I know, I know: California is supposed to be the bluest of blue states. But the law of unintended consequences is at work and there’s trouble in paradise for Democrats – even beyond the embarrassing fact that their absolute control over the state government seems to have produced the highest poverty rate in the nation. This isn’t just embarrassing; The Dems are worried that they could actually lose some races that matter. The New York Times baldly headlines:

Fearing Chaos, National Democrats Plunge Into Midterm Primary Fights

 The article covers more than California, but the Golden State is the main event. Here is the nub of the issue for Dems:

…the state’s nonpartisan primaries present a unique hazard: State law requires all candidates to compete in the same preliminary election, with the top two finishers advancing to November. In a crowded field, if Democrats spread their votes across too many candidates, two Republicans could come out on top and advance together to the general election.

And, as it happens, the political fevers animating the Dems during the Trump presidency, and the experience of Bernie Sanders running an insurgency that almost worked, have attracted a lot of people to a first time run for office as a Dem. And, the visible thumb on the scale squelching the Sandernistas in favor of Hillary (ask Donna Brazile) makes interference from the national party pooh-bahs anathema to lots of grass roots Dems. As an earlier Times article (they’re really worried) put it:

But any attempt by the party to interfere is complicated by the strains between establishment Democrats and the more liberal wing of the party, which have been on particular display in this state. Democratic leaders are wary of coming across as old-school bosses stampeding the concerns of grass-roots activists.

Nonetheless, the national Dems are intervening in a number of primary races for GOP-held House seats in California that the Dems have targeted for pick-up.

But I have to confess that ad a Californian, what really get me excited is an outside possibility of a head-to head race for the governor’s office between an establishment Dem – most likely Gavin Newsom, a man who seduced his best friend’s wife – and John Cox, currently in third place in the polls, but within shouting distance of number two:

Cox describes himself as a “Jack Kemp Republican,” but most importantly, he wouldrun against the sanctuary state policy which is not popular among the voters, though it remains a holy objective of the party bosses, once which the Dem nominee cannot question without severe backlash from the ethnic activists.  

About 24 percent of the survey’s participants said it’s “very important” for the U.S. to increase deportations of undocumented immigrants, while 35 percent said it’s “somewhat important,” according to the poll. That viewpoint even held true in the Bay Area, where 25 percent of those surveyed said increasing deportations is very important and 35 percent said it’s somewhat important.

Likewise, the half-fast “bullet” (rhymes with bullsh*t) train, a money pit that will never be finished, has lost majority support.

I am very attached to the fantasy of seeing a Republican candidate for governor debating the Democrat and demanding an end to the sanctuary state policies and the bullet train fiasco. The average Californian, driving on crowded, decrepit highways despite incredibly high gasoline taxes, understands that the something is deeply wrong. There is a protest vote that, given the opportunity to turn out in a high profile statewide race like governor, could send shock waves throughout the California and national Democratic parties.

Maybe it won’t happen, and we’ll see Newsom, the Bay Area guy currently the Lt. governor, running against Villaraigosa, the former mayor of LA who specializes in ethnic politics. But a guy can hope. The horrible results of one party Democrat rule will catch up with them eventually.