California Recall

[billy.pilgrim]

Hopefully, this will be another election in which the Republicans could have won except for shooting themselves in the foot with the most rightwing moon barker they can find. That used to be pretty common before Trump, but of course since then they've managed to elect some other moon barkers.

But whatever the outcome with Elder, Republicans could have won this one if they'd gotten behind Faulconer. There are lots of Dems who might be mad at Newsom because of covid restrictions or eating at French Laundry or just because he's San Francisco snobbery, but they wouldn't vote for an Elder or Jenner ever in this lifetime. Faulconer could have been palatable. And if the Republicans were smart (as if), they'd realize a win is better than a loss and California isn't Texas.

Another movie character could have worked. All the republicans would have supported the R no matter who he is and there would have been more than plenty dems, who can't differentiate between reality and the movies, to put another sensible ronnie or a guvanator in office.

[Ulysses]

GQP: The recall election will be rigged.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nat ... 778088001/

Former President Donald Trump, Fox News' Tomi Lahren and the leading Republican candidate to replace Newsom, Larry Elder, raised the prospect this week of voter fraud playing a role if Newsom comes out victorious in the vote Sept. 14

"Every election I lose was rigged"

I guess we're a banana republic now. Or maybe have been for a little while.

There used to be a very descriptive term for Trump and company:

SORE LOSERS

[Vrede too]

Clever messaging:

Newsom campaign theme: Don't let California become Texas

[Vrede too]

Elder for Governor 2021
https://www.electelder.com/
VOTE YES. RECALL NEWSOM. SAVE CALIFORNIA.

Fight California Election Fraud!

Election integrity should be a universally accepted American ideal. Unfortunately, there are instances where such integrity is called into question. If you have experienced any irregularities, interference, or intimidation while voting, please let us know by filling out the short form below. Thank you.

REPORT FRAUD FORM:

(correct name and contact info entered)

Hi,

I have witnessed massive fraud in the California recall election:

1) Candidate Larry Elder is impersonating someone that has the qualifications and temperament for dog catcher, let alone to run a state.

2) Candidate Larry Elder’s wingnutty opposition to vaccine mandates prove that he is fraudulently portraying himself as a patriot and as someone that gives a damn about the health, welfare and economy of Californians.

3) This report form and the related crybaby petition demonstrate that candidate Larry Elder is fraudulently pretending to be a person that has the balls to admit defeat.

Feel free to help jam Larry's Inbox. Just copy and paste if you wish.

We MUST Protect Election Integrity

They say that in America, there are four boxes of liberty. The soapbox, the ballot box, the jury box, and the ammo box. When we vote we exercise our rights as Californians and as Americans to make our voices heard via the ballot box, having listened to others make theirs heard through the soapbox. We trust in our elected officials to safeguard that ballot box, such that its results will truly reflect our will as Californian’s. However, when those officials, either through laziness or incompetence, allow thieves to steal amidst the dead of night and cheat our ballot box, we can no longer rely on its contents. Will we now have to fight the California jury box, in the hope that the final box — the one most akin to Pandora’s – remains closed?

As is the case, we implore you…our fellow citizens…to join us in this fight as you are able, primarily by signing our petition demanding a special session of the California legislature to investigate and ameliorate the twisted results of this 2021 Recall Election of Governor Gavin Newsom.

PETITION:

1. Voters who cast improperly formed ballots have an advantage over voters who cast their ballots in person, a violation of both the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution and the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV of the US Constitution.

2. Instances of undocumented ballots have been discovered prior to the election date of September 14.

3. If the recall election advances to an audit, we must not permit county officials who may or may not have contributed to these discrepancies to conduct the recount themselves instead of allowing independent groups under state control to conduct the recount. Allowing this is tantamount to allowing an alleged criminal to examine the crime scene, or negligent workers at the site of an industrial accident. It is nonsensical.

4. Statistical analyses used to detect fraud in elections held in 3rd-world nations (such as Russia, Venezuela, and Iran) have detected fraud in California resulting in Governor Gavin Newsom being reinstated as governor. The primary analytical tool used was Benford’s Law and can be readily reproduced.

