They are still primaries. There is no "rule" that the parties have to have separate primaries and a D and an R automatically get on the ballot. It happened when Feinstein was up for election and I was DELIGHTED because it meant I could vote for someone who (1) was not her (I really detest her) and (2) had a fighting chance at winning. Republicans will not win on the state level right now in California, though this can and probably will change at some point. Having a candidate who could realistically beat Feinstein was in the interest of the entire state. Kevin de Leon lost by 8 points, but the Republican would have been trounced (total number of Republican votes in the primary was less than a third across all candidates). It is better to have REAL competition rather than token representation of one of the major parties that has no chance.

[TBoneTX 45,918]

19 hours ago, Boiler said:

Any views on politicians

Many folks may be wondering who borrowed the guillotine and hasn't returned it yet...

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

7 hours ago, laylalex said:

 

Uh, yes. I know how the primaries work here, and they ARE primaries. The party cannot prevent candidates with enough support from getting on the ballot. They are called "jungle primaries" and yes, that means sometimes two Democrats are on the ballot after the primary. They are still primaries. There is no "rule" that the parties have to have separate primaries and a D and an R automatically get on the ballot. It happened when Feinstein was up for election and I was DELIGHTED because it meant I could vote for someone who (1) was not her (I really detest her) and (2) had a fighting chance at winning. Republicans will not win on the state level right now in California, though this can and probably will change at some point. Having a candidate who could realistically beat Feinstein was in the interest of the entire state. Kevin de Leon lost by 8 points, but the Republican would have been trounced (total number of Republican votes in the primary was less than a third across all candidates). It is better to have REAL competition rather than token representation of one of the major parties that has no chance.

But to be honest that isn't a real primary though. A primary would be between those just that party not everyone in that whole race. Scwarzenager changed it with the hope that it would help open up the election to those that are not playing to the party zealots on either side. I really think it has utterly failed to be honest with you. 

 

Kevin Leon deserved to lost that race after that stunt he pulled with a "ghost gun". He is nothing but a hypocrite to the highest order. BTW his name is Leon, he only changed it when he wanted to run for office

[Burnt Reynolds 5,058]

I kinda like that jungle primary. While I know its design and timing in my state is specifically to allow Democrats to dominate the entire ballot, to me, it gives people less excuse for their ticking D and R boxes. They can't complain that the parties have a stranglehold on things when they choose to vote the way they do. Allows for an easier "you get what you deserve" reasoning.

[laylalex 7,300]

Oh, forgot to mention I checked the Kevin de Leon story about his name, because that didn't sit with what I can recall. He started using "de Leon" when he was 19 or 20, well before he thought about entering politics. It isn't correct that he changed it just to run for office, which he didn't even do until 2006. 

https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article133464794.html

 

I think he would have been a far better senator than Feinstein who continues to be an embarrassment. We don't have to agree on that, but it's important to point out facts.  I myself have one of those type of "de X" or "von Y" or "van Z" last names that are supposed to convey some sort of noble background but when I dug a little, I found out an ancestor wiggled the de/van/von into the family name to sound more fancy.  

[Boiler 45,945]

https://www.sfgate.com/coronavirus/article/California-COVID-vaccine-rank-states-numbers-last-15890734.php

 

California now ranks dead last in administering COVID-19 vaccines

[laylalex 7,300]

Yes, I know. It's horrible what is happening here in terms of vaccine distribution, but I do not think it is right to place the blame solely at Newsom's feet. The counties have some blame to take as well, as well as the federal government. What we need here -- as in every other state in my opinion -- is a standardized, equitable rollout of the vaccine in all parts of the country. A patchwork of rules isn't working, clearly. 

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

2 hours ago, laylalex said:

Yes, I know. It's horrible what is happening here in terms of vaccine distribution, but I do not think it is right to place the blame solely at Newsom's feet. The counties have some blame to take as well, as well as the federal government. What we need here -- as in every other state in my opinion -- is a standardized, equitable rollout of the vaccine in all parts of the country. A patchwork of rules isn't working, clearly. 

You are right which by the way the John and Ken show talk about the vaccine distribution ranking all the time recently.

 

 

BTW I hear Santa Monica is being sued because of the homeless problem

Edited January 24, 2021 by Cyberfx1024

[TBoneTX 45,918]

9 hours ago, laylalex said:

I myself have one of those type of "de X" or "von Y" or "van Z" last names

Lay de La = Lady La = LL ma'am.

Got it, first try!

[Dashinka 24,735]

On 1/23/2021 at 7:04 PM, laylalex said:

Yes, I know. It's horrible what is happening here in terms of vaccine distribution, but I do not think it is right to place the blame solely at Newsom's feet. The counties have some blame to take as well, as well as the federal government. What we need here -- as in every other state in my opinion -- is a standardized, equitable rollout of the vaccine in all parts of the country. A patchwork of rules isn't working, clearly. 

I think the issue is how each entity handles the "equitable" distribution.  This all seems pretty easy, the issue with those over 65 seems paramount along with those with pre-existing conditions and all the front line workers.  When the government gets involved and starts micromanaging everything like is happening in many "progressive" places things slow down to a crawl. 

[Boiler 45,945]

 

[laylalex 7,300]

We have had fantastic news in the state and the county today. The stay at home order is lifted! As a state, we pulled together enough to drive down transmission rates and in the county it has been really impressive. In the middle of December, the daily rate of transmission was 1.3; as of yesterday, it was 0.82. The good news is that outdoor dining will open again as well as hairdressers, nail salons, etc. with modifications. We can have small (3 household) gatherings again outside. We earned this by improving mask wearing, distancing and staying at home. We can keep doing the good stuff by not pushing the limits. 

 

Just a big, big sigh of relief.