Recall Election Ignores Reality; Politicizes a Pandemic
The recall election on Sept. 14 is the ultimate politicizing of the pandemic. Its origins were the world of talk radio rantings about mask mandates, stayat-home orders and the closing of schools and so it was that daily, talk show diatribes about Governor Newsom and funding from out of state Republicans for recall petitions brought us to this costly, unwarranted recall election.
How should Newsom be judged? We are the largest state in the country, with many challenges that smaller states ever face.
The number of those afflicted with Covid in California – 3,969,722 – is about the same as the population of Los Angeles. Think about it that way; the equivalent of everyone in the most populous state’s largest city with the devastating disease – and there is more. As of today, 64,694 Californians have died, the number of a city the size of San Clemente being buried.
Those numbers are staggering, but if you compare California to other states, it is slightly above average for fewest deaths per 100,000, which means it is tied with Illinois, Washington and South Dakota.
Compare that with a state like Florida with a governor who is banning mask mandates in schools. The death rate in Florida is five times that of California – the equivalent would be the city of Stockton, gone.
So, yes, a state the size of California with the death rate equivalent to some of the smaller states in the country.
And how would the Republican candidates on the ballot handle this pandemic?
The recent Republican candidate debate that occurred is about all you need to know. Four of the six major Republican candidates who showed up ranted about Newsom’s handling of the pandemic, all the while inside a crowded auditorium with no one wearing a mask at the same time the Delta variant is raging in California with an average of 10,400 new cases A DAY (as of Aug. 25). These Republican armchair quarterbacks, as far as I know, did not do anything to stem the growth of the pandemic – and some make/ made it worse spreading disinformation.
The pandemic is not over. Schools are opening at the same time the variant is still spreading and it has had a stronger effect on youth than the first Covid. Researchers are still studying long-term conditions like loss of smell and taste and mental depression that victims of Covid are still experiencing. If the candidates running in the recall had some specific solutions beyond what Newsom has already employed there could be a hardy debate, but their mantra was, and is, the self-centered mantra: ‘My personal choice to put everyone else at risk is more important than ending the pandemic’.
There is another quirk to California’s recall process. First you vote to recall or not to recall then at the same time you can chose a replacement candidate. The candidate with the highest percentage wins no matter how small it is. With 40 candidates on the ballot, it is quite likely that should there be enough votes to recall the governor the new governor might win with 30 percent, or maybe even as little as 20 percent, of voters picking him/her.
Imagine someone taking over as governor with only a tiny portion of voters behind him. The two best known Republicans are Caitlyn Jenner, who like Trump has reality TV fame but zero experience as a candidate or in government, and Larry Elder, a frequent guest on Fox news who led the talk radio effort to get the recall on the ballot – and who also has no relevant experience.
Republican candidates like Kevin Falconer, John Cox, Dug Ose and Kevin Kiley, who have held elected positions, jumped in because they are well aware that there are not enough Republican votes in the state to elect them governor in a regular election.
It will create a deficit hole for our revenueburdened local counties who bear the cost of this recall election. To make it worthwhile, even though it reeks with wantonness, be sure to vote, and vote NO recall since there is still a pandemic to fight that requires an experienced governor, not an armchair quarterback.
Political cartoons published in this newspaper—as with letters to the editor and op-eds— do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Mammoth Times, its employees or its parent company. These cartoons and the opinions expressed in guest op-eds are merely intended to present food for thought in a different medium.