“George: Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Martha: I am, George. I am.”
― Edward Albee, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
***
San Francisco voters will go to the polls on June 7th to decide whether to recall their district attorney, Chesa Boudin.
If you believe the pundits and the polls funded by those pushing for his recall, Boudin has already lost. Trailing by margins exceeding two-to-one, he is said to have zero chance to defeat Prop H and remain in office.
Personally, I’m reserving judgement. Stranger things have happened in this city than a last-minute election surprise. Plus I’ve been at three of Boudin’s rallies in recent weeks — two virtually and one in person — and I believe we may be witnessing the emergence of a national politician right here by the bay.
Even if he is recalled, Boudin could emerge as a winner. There’s worse things that can happen than losing a flawed election early in your career. Ask Barack Obama.
Just think of the national name recognition Boudin has rapidly achieved, mainly thanks to the multi-millIon-dollar recall effort mounted against him by right-wing donors opposed to his criminal justice reform policies.
But Boudin faces a steep uphill battle. First, it’s an off-year election, when voter turnout usually is low and voters are fatigued and distracted. He also faces the entrenched local opposition of the conservative police union and an incestuous City Hall political machine headed by a hostile mayor who wants to reinstall her own DA.
Also, early on Boudin probably underestimated how much the mood of many voters has shifted from supporting police reform post-George Floyd to widespread irritation with the petty street crimes, homelessness and drug use that have long plagued this and other big cities.
These troubling and significant issues predated Boudin’s half-term in office, of course, and also have precious little to do with who the district attorney happens to be, but they do not work in his favor, either. Especially because his opponents are constantly and unfairly blaming him for them.
Many citizens have been influenced by those critics. Thus the poll results.
So the biggest problem Boudin faces is bad publicity funded by the massive war chest deployed against him by PACS created by rich outsiders paying for the hit pieces and attack ads that have done deep and undeniable damage. Propaganda of this sort usually works, especially when it’s of the fear-mongering variety.
But there’s another side to this story and it’s only developing very late in the game. False negative publicity sometimes can boomerang and have unforeseen consequences. And that may be what’s happening right now in San Francisco. The full-court media press generated by the likes of Fox ‘s Tucker Carlson are helping to transform Boudin from the relative obscurity of a struggling and unproven, first-term DA into a national figure with potential star power like a Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or a Stacey Abrams.
He isn’t there yet but the fact that Boudin is calmly sticking with his idealistic, reformist principles during this uproar and not pandering to voters is likely beginning to enhance his image among liberals and moderates, and that could matter over the longer term.
Others are definitely noticing. Surprisingly, Boudin has been able to turn around what was initially and universally a barrage of negative local media coverage into endorsements from the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner, a major Chinese-language publication and several other locally influential media outlets.
When I spoke with him after one rally recently, Boudin struck me as a thoughtful, low-key person who connects easily and conveys a deep sense of the conviction of his beliefs. Watching him work his crowds of supporters, it was easy to see that he naturally generates a genuine personal charisma among the young and old alike.
Recent anecdotal reports from his campaign suggest that Boudin’s effort to keep his job may be finally starting to generate excitement locally from supporters who’ve until now been mainly dormant.
Volunteers going door-to-door say they are encountering a substantial reservoir of sympathy for Boudin across the city’s neighborhoods. Many San Franciscans do not appreciate the fact that outside influencers who are driving this recall effort. His campaign has also been boosted by politically significant endorsements from a number of groups and officials, including law enforcement experts and several fellow DAs.
Local celebrities like Danny Glover, Peter Coyote and John Legend are behind him; they are appearing at fundraising events that will energize his supporters in the final days leading up to the election.
In the end, this may all prove to be too little, too late, but if Boudin should beat the odds and pull off a last-minute upset victory, don’t say that someone didn’t warn you it might happen. :)
Anyway, the bottom line is that win or lose the recall, Boudin is emerging as a formidable political figure to be reckoned with for years to come.
So who’s afraid of Chesa Boudin? The political right, that’s who.
And they should be.