For these reasons, among others, I, as one of your constituents and voters, request that you immediately order a special session of the California legislature to be held in a timely manner to address the matter of electors, California electoral policies, and electoral investigations. Failure to address my concerns will result in the loss of my support for you in the 2022 election. Upholding the American Justice System is one of your most sacred duties – we have placed our trust in you.

Not signed, obviously. These wussy RepuQs are too much!

[neoplacebo]

Hell, I'm surprised that there's not fifty or sixty GQP candidates running in this shit show. After all, whoever gets the most votes in this thing wins even if it's only 1% of the state's population. That entire concept, to me, is voter fraud.

[Vrede too]

Hell, I'm surprised that there's not fifty or sixty GQP candidates running in this shit show. After all, whoever gets the most votes in this thing wins even if it's only 1% of the state's population. That entire concept, to me, is voter fraud.

Not counting the ones that withdrew before the ballots were printed or were disqualified 24 Repugs are on the ballot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Cali ... candidates

I have no problem with recalls, but it's a stupid setup. If primaries and runoffs are good enough for regular elections they're good enough for recalls.

[Vrede too]

Let's hope that this isn't premature celebration:

LA Times
Column: Larry Elder joining the recall race was the best thing that could've happened to Newsom

When radio talk show host Larry Elder leaped into the gubernatorial recall race, it couldn’t have worked out better — for Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Elder carried with him three decades of provocative right-wing rhetoric that Newsom turned into a scary wake-up alarm for snoozing Democrats. It jarred them into voting against Newsom’s ouster out of fear that Elder would replace him as governor....

In November, 87% of the California electorate voted by mail.

As of Friday, a third of the recall ballots mailed to every registered voter had been returned, according to Political Data Inc., which tracks voting.

Democrats had returned 39% of their ballots, Republicans 36% and independents 27%.

But of the total returned ballots, 53% were from Democrats and 25% from Republicans. That’s because there are nearly twice as many Democratic voters as Republicans in California.

In a poll published last week by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, 39% of those surveyed reported that they’d already voted. Of those, 70% voted with Newsom against his recall. And among the 61% who had not voted yet, 54% opposed the recall.

Overall, Newsom was beating the recall by a landslide margin — roughly 60% to 39%.

Other independent polls have reported essentially the same thing — a very comfortable lead for the Democratic governor....

recruitment of Newsom volunteers was greatly aided by Elder’s late entry into the race in July.

“He gave us a lot of material,” Smith says.

Elder advocated zero minimum wage, had disparaged women over the years, suggested that descendants of slave owners be paid reparations for loss of their ancestors’ property, opposed abortion rights — and most damaging to him, vowed to repeal state mandates on mask wearing and vaccinations for public employees and schoolteachers.

This came at an optimum time for Newsom. Voters were becoming increasingly concerned about the Delta variant of the coronavirus. The governor ran TV ads proclaiming that the voters’ choice of him or Elder was a matter of “life and death.”

Elder’s candidacy was a game changer. It switched the question in voters’ minds from whether Newsom should be recalled to Newsom vs. Elder as governor.

“When Elder became the leader of the recall movement, that’s when Democrats started getting fired up,” Rodriguez says.

Gilliard acknowledges: “Once Newsom was able to take the focus off himself and put it on a single opponent, the dynamics of the election changed to his advantage.”

... Poll director Mark DiCamillo says many Democratic voters “fear a conservative Republican becoming governor. That would upset the whole well-established applecart.

“That really resonated with voters and got them off their butts. A moderate Republican wouldn’t have aroused nearly as much fear.”

The poll found that 51% of voters who oppose the recall were skipping the question about who should replace Newsom....

“If Democrats voted, Elders’ percentage [38%] would go way down,” DiCamillo says. “It really makes him seem more popular than he is.”

Elder is very popular, however, within the Newsom camp.

Good thing that Newsom wasn't caught in some career-ending scandal.

[O Really]

Good thing that Newsom wasn't caught in some career-ending scandal.

Would you be speaking of the type of "scandal" that is a normal part of RepuQ's behaviour?

[Vrede too]

Good thing that Newsom wasn't caught in some career-ending scandal.

Would you be speaking of the type of "scandal" that is a normal part of RepuQ's behaviour?

Plus, "scandal" is a very relative word in California.

[O Really]

Good thing that Newsom wasn't caught in some career-ending scandal.

Would you be speaking of the type of "scandal" that is a normal part of RepuQ's behaviour?

