San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Recall Newsom? Just wait until it’s all about Trump
Gov. Gavin Newsom has good reason to be concerned about the recall campaign that’s barreling toward him.
Organizers say they have collected more than half the nearly 1.5 million signatures of registered voters needed to qualify the recall for the ballot. If they get a healthy influx of money in the next couple of months, they could make their goal by the March 17 deadline.
Many Democrats discount the possibility that a Republican like Darrell Issa will write a check to pay for the signature drive — Issa’s money is how the recall campaign against Gov. Gray Davis qualified for the ballot in 2003. But organizers are counting on small donations coming in from around the
country to do the job.
Because every time Newsom makes national news, more money comes in.
Put it together, and there’s a genuine chance a recall could make the ballot. And if that happens, don’t bet against someone well known jumping in to try to replace Newsom — even a Democrat. After all, Davis’ own lieutenant governor ran in the 2003 recall, but he was overshadowed by another candidate who was pretty well known: Arnold Schwarzenegger. Newsom knows he’s got a target on him and that a recall may indeed make the ballot. The talk now is centered on how to turn a recall to his advantage.
And he could.
In her first term as San Francisco mayor, Dianne Feinstein ended up on a recall ballot as the result of a campaign by an onlyinSan Francisco group called the White Panthers, leftists who opposed her support for gun control. Really.
Not only did she beat the recall, she beat it so badly that she basically discredited any legitimate opposition and scared off anyone serious who might run against her. She won reelection to a second term in a walk. Newsom could do the same.
But he has to paint the recall effort as an attack by disgruntled supporters of President Trump. That might be helped by news that national Republicans like Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee are trying to help the recall qualify for the ballot.
If Newsom can make it about Trump, Newsom wins.
Right now, Newsom’s chances of survival are tied to the pandemic. If California can get the coronavirus under some semblance of control and counties can lift economic restrictions — and here’s the big if, if Newsom can lean on teachers unions and school districts to reopen classrooms — he’ll survive any recall and all but guarantee his reelection.
If not, Newsom will be in a fight for his political life.
Benched: I stopped by one of my favorite restaurants along the Embarcadero to pick up a fried chicken sandwich to go the other evening.
“Would you like a glass of wine while you wait?” the host said. “Great.”
And with glass in hand, I walked over to the bench outside the front door and did my best to ward off the cold while the sandwich was being prepared.
It wasn’t long before the server stepped out and handed me a bag.
“Here you go, but you can’t eat it here,” she said.
Why not? I asked. “We can only serve ‘ to go,’ so you can’t eat it on the property,” she said.
Then she pointed to a second bench a few feet away.
“But that’s a public bench, and you can eat over there,” she said.
That is part of the insanity brought on by the “no outdoor dining” rule.
And you have to love San Francisco officials for imposing a quarantine for people coming into the city from outside the region, while there’s no rule against traveling 100 miles from one end of the Bay Area to the other.
As one guy said to me, “Guess they wanted to make sure they could still get up to the French Laundry in Napa.”
Bah humbug: The COVID19 vaccine is here, and so are the antivaxxers. They showed up the other day at Mayor London Breed’s apartment building.
One was even dressed like a devil with a pitchfork. He was a white guy, so his presence wasn’t mentioned in the coverage. If a brother in such a getup had been at the pad of a white politician, he would have been in the lead of every story.
But forget it, let’s move on. I’m in a Christmas mood.
Lighten up: If you’re looking for lights this Christmas season, check out what designer Ken Fulk has put up on the old St. Joseph’s Art Society building at Howard and 10th streets. It’s dazzling.
There are two great Christmas trees, one in
Union Square and one in the Mission Street side of the Salesforce Tower. Neiman Marcus at Union Square is also worth a look. It didn’t put up its usual giant tree, opting instead for hanging lights shaped like a tree.
Stocking stuffer: Shopping for Christmas at Union Square was like taking a walk back through time.
Most of the fashions in the stores were holdovers from spring.
I do have to give the stores points for marketing. The outofseason fashions are being touted as “California wear,” and made all the more attractive with generous sale prices.
I went into one shop Thursday and did a bit of browsing.
“Everything is 30% percent off,” the clerk said. Then, dropping her voice, she added, “and dropping another 20 on Saturday.”
“At that rate,” I said, “I’ll be back Monday.”