"A Life Preserver Thrown To Gavin Newsom": Some Republicans Say Larry Elder Was California Recall's

[Demovictory9]

“A Life Preserver Thrown To Gavin Newsom”: Some Republicans Say Larry Elder Was California Recall’s Turning Point

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In fact, in a post-mortem on Wednesday, some Republicans are even blaming Elder for the shellacking that the pro-recall side took, handing Governor Gavin Newsom ample material to work with given Elder’s long history in the world of AM radio bombast.


Ron Nehring, the former chairman of the California Republican Party, said at a Sacramento Press Club event that Elder was “a life preserver thrown to Gavin Newsom.” Just as ballots were being mailed to all of the state’s registered voters, Newsom’s side was seizing on Elder’s past statements, from opposition to a minimum wage to comments about women.

Compared to Schwarzenegger, whose entry into the recall race gave fuel to efforts to oust Governor Gray Davis, “you saw the opposite happen in this case,” Nehring said.

“You still need a majority of the electorate to accept the alternative,” he added.

The problem only got worse on Monday, when Elder’s side posted a website claiming election shenanigans and asking users to petition the legislature to launch an investigation of the results. The problem was that votes hadn’t even been counted, and Tuesday was a crucial day of in-person voting as the election concluded.

Nehring blasted the tactic as one that perhaps suppressed the pro-recall vote. When Elder’s campaign manager Jeff Corless said that the website was simply a portal for voters to report irregularities, Nehring responded, “That is bullsh*t.”


https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/life-preserver-thrown-gavin-newsom-231130460.html

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I don't see why.

Elder was Trump Lite. Agreeing with Elder was agreeing with Trump.

[lagomorph777]

28. Newsom has been preserving lives in CA; he didn't need rescuing.

As usual, condescending, bitter GOP spin is eagerly repeated by the media.

[Lovie777]

2. There was a big difference between Arnold S and Elder ......

but in the long run, Arnold S basically screwed California's economy, ya know, what republicans do best.

[SouthernDem4ever]

15. Davis would not have lost to Arnold if he was more agressive with Enron

who was cheating CA out of billions.

[smb]

3. Still Waiting To Hear Back From Them

Elder’s campaign manager Jeff Corless said that the website was simply a portal for voters to report irregularities

I sent them a report about the aliens I saw voting in the recall and their double-parked flying saucer, but nobody has yet gotten back to me about either matter....

[JHB]

4. Not simply Elder. The Republicans and their entire recall stunt

Their eagerness to oust a Democratic governor at any excuse just focused attention on how there is nothing to them anymore except political vandalism.

The grounds for it fell far short of what the recall was intended to correct and they had nobody, absolutely nobody, with the stature to act as governor except a collection of clowns and freaks with their own small, narrow fan bases. Nobody who could garner support outside of their own bubbles.

But they went ahead with it anyway, convinced that they'd carry the day, because their own propaganda system told them they would. The made the mistake of believing their own advertising.

[Scrivener7]

5. You think this will make republiQans stop putting up shockingly loony candidates?

Sometimes I crack myself up.

[JohnSJ]

6. No!!! The reason elder lead the pack of alternatives was because that is what republicans wanted.

Even if Elder wasn’t there, and you took the so-called moderate republican alternatives, they were not that moderate

What is always missing from Republican narratives is the full context

There have been three attempts to recall Newsom, and all failed because they could not get enough signatures, even with our low threshold. The only reason it succeeded this time is because they found a judge to extend the timeline to get more signatures

Newsom is NOT as unpopular as republicans and some in the media would like you to believe

and unfortunately for republicans, California goes out of their way to try and give the opportunity so everyone can vote, including same day registration, and postage paid mail-in ballots, unlike those states where republicans control their legislatures where they have been going out of their way to make it difficult to vote

[Midnight Writer]

10. Exactly. Elder went straight to the top of the Republican contenders.

A more "reasonable" candidate would have done worse.

The GOP has painted themselves into a corner. The cranks they exploited for votes have now taken over the Party.

[Grins]

26. That, and Calif. makes it easy to do frivolous recalls

If that wasn’t the process to begin with this attemp at overturning an election would never have happened. No other state I can think of allows this.

Get rid of it!!!

It cost Calif. taxpayers a whopping $300,000,000 for this fraud. If the signers of the recall petition are really committed to the cause, make them liable for the costs if they lose.

And 47 candidates for the same office on the ballot???? Are you kidding me…?

[Vogon_Glory]

7. Well, if Republicans are going to boost candidates that the

Rest of us won’t vote for, they can expect to lose.

