Gavin Who? Media Not Mining for Gold in California
Hell hath no fury like a party scorned. A mounting eruption in one of the largest and bluest U.S. states is proof of it. Out in California, the Democrat establishment is launching its latest dose of venom against President Trump. It's probably not for the reason you think.
No government is more anti-Trump than that of California, which Governor Moonbeam Brown has arrogantly declared a "sanctuary state." What this means, in essence, is that several legislative statutes are now in place to thwart the activities of ICE in deporting illegal aliens who have committed additional crimes.
Despite the growing pushback from numerous California communities, the salons of Sacramento remain fiercely proud of their role as standard-bearers in opposing federal immigration policies. Breaking the law to the point of being sued by the U.S. government seems less important to these politicians than the possibility of whipping up votes. The elimination of ICE – or what liberal-speak euphemistically calls "re-imagining" the agency – would be the next bold step leading to a policy of open borders.
Herein lies the rub. While California liberals are "poised" to carry the banner of progressivism forward into the November gubernatorial election battle – which by sheer voter numbers they are expected to win handily – the press to date has not taken much interest in that political contest.
The question state Democratic honchos are asking is why all reportorial eyes aren't fixed on what will happen in California's ballyhooed November election. The state's madcap jungle primaries concluded six weeks ago. Yet from the present lack of journalistic enthusiasm, you might suspect that the final race had already been run.
Oh, sure, the likelihood of Democrat Gavin Newsom moving into the governor's mansion in Sacramento has never been seriously in doubt, considering the overwhelming advantage in registration Democrats have over a dwindling Republican base in the once Golden State. The fact is that there hasn't been a GOP governor there since Arnold Schwarzenegger – and if he was in any way considered a "party" guy, it was hardy in the political sense.
For California Democrats, however, the crucial political concern has never been about whether Gavin Newsom would be the victor in November. With its party desperate to the point of meltdown and feverishly searching for viable frontrunners for 2020, local gurus figured that the unblemished "blueness" of California would play an important role in the country's political landscape as a whole.
Thus, the attention of the beleaguered DNC was supposed to have been sincerely riveting toward the west in anticipation of future party leadership. Who would be better, after all, to take up the ideological cudgel against Trump than the head of the entrenched Democratic Party of a massive blue state that – depending on one's source – is considered either the fifth or the sixth largest economy in the world?
Yet the attention that must be paid has been agonizingly slow in coming. Plying several search engines, I came up with little on the current race and mountains on the primary fights. Although a "summer hiatus" might be the explanation, California Democrats have already begun to sound the alarm, whining that the failure to excite enthusiasm for the fall race could result in a disappointingly low turnout similar to that in the primaries.
They have decided that the fault for this failure to excite enthusiasm in the contest lies not in their local stars, but in none other than Donald J. Trump. Never mind that his hateful figure did not so much as set foot in California during the presidential campaign; his evil presence is suspected of even now somehow psychologically "meddling" in the forthcoming state election.
From their miffed viewpoint, it's obvious that the media are besotted with Trump, albeit negatively – to the extent that anything he says or does, or doesn't say or do, grabs viewers' attention. It is as though The Donald were constantly tossing chunks of raw news to the pack of salivating reporters, who bark wildly and eat it all up. By comparison, a preordained governor's election in the Land of Fruits and Nuts between a rather drab dark horse Republican and a flashy Bay Area Democrat just doesn't seem to measure up.
Meanwhile, homegrown Democratic bigwigs are looking beyond the 2018 elections to chart Newsom's course. We've had two presidents from California: Nixon and Reagan. Why not another? Polls show that the majority of Democrat voters want a "fresh face." So a glitzy guy like Gavin could be just the ticket to advance to the big time. Think of how his ambition could restore luster to the once Golden State! (Of course, he might have to scramble over the state's junior U.S. senator, Kamala Harris, on his way up the ladder.)
All the more reason to urge a philosophically friendly press to get with the program and provide its share of national publicity. Surely, those Trump-obsessed boobs in the media must realize that in any political power grab, obsession is nine tenths of the law!