California Democrats are failing the basic test of governance

[Valin]

New York Post

Michael Barone

August 15, 2021

Will Gov. Gavin Newsom be the second Democratic governor of California to be recalled and removed from office in this (or the last) century? Polls suggest it’s possible.

It would be a startling result. We have just seen the second consecutive Democratic governor of New York ousted over sexual misconduct. It would be more politically significant for a second consecutive Democratic governor of California to get the boot for policy reasons.

Gray Davis, the governor recalled in 2003, had entered office determined to check the hyper-liberal legislature. But overspending got through anyway, and he backed driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants; he was also hurt by blackouts caused by a botched deregulation scheme he had no part in creating.

Newsom’s problems have a similar ring. He was elected in 2018 with 62 percent of the vote, the strongest showing since Earl Warren won his third term with 65 percent in 1950. There was little appetite for a recall last spring. But the most recent three polls this summer show 46 percent favoring recall. 

(Snip)