Alas, California is atypical. In a Trumpie state like Alabama or Mississippi, Larry Elder would have done much better. But then, I can’t imagine Mississippi or Alabama allowing voter recall in their states’ constitutions.

[C_U_L8R]

8. Newsom clearly doesn't require a life preserver.

It's more like a giant orange anchor has been chained and welded to the Republican as they gleefully jump overboard into the Batguano Sea.

[PortTack]

12. Agree! Sick of hearing life preserver nonsense....he's a popular dem gov!

[Sibelius Fan]

17. Exactly. Nobody I know gave the recall a chance. We all expected it to fail in a landslide.

I have no idea where the media found these polls and people who said it would be close. Ridiculous.

[crickets]

24. Thank you.

I saw another headline that went something like, "What lesson will Gavin Newsom learn from the recall?" and wondered why in the world Newsom was the one who needed to learn anything.

[BeyondGeography]

9. All former party chairmen lament the cray cray

They used to be able to control it.

[lark]

11. Repugs hammering the black guy, who could have guessed this would happen?

It's just so out of character.

[tinrobot]

13. The problem is Larry Elder is the best they could get.

They're scraping the far right side of the barrel.

[Retrograde]

16. Elder had the best name recognition

and promoted himself the most. Faulconer (or however he spells it) was the closest they came to an actual semi-moderate Republican in the pack (and as former mayor of San Diego was the only one with actual experience as an administrator). And then there's Cox, whom Newsom defeated in 2018 - he seems to have given up about four weeks ago.

Remember that the replacement vote is a free-for-all: any one who can pay a relatively small fee or collect enough signatures can get on the ballot and can identify themselves any way they want to.

[Demovictory9]

19. not a lot of republicans with strong name recognition in CaliforniA... Maybe grand theft Auto Issa

or "sue everyone" Nunes. the Hunter guy who was convicted for theft, might have been a strong contender.

[randr]

14. Lets hope the Trump Stink on all future candidates

meets the same fate

[Caliman73]

18. This is what they do...

It isn't the fact that our policies are incredibly stupid and damaging. It is that we didn't have the correct face on the issue.

The fact, as already stated by others, is that Elder represents EXACTLY what Republicans represent in this era. When Schwarzenegger ran as part of the Davis recall in the early 2000's 1. Davis was a nice guy, technocrat, very knowledgeable, but really had very little in the way of personality. People didn't really see him as a figure head. He wasn't as polarizing NOR as unifying as Newsom can be. 2. Arnold was a larger than life movie star who EVERYBODY knew. He also didn't go spouting off crazy bullshit. Not saying he was a good governor. He was horrible. He wasn't stupid crazy though.

Republicans do not have that kind of drawing power outside of Trump anymore. You can't win in Republican circles unless you are stupid crazy. Schwarzenegger remains a Republican, but he isn't welcome in the party. Neither are people like Michael Steele, Steve Schmidt, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, etc... (all of whom still have some really reprehensible views on how society should be structured mind you).

This is the Conservative playbook. It isn't the fact that we believe in horrid shit, it is just that our spokes person isn't "doing it" correctly. Nope, the spokes people are actually telling some version of the TRUTH about what you believe. THAT is the problem. They are actually spelling out what a Conservative Republican agenda would be and guess what, most people don't like it.

They will continue to say this though. If we had someone different than Elder, we'd have won for sure. Well, let's see who you put up to run against Newsom in 22. My money says that Elder will win the primary and then get trounced again. Why? Because conservatism has moved from the "hiding it" phase to the phase where they show open contempt for a more equitable, pluralistic, and diverse society. Even if the face that is saying that is a Black face.

[Demovictory9]

22. and if they run Elder again, there is a treasure trove of Elder speeches, articles and talks

the bit we saw during the recall was only the tip of the iceberg... if someone gets ahold of the Radio show archives... !!! Elder talked nonsense and hate nonstop for 20 years, daily.

[roamer65]

20. Trumpism is POISON in CA.

The more they double down on it, the more the Repukes will lose by even wider margins.

[LiberalFighter]

21. Republicans are to blame. Not just the idiot Elder.

[UCmeNdc]

23. No, CA knows crazy when they see it. Republicans are crazy

[SarcasticSatyr]

25. I still think that lady in the gorilla mask was a set up ..

By Elder himself ...

[StarfishSaver]

27. Ridiculous

The media attempts to downplay Newsom and the Democrats is really tiresome.

When Democrats lose, it's because voters prefer Republicans. When Democrats win, it's not because voters preferred Democrats, but because Republicans screwed up ...

[Straw Man]

29. An interesting excuse from the Republican camp ...

"It's not our fault that we lost. It's because our candidate sucked."