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Five Lessons for Republicans from the California Recall

Posted on Thursday, September 16, 2021
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by AMAC Newsline
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AMAC Exclusive – by Seamus Brennan

California

Though Larry Elder did not ultimately prevail in his long-shot bid to unseat Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) in Tuesday’s recall election, his defeat should not be discouraging to Californians wanting a real choice in government. In fact, this week’s election brought many hopeful signs for the future of the conservative movement and the Republican Party in California and elsewhere.

Here are five key takeaways from this Tuesday’s gubernatorial recall election in California.

California’s problems are now on full display—and Newsom is up for reelection next year

For the first time in recent memory, Elder’s campaign brought many of California’s longstanding problems to the forefront of our national discourse—problems that Newsom and his allies in the media have routinely ignored. Elder’s campaign motto, “We’ve got a state to save,” speaks to a profound disconnect between the rule of the progressive coastal elite and many who live under its rule. Under Newsom’s governorship, many have lost their jobs and watched their communities fall prey to rising taxes, crime, and homelessness. “It’s time to tell the truth,” Elder’s website declares. Even though his candidacy failed, tens of millions of Californians have now, perhaps for the first time, gotten a glimpse of the truth. Anger against Newsom’s autocratic policies has steadily increased—and that trend is likely continue.

Conservatism in California has a new face

The recall received widespread attention in the national media, which means millions of Americans are now well-acquainted with Larry Elder and his platform. Elder’s growth in both national popularity and in California politics is beneficial to the conservative movement in two ways: first, Americans now have a better grasp of why California is a failed state and why Gov. Newsom’s policies are harmful to Californians; and second, and perhaps most importantly, conservatives in California, of all backgrounds, can now coalesce behind Elder as the growing movement to save California marches forward. If Elder wants to, he likely has a good shot to be the Republican nominee for governor next year—when he will have far more time to make his case to voters.

Democrats were so scared that they had to drastically outspend Republicans

If the closing weeks of the recall campaign indicate anything about the current state of the Democrat Party, the overarching theme is that Democrats are scared. In the days prior to the September 14 election, Newsom recruited both President Biden and Vice President Harris to campaign on his behalf, called in former President Obama to cut an ad, and spent behemoths of cash. Newsom-allied forces opposing the recall raised an estimated $83 million leading up to Tuesday’s vote—nearly double the amount raised by all pro-recall effort candidates combined. Elder reportedly raised only $14 million. In the deep blue state of California, this pattern is in many ways shocking: if Newsom had to fight this hard and shell out this much cash to save his governorship in the biggest blue state in the nation, it seems clear Democrats will be facing a real battle next November.

Republicans are on track to win competitive House in CA districts next year

Spurred by Democrats’ political spending spree and Newsom’s no-holds-barred effort to smear Elder as an existential threat to Californians, Democrat turnout far exceeded that of Republicans. But even so, the “yes” vote on the recall is on track to outweigh the “no” votes in several competitive U.S. House districts, including Orange County. As journalist Dave Wasserman writes, “Even a 20-25% ‘No’ margin statewide” may be consistent with “an environment in which Republicans take back the House & Senate in 2022.” Should Wasserman’s prediction hold true, Newsom’s victory is far from the progressive triumph many Democrats are holding it up as; rather, if current trends hold, Newsom’s victory could quite easily give way to GOP House pickups in the far-left state and bolster Republicans’ chances of taking back the chamber next fall.

The problems with mail-in ballots were once again apparent

Regardless of whether voter fraud was a factor in the recall election, California’s voting process shows the dire need for states to enact voter integrity laws. On the heels of all the problems already associated with the massive use of mail in ballots in the 2020 presidential election, California still is allowing mail-in ballots to come in up to a full week after Election Day. Moreover, as Arizona senatorial candidate Blake Masters points out, the California voting envelopes are thin enough to see through with a cellphone flashlight and thus determine how one voted. If anything, this episode and others like it will encourage more states to enact laws that will protect the sanctity of the secret ballot and decrease the likelihood that questions will arise.

The movement to unseat Gov. Newsom in the deepest of blue states was always going to be an uphill battle, and Republicans ought not be discouraged by Tuesday’s results. Instead, they should look to Tuesday’s election and understand that Republicans are well positioned for victory next year and thereafter. As Elder said on Tuesday night, “We may have lost the battle, but we are going to win the war.” And the war is only just beginning.

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Carol johnson
Carol johnson
3 years ago

The RNC did nothing to support Larry Elder. Disgraceful! I will donate to individual candidates but not one dime to the RNC. The GOP as a whole has lost the will to fight. Once again blaming everything on the Dems when they make no attempt to stand up against the tyranny . Sad .

par
par
3 years ago

Biggest lesson. You can not outdo the big Hollywood money to fight an election. Also, the RNC shot themselves in the foot by not supporting Elder.

Allan Tortorice
Allan Tortorice
3 years ago

What conservatives SHOULD have learned from the recall election is that NOTHING has been done to stop voter fraud and the theft of elections by the left. The Dems have proven beyond any doubt that they can commit fraud and cheat to win elections with complete impunity as they now know Republicans will do NOTHING to stop them.

Stephen Russell
Stephen Russell
3 years ago

Need Election Integrity that other Red States have passed to date.
Reform mail in ballots
Automate USPS
No outside cash for elections.
Indie panel oversees elections
Indie observers.
Use watermarks, bar codes to scan ballots
NO ballot harvesting.
Or rerun again for nxt year.
As Is now ensures Newsom types remain in office
RNC should have backed Elder day 1

Avion
Avion
3 years ago

Lesson learned?? Do not try to oust a Democrat in a state where 3/4 of the voters are Democrats!!!

Caroline
Caroline
3 years ago

California needs a full forensic audit to actually determine the real results for the winner of their rigged governor re-call election in order to weed out the voter fraud and ensure voter