Californication

The recall ballots are going out, and the stakes are high:

All 22 million registered voters in California are set to receive a mail ballot that will feature just two questions. 

Question 1: "Shall Gavin Newsom be recalled (removed) from the office of Governor?" 

Question 2: The second question asks voters to choose which candidate should replace Newsom. And there will be a list of all 46 candidates, not including Newsom.

Paul Mitchell, vice president of Political Data Inc, which provided voting data to campaigns, estimated that 80% to 85% of the vote will be from mail ballots. 

If more than half of voters choose  "no" on the recall question, Newsom will remain in office. But, if a majority vote "yes," Newsom will be replaced by the candidate who receives the highest number of votes. 

The polls show a slight lead for Newsom remaining in office, but the far right is motivated to turn out its frothing loons.  That's terrible in a state that Democrats have dominated for almost 20 years and where the candidates to replace Newsom range from awful to apocalypse awful.  But, a toxic stew of far- right groups -- including the GQP,  QAnon, anti- vaxxers, and anti- immigrants (a.k.a., Trumpists) -- is behind the recall and have traction.

What's at stake?

Depending on how wide the margins are, the outcome of this race could show how voters will react to their governors' actions and stay-at-home orders during the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty governors will be up for re-election in 2022, including Newsom and 10 other Democratic governors.

Mitchell, the Political Data Inc. vice president, said that a big Newsom win would show that voters "are now forgiving Democrats for these stay at home orders" and that it shows Democrats have a "path out of the woods and there's a New York Times Magazine cover of Gavin Newsom as the example of Democrats being able to withstand post-COVID political heat."

"Or Gavin gets trounced and then Democrats are running around like chickens with their heads cut off," Mitchell said.

Not mentioned is the fact that there's an 88- year- old Democratic Senator, Diane Feinstein, who, should she become incapacitated, would be replaced by the sitting governor.   Of course, a Republican governor would name a Republican, which would give control of the U.S. Senate back to Moscow Mitch McConnell and his treason/ obstruction caucus.  Shorter:  RIP Biden agenda and American democracy.

It should never have come to this, but due to a deeply flawed state law with a low threshold for triggering a recall, it has.  So, if you're a California voter, YOU NEED TO VOTE AND VOTE "No" on the first question.  It's not even just about Newsom; it's potentially about the future of our country.