The Democrats Will Also Shit Themselves.

[Mongrel]

Well, like I said, if she goes on to do more good work, then no big deal whatever, we can laugh about this being a big nothing in the rearview mirror.

This isn't really about some tacky event or dress. This is about fear. The terrifying and exhausting fear that your shredded hopes have been foolishly misplaced again. People been let down by Dems so frequently and completely, that people are gonna be jumping at shadows, and I refuse to blame them for feeling that way.

[Friday]

Larry A. Elder REP 2,373,551 46.9%
Kevin Paffrath DEM 497,376 9.8%
Kevin L. Faulconer REP 436,070 8.6%
Brandon M. Ross DEM 284,623 5.6%
John Cox REP 223,110 4.4%
Kevin Kiley REP 159,900 3.2%
Jacqueline McGowan DEM 146,160 2.9%
Joel Ventresca DEM 134,829 2.7%

Ventresca actually did better than I was expecting. Cool.

[Thad]

Ventresca actually did better than I was expecting. Cool.

And better than Jenner.

I was skeptical about the Dems' decision not to run anyone credible in the recall; it was a gamble. But I think it's clear that it paid off. If there had been good alternatives to Newsom, that could have resulted in enough Democrats voting for the recall for it to succeed, but then splitting the vote for a replacement and handing it to Elder.

As usual the real problem is first-past-the-post. I think a better solution would have just been to have one question, include all the candidates (including Newsom) on it, and use ranked-choice. If Newsom gets the majority, no recall; if somebody else does, then that's who replaces him. No room for somebody like Elder to get elected with under 30% of the vote. (Which is what he had; note that that 47% is just of people who selected someone for question #2. 45% of voters voted No on the recall and didn't fill in anybody on question 2, meaning Elder got 47% of 55% of the vote, or 26% overall. Granted they're still counting the ballots and these numbers aren't final, but I bet in the final tally he's got under 30% of the overall vote.)

[Thad]

After Newsom victory, California Democrats seek to make recalls more difficult

Hours after California Gov. Gavin Newsom beat back a recall election that could have removed him, his fellow Democrats in the state Legislature said Wednesday they will push for changes to make it more difficult to challenge a sitting governor.

Those reforms could include increasing the number of signatures needed to force a recall election, raising the standard to require wrongdoing on the part of the officeholder and changing the process that could permit someone with a small percentage of votes to replace the state’s top elected official.

“I think the recall process has been weaponized,” Newsom said a day after his decisive victory. He added that the recall rules affect not just governors but school boards, city councils, county supervisors and district attorneys, notably in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where liberal prosecutors are being challenged.

The governor noted that California has one of the nation’s lowest thresholds for the number of signatures needed to trigger a recall election. Proponents had to collect nearly 1.5 million signatures out of California’s 22 million registered voters in their bid to oust him, or 12% of the electorate who voted him into office in 2018.

[...]

State Sen. Josh Newman, who himself was recalled in 2018 before regaining his seat two years later, separately said he will propose two constitutional amendments: One to raise the number of required signatures and another to have the lieutenant governor finish the governor’s term if a recall succeeds.

[Friday]

Good. My first reaction to seeing 12% was "they're just going to do this again to waste time and money forever."

(Not to mention the possibility of them winning. I think your idea about ranked choice would be great, first-past-the-post is a fucking cancer.)

[Mongrel]

The fact that they're currently allowed years and years to do it was the part that felt the most absurd to me.

[Friday]

All else aside, I'm very relieved Larry fucking Elder is not my new Governor.

[Yoji]

I really could've gone without that kind of heartburn, but yeah, same.

A few people on Twitter were yelling about how the GOP should reimburse California for the $273 million spent on the recall effort, and then I spent a little too much time wondering what that'd look like.

$273 million by 1.5 million signatures, to a state of 39.5 million... 39.5 minus 1.5 is 38 million... hang on... uh, I got lost in the turnout stats.

In any case, I wish I could grab the conservative-voting public, shove their nose into a puddle of their own piss, and yell "DON'T EVER DO THIS AGAIN"

[Büge]

Larry fucking Elder

[Mongrel]

A lot of people giving AOC shit today but I'm not sure it was deserved this time.

There was a vote on Iron Dome funding for Israel. AOC voted no, but Pelosi pulled her aside to yammer at her, and after a few minutes AOC changed her vote to "Present" while visibly crying.

I don't know what's going on, what Pelosi said, or if the charges of cowardice are fair in this case - they may be! Israeli Apartheid is a fair hill to die on, and the rest of the "Squad" voted no - but the Dems may well be breaking AOC.

[Upthorn]

There was a vote on Iron Dome funding for Israel. AOC voted no, but Pelosi pulled her aside to yammer at her, and after a few minutes AOC changed her vote to "Present" while visibly crying.

Wow. My whole field of view just flashed red.

[Friday]

I want to know more about this, and cannot find any American news running any story about it. Do you have a link?

[Mongrel]

I want to know more about this, and cannot find any American news running any story about it. Do you have a link?

Jezebel
Daily Wire

Video (sourced from CSPAN, partial):



Lots of people accusing her of shedding crocodile tears today.

[Mongrel]

A really, really ugly thought I'm having is that AOC may be targeted for extra pressure by the Dems, not just because she's been more prominent and more charismatic than other members of the Squad, but also because she's arguably (and this is a very contentious assertion to make), seen as the least racialized among them, by whites, including White dems.

Which is to say, in the United States, she intrinsically had a higher political ceiling. She clearly had high ambitions.

Basically, the tallest blade of grass and all that.

(if you think I'm being a complete idiot for even thinking this, feel 100% free to say so, because I'm not sure of that myself)

[Upthorn]

Okay, so this is blatant speculation, but...

I feel like I started hearing about AOC voting wrong after 1/6.
It is 100% clear from AOC's words and actions that 1/6 was a traumatic experience for her.
It is plausible that this obvious psychological vulnerability is somehow being used as a cudgel to control and manipulate AOC?

This adds on to Mongrel's post insofar as it would make AOC not just the tallest blade, but also the most vulnerable.

[Thad]

Daily Wire

...dude. Really?

[beatbandito]

"AOC seems to be voting against her stated beliefs, but it's because of establishment dems pushing her" is the problem, yes.

[Friday]

thanks Mongrel

my take is that AOC is a human being

[Mongrel]

Daily Wire

...dude. Really?

Oh, I forgot. I was thinking too much about trying to find the C-Span footage (I hadn't actually clicked directly on that tweet so I had to do some history fishing) because I wanted to make sure I had the primary source for something like this.

Actually, now that I think about it... I'm pretty sure that, as a rule, that any paper in the world with "Daily" in the title is awful. Easy metric to remember?

thanks Mongrel

my take is that AOC is a human being

Yeah I mean, the issue is that she's just had a lot put on her, and to be fair, she's embraced that herself, at least originally.

People are really, really desperate for a hero right now, and the shadow of Obama's betrayal looms incredibly largely over the American left. AOC being only human is seriously heartbreaking for a lot of people who already had very little hope left.

[Brantly B.]

The idea that the most visible progressive can be intimidated like that is troubling to progressives because it confirms exactly what everybody thinks about progressives.