vote for newsom now, then vote him out next year
the recall election has once again exposed the elemental flaw of the two-party system
I’ve been ready to like Gavin Newsom for a while now. For one, he seems way cooler than the governor of my hometown state. I like that he has a disability. He gave us legal weed, and handed out marriage certificates to gay couples when the federal government wouldn’t, way back in 2004. Pretty sick move. And what a voice on that guy!
I also appreciate that he at least tried to use his privilege for the better. While mayor of San Francisco, he was so pissed about the homeless crisis one night that he purchased a bunch of food and supplies himself, loaded them into his car, and started handing them out on the streets. There was no staged press conference. It was admirable, and kind of funny. Just a really pissed rich guy trying all by himself to will something impossible into existence.
I think he wants to do a good job. Reporters who have covered him told me he has authoritative knowledge of things like budget policy. And during his college days Newsom was pretty good at baseball. I have a hard rule that all baseball players go to heaven.
But everything in California is getting old, and the reserves have been tapped. Newsom is a late stage technocrat presiding over a ransacked utopia. This guy has been obliviously LARPing around California for 20 years now as Patrick Bateman, and on Tuesday he’s facing a shotgun recall election.
I mean, the guy’s kinda too perfect. He’s someone who seems like he was literally conceived for the sole purpose of extending the rule of a few California families: The Browns, Newsoms, and Gettys. Newsom’s father, Bill Newsom, was close with Gordon Getty, and served as a lawyer and financial advisor to the oil barons. And Jerry Brown, California’s forever governor, appointed Newsom’s father to the bench in the 70s. The father was later made an appeals judge, and helped Getty change state trust law so Getty could get a cut of the family money. Jerry Brown’s father, before he became governor, started his political career with seed money from grandfather Newsom. The loop was closed when Brown made Gavin his lieutenant governor. This isn’t anything new, but it’s definitely weird.
So into this authoritarian dynasty Gavin went. The rise of tech monopolies ran concurrent to his political ascent. He’s beholden to them, as well as energy companies. He won’t end fracking, or shutdown Aliso Canyon. Income inequality is an absolute mess; he never instituted a good ban on evictions when people needed it the most. And his lockdown measures were so random. His office refused to share the numbers it analyzed when deciding to institute or lift restrictions, putting into question exactly what dictated those decisions. Of course the French Laundry dinner was bad. And his press office is kinda lame. They never get back to you.
Look, the recall is so dumb. Newsom’s biggest opponent, some guy named Larry Elder, walked around earth for the first time recently and got so shook coming into contact with regular people that he almost ended his campaign.
But what really turns me off is the same old story about modern mainstream politics. With the recall election, Newsom and the Democratic Party made it about Trump. It’s the same old playbook of divisiveness and hate. Just blame the other side. A lot of these neurotic liberals don’t want to let go of the psychic pain Trump inflicted upon them. It gives them life. They feed off each other. It means Democrats don’t have to tell voters why you should vote for them. Instead they just say “Trump” and call it a day. Democrats and Republicans keep blaming each other, and never articulate a good reason why you should like them. Probably because there aren’t any. The weird thing is California is run by the Democratic Party, so their Republican opponents don’t even exist.
A lot of people are tired of this precious race. Governor, please stop going live on Instagram and yelling “Let’s goooooo” while giving fist bumps. This isn’t Sunday NFL Countdown.
Let Gavin Newsom keep his little job for now, then when the real election comes around next year, vote him out. We need someone who looks more like us.