Vote ‘no’ on the Newsom recall — but to be safe, also pick this candidate. Here’s why
Please, let us hedge our bets.
Yes, the recall is a foolish political stunt by Republicans who are cynically taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to try to boot Gavin Newsom out of office.
Sure, the governor made some bad COVID calls — including a certain fancy dinner at a hoity-toity restaurant — but what politician hasn’t made mistakes dealing with a crisis unlike anything encountered in the past 100 years?
To his credit, Newsom erred on the side of caution, unlike bozo governors who are forbidding mask mandates even as their constituents fill hospitals.
Besides, recalling him at this late date — when there’s only a year and some change left in his term — is lunacy.
Yet as polls show, lunacy may prevail. If apathetic Democrats fail to vote, it could be all over for Newsom.
That’s why we can’t afford to ignore the second question on the ballot, asking us which candidate should take Newsom’s place if the recall succeeds.
Remember, even if you vote no on the recall, you can still vote for a candidate to replace Gavin Newsom. While some party leaders, including Newsom, are advising Democrats to leave the second question blank, that’s too risky.
Imagine this: Voters in a low-turnout election say “yes” on the recall, and whoever gets the most votes on the second question becomes governor. Someone hopelessly unqualified could be elected with, say, 20% of the vote. Or less.
Imagine the damage an unqualified governor could do if, for example, a U.S. senator from California had to be replaced.
If we care at all about the future of California, whether we’re Democrat, Republican, or politically agnostic, we’ll vote for the person who will do the least harm.
By a process of elimination, that person is Kevin Faulconer.
Don’t believe it?
Take a look at some of the other front-runners.
Larry Elder and company
Leading the pack is Republican Larry Elder, an ultra-conservative radio talk show host who doesn’t like the idea of a minimum wage (though he says he won’t mess with it if he’s elected); denies the existence of systemic racism; talks about recalling “soft on crime” district attorneys; wrote a column claiming George Floyd might still be alive if President Barack Obama hadn’t played the “anti-cop race card”; and blames welfare for undermining traditional families by allowing women to “marry the government.”
No wonder he’s the darling of conservative Republicans; Elder is running a campaign straight out of the 1950s. He’s talking about a California he would like to see — where all children are raised in two-parent households and we all pull ourselves up by our bootstraps — not the California that exists in 2021.
Another Republican in the top tier, businessman and 2018 Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox, has been campaigning with a Kodiak bear named Tag, thereby managing to turn this election campaign into even more of a circus than it already is.
Then there’s Republican Caitlyn Jenner, the Olympic gold medalist who missed the first gubernatorial debate to film a reality show in Australia. Enough said.
There are Democrats, Greens, and independents on the ballot as well, including Kevin Paffrath, a 29-year-old YouTube star whose campaign slogan is “Stop the Bullship.”
A Democrat and financial adviser, Paffrath came in ahead of Elder in a recent poll, though he’s been at the back of the pack in other polls.
Paffrath has a five-point plan to fix California that starts with a promise to end homelessness in 60 days. He proposes bringing in the National Guard to “compassionately” serve unhoused people, and providing emergency facilities, including detox units, mental health facilities, canteens and showers.
“These facilities are OPTIONAL,” Paffrath says on his website. “However, NO homeless person will sleep on the streets of California after 60 days (this is illegal anyway).”
Question: If the facilities are optional, how do you prevent homeless people from continuing to camp out on city sidewalks?
None of these aforementioned candidates, by the way, has previous political experience.
Politicians in the running
There are others who do, including Kevin Kiley, a current state assemblyman who made news for filing a lawsuit challenging Newsom’s authority to issue executive orders during the COVID-19 pandemic; Doug Ose, a former Republican congressman from the Sacramento area; and Ted Gaines, a former Republican state senator from Shingle Springs.
That brings us to Kevin Faulconer, a Republican who can sound like a Democrat — except when he doesn’t, such as when he refuses to acknowledge that Donald Trump is a liar.
Should we hold our noses and vote for him anyway?
Yes, we should.
Faulconer is a former mayor of San Diego. He served there from 2014 to 2020 and dealt with many of the problems confronting cities across California.
Homelessness.
Sky-high housing costs.
NIMBYism.
Climate change.
How did he do in San Diego?
His record, to be honest, is mixed.
The number of people living on the street decreased during his time in office. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, “he backed the creation of temporary bridge shelters, storage facilities for the homeless and more outreach teams on the streets.”
But critics say he was spurred to act only after a Hepatitis A epidemic broke out, killing 20 people and infecting 600.
To increase the housing supply in San Diego, Faulconer pushed for higher densities in neighborhoods, reduced parking requirements and added new incentives for developers who include lower-cost housing in the neighborhoods, but progress has been slow.
“So far, Faulconer’s reforms are not resulting in a dramatic change to housing production in San Diego,” the Voice of San Diego wrote in December 2020.
His Climate Action Plan, which aims to cut the city’s greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2035, has also gotten lukewarm reactions. Critics say there’s been progress, but not enough.
Oh, and top of all that, he failed to keep the Chargers in San Diego.
So why should we trust him with the entire state of California?
Here’s why: It’s better to have someone who’s already been tested, and had mediocre results, than someone who’s never been tested at all.
Faulconer has dealt with political realities, including a Democratic majority on the San Diego City Council, and he isn’t trying to sell us on some magical plan to end homelessness in 60 days or to convince us there’s no such thing as systemic racism. And he’s not touring with a bear.
If Newsom is tossed out, the best we can hope for is someone who won’t mess things up too badly in the year-long caretaker period between the recall and the 2022 election.
A placeholder who will give us time to decide who is really the most qualified candidate to lead California.
It’s a low bar, yet Faulconer is the only candidate who has proven that he can reach it.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Vote ‘no’ on the Newsom recall — but to be safe, also pick this candidate. Here’s why."
