Lessons From a Failed Recall

Californians have overwhelmingly voted to defeat the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom so he will keep his job. 

In the process, the Republican Party looked foolish by putting up candidates who would fare better in a circus than in the governor's mansion in Sacramento.

There is little doubt now that Newsom will be re-elected for a second term next year should he choose to run. Why might he not run? The state's elder Senator, Dianne Feinstein, should be retiring soon, and he could legally appoint himself to replace her.

By so soundly defeating the recall, Newsom and his team of Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Kamala Harris deployed a game plan that may provide a blueprint for next year's midterm congressional elections.

By tying the failed GOP-led recall effort to Trump, the Democrats mobilized the large majority of Californians who want nothing to do with the former President and would-be despot.

A similar strategy nationally next year may prevent what otherwise might have led to enough Republican seat gains to flip the Senate and even the House in the midterm election cycle.

Trump is so unpopular with Democrats and Independents that as long as the GOP remains in his shadow, it will be doomed to a permanent minority position in government.

In California, that is already the case. There are three times as many Democrats and Independents (who lean Democratic) as there are registered Republicans in the nation's largest state.

Critics may say California is far from representative of the rest of America, but a closer look at the latest Census figures raises the question: Is the rest of America changing demographically to become more like California or less?

On that matter, the numbers are clear. America is becoming California.

So where does that leave the rest of the population? They are, relatively speaking, less educated, older, rural, whiter and feeling aggrieved. They have been exploited by those who would urge them to turn to suspicion, hate, racism, nativism, misogyny, and isolationism -- all the wrong choices for participation in a modern diverse, multicultural, multilingual, highly educated, tolerant, technologically sophisticated society.

The voting restrictions being imposed by Republican leaders all across the GOP-controlled sections of the country are predicated on the assumption that the worst impulses will prevail for at least a little longer.

The rest of us can only hope they are wrong about that.

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THE HEADLINES:

* Newsom Survives California Recall Vote and Will Remain Governor (NYT)

* As California Votes, It Rethinks Its Tradition of Direct Democracy (NYT)

* Growing Uncertainty in the Central Valley -- California produces much of America’s food—and now a drought and a pandemic have put the system on edge. (New Yorker)

* Justice Department asks federal judge to block enforcement of Texas abortion law (WP)

* The U.S. Army told all active-duty soldiers they must be fully vaccinated by Dec. 15 and all Reserve and National Guard troops by June 20, 2022 or face suspension and discharge. “This is quite literally a matter of life and death for our Soldiers, their families and the communities in which we live,” Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. R. Scott Dingle said. [HuffPost]

* Fears That Trump Might Launch a Strike Prompted General to Reassure China, Book Says (NYT)

* A new book claims Donald Trump threatened to withhold his friendship from Mike Pence if the then-vice president didn’t disrupt the 2020 election certification process. Journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa write Trump yelled at his deputy: “You don’t understand, Mike. You can do this. I don’t want to be your friend anymore if you don’t do this.” The book is called “Peril.” [HuffPost]

* U.S. hospitals in crisis as Idaho rations care (WP)

* The Providence Alaska Medical Center said it had implemented crisis standards amid a crush of COVID-19 patients, meaning it will start prioritizing resources for those who have the potential to benefit most. “While we are doing our utmost, we are no longer able to provide the standard of care to each and every patient who needs our help,” the chief of staff at the hospital wrote to Alaskans. [AP]

* U.S. Poverty Fell Last Year as Government Aid Made Up for Lost Jobs (NYT)

* FDA staff say Pfizer COVID-19 boosters improve immunity but may not be needed (Reuters)

* About 2,300 Los Angeles Police Department employees have indicated they may request exemptions to a vaccine mandate because of their religious beliefs, according to an investigation by NBC Los Angeles. Plus, six LAPD staffers are suing the city over its vaccine mandate, reports CBS News.

* The pandemic marks another grim milestone: 1 in 500 Americans have died of covid-19 (WP)

* Elizabeth Warren Asks the Fed to Break Up Wells Fargo (NYT)

* Zoom Follows Workers Back to the Office With a Video Booth (WSJ)

* Rwandan conservationist helps to save hundreds of cranes (Reuters)

* For centuries, Chinook salmon would bound up California’s rivers every spring to lay eggs for a new generation. But drought linked to the state’s shifting climate has killed almost all of the fish that made that journey in some areas this year. Many of the fish struggled to survive the daunting journey only to die when they finally made it to the end. “Even in really good years, we manage the survival of these fish right on the edge of disaster,” one scientist says. [WP]

* U.S. Tribes Are Demanding Emergency Protection For Wolves (NPR)

* Wildfires in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are posing a danger to sequoia groves containing some of the oldest and biggest trees in the world. (California Today)

* Slaughter of nearly 1,500 dolphins sparks outcry over traditional hunt in Faroe Islands (WP)

* Haiti Prosecutor Says Evidence Links Prime Minister to President’s Killing (NYT)

* Smoke Alarm Sick Of Being Yelled At For Doing Its Job (The Onion)