Today’s Stories (42):
The case for recalling SF DA Chesa Boudin: There isn’t one. But that hardly matters. (Mission Local)
SF Mayor Breed wants more cops; the Supes want to see some serious reforms at SFPD (48 Hills)
'We Are All More Than Our Worst Mistake': Five Takeaways From SF District Attorney Chesa Boudin's Appearance at KQED (KQED)
Report: SFPD Refused to Participate in Quickly Burglary Ring Bust, Boudin Had to Rent His Own U-Haul (SFist)
Prominent Endorsements Fail to Sway SF Voters on DA Chesa Boudin Recall in June (California Globe)
“Here in SF, and across the country, we are seeing the rise of a right wing movement. A movement that doesn’t believe in equal justice. A movement that doesn’t believe in ending mass incarceration or investing in victim services or language access. This movement is pitting groups that have long been oppressed and systematically excluded against one other. The fight is real, it is now, and it is right here. We need your help.” (Chesa Boudin/Facebook)
Biden says U.S. would respond 'militarily' if China attacked Taiwan (CNN)
No change in U.S. policy towards Taiwan, says White House official (Reuters)
The U.S. is deliberately unclear about its policy toward Taiwan. (WP)
China objects to Biden's remarks over Taiwan defense (NHK)
Biden announces Indo-Pacific economic pact to counter China (NBC)
Taiwan excluded from Biden's 13-nation Indo-Pacific trade plan (Politico)
Ukraine said it had held off the latest assault on an eastern city that has become the main target of Moscow's offensive since Russian forces finally seized Mariupol last week. (Reuters)
Russian sentenced to life in Ukraine’s 1st war crimes trial (AP)
‘Such Bad Guys Will Come’: How One Russian Brigade Terrorized Bucha (NYT)
Russia-Ukraine war: Azovstal prisoners face tribunal in Donetsk (Guardian)
Up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers are killed every day, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Russia’s death toll is estimated to be higher than 13,000 since its invasion began. (WP)
Zelenskiy told a meeting of global business leaders at Davos that the world faced a turning point and had to ratchet up sanctions against Russia as a warning to other countries considering using brute force. (Reuters)
Zelenskyy urges ‘maximum’ sanctions on Russia in Davos talk (AP)
Zelensky calls for global plan to rebuild Ukraine after war (Financial Times)
‘Ashamed’ Top Russian Diplomat Leaves United Nations Over Putin’s ‘Warmongering’ (Daily Beast)
Ukrainian official warns Russia is bombarding city with ‘scorched earth’ tactics (WP)
Starbucks will exit Russia after 15 years, closing 130 licensed cafes (CNBC)
After 3 months of war, life in Russia has profoundly changed (AP)
Putin will be in a sanatorium and out of power by 2023, former British intelligence chief predicts (Yahoo)
Russian-Speaking Technologists Rebuild Their Lives in a San Francisco Home (NYT)
Billionaire wealth increased to staggering levels amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with a new billionaire being created every 30 hours over the past two years, according to a new report from Oxfam. Meanwhile, this year alone Oxfam expects more than 260 million people to be pushed into extreme poverty. [HuffPost]
Beijing authorities extended work-from-home guidance for many of its 22 million residents to stem a persistent COVID-19 outbreak, while Shanghai deployed more testing and curbs to hold on to its hard-won 'zero COVID' status after two months of lockdown. (Reuters)
As Biden Zeroes In on Student-Loan Forgiveness Decision, Voter Anxiety Grows (WSJ)
Newsom’s presidential window is narrow. He doesn’t seem to mind. (Politico)
A military plane carrying enough specialty infant formula for more than half a million baby bottles arrived in Indianapolis, the first of several flights expected from Europe. New York Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency over the shortage that has sent parents scrambling to find enough to feed their children. [AP]
Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R - ARK) insisted victims of rape and incest should be allowed to have abortions despite him signing a so-called trigger law that outlaws nearly all abortions in his state, including those resulting from incest or rape. [HuffPost]
Millions Displaced and Dozens Dead in Flooding in India and Bangladesh (NYT)
The homes of more than 1,000 Palestinian people are being destroyed this month in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after an Israeli court gave the military permission to turn the land into a firing range. (WP)
Mountains of sugar have been found in the ocean under seagrass meadows (Yahoo)
Hubble data suggests 'something weird' is going on in the universe (Interesting Engineering)
Russia's war in Ukraine is threatening an outpost of cooperation in space (NPR)
More than half a dozen wildfires broke out across California in a 48-hour span late last week, an unsettling picture of what’s to come as temperatures warm and drought conditions worsen this summer. Though California saw record rainfall in the final three months of 2021, that was followed by an unusually dry January through March. California went from 88 percent of its land being considered in extreme or exceptional drought down to 1 percent immediately after the heavy rains, but it is now back up to 60 percent, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. (Cal Today)
Large swaths of the U.S. set daily temperature records (NPR)
Cat Seemed Perfectly Content Right Up Until Point He Bolted Out Of Room (The Onion)
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