Plus, "scandal" is a very relative word in California.

Well, among some groups, dinner at a nice restaurant is far worse than domestic violence or certifiable bat-shittiness.

[Vrede too]

Well, among some groups, dinner at a nice restaurant is far worse than domestic violence or certifiable bat-shittiness.

True, but it was pretty rude for a pandemic Gov.

[O Really]

Well, among some groups, dinner at a nice restaurant is far worse than domestic violence or certifiable bat-shittiness.

True, but it was pretty rude for a pandemic Gov.

Yes, it was a bone-head step-on-your-own-dick thing to do. But since when has hypocrisy ever been disqualifying among politicians? I thought it was a job requirement.

[GoCubsGo]

Well, among some groups, dinner at a nice restaurant is far worse than domestic violence or certifiable bat-shittiness.

True, but it was pretty rude for a pandemic Gov.

Yes, it was a bone-head step-on-your-own-dick thing to do. But since when has hypocrisy ever been disqualifying among politicians? I thought it was a job requirement.

You have to wonder if they would think "this is a good idea, it'll turn out well" if they'd do the same thing.

Much akin to what a parent would say to an average 15 year old going to a party.

[O Really]

There were just too many "opps-es" on that excursion. If the party hadn't been held at maybe the most expensive restaurant in the state; had really been outside; had everybody at least mostly wearing masks; held at at least a little time difference from when the SIYFH mandate was in effect....yada. Perfect storm to create a great tempest in a teapot.

[Ulysses]

A few facts about that dinner at the "French Laundry" restaurant in Napa, California in the fall of 2020 that has given Governor Newsom so much grief.

1) Neither Newsom nor his staff organized the dinner.

2) Originally it was understood to involve persons from only three households, in keeping with guidelines in effect at the time.

3) When Newsom arrived, however, the attendance had added two (or more) households. Newsom decided it would be rude to refuse to join.

4) The party was in honor of a close friend of Newsom's, another reason why he decided to stay.

5) At the time it was estimated the chance of anyone in that party having Covid was 12% or less.

6) None of the dinner participants has since tested positive for Covid-19.

7) It seems unclear that the area of the restaurant was indoors or outdoors. From the photos it sort of looks like it was held in a partially enclosed patio.

8) Current estimates is that Newsom will beat the recall, by about a 10 point margin.

https://calmatters.org/politics/2020/11 ... ty-newsom/

[O Really]

Yeah, I knew it wasn't as much an intentional self-inflicted error as the loonies made it out to be, but it still gave the other side some optical ammunition. Let's hope we're toasting tomorrow.

[Vrede too]

Here we go again:

California recall GOP frontrunner Larry Elder declined to commit to accepting election results

[GoCubsGo]

Here we go again:

California recall GOP frontrunner Larry Elder declined to commit to accepting election results

Aren't you shocked?

[O Really]

Here we go again:

California recall GOP frontrunner Larry Elder declined to commit to accepting election results

Do we care? As soon as the one vote over 50% is counted, Elder no longer does.

[Vrede too]

Do we care? As soon as the one vote over 50% is counted, Elder no longer does.

We've seen that election cowardice and lies can cause huge problems, even if they don't change the poll results.

Look who's piling on:

More bad news for GOP in California recall, with Trump claiming election 'rigged'

Republicans leading the uphill campaign to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom are facing fresh hurdles after former President Donald Trump discouraged GOP turnout by raising doubts about the legitimacy of the election....

Trump interjecting himself into the campaign on the eve of the election by suggesting it is a waste of time for Republicans to vote is more good news for the governor. And it is bad news for talk radio host Larry Elder, a Republican and the leading candidate to succeed Newsom if he is recalled. Elder’s victory on the replacement ballot won’t matter if less than 50% of voters oppose the recall.

This would not be the first time Trump expressing doubts about the legitimacy of an election publicly has negatively affected Republican turnout and bolstered a Democratic campaign. In early January, Democrats won twin Senate runoff elections in Georgia after Trump, on the heels of being defeated by President Joe Biden and losing the Peach State’s electoral votes, insisted the 2020 election was stolen....

Many Repugs had been planning to vote in person, fewer will bother now. Former PINO and Elder are morons, guaranteeing a defeat today. No doubt the whining will continue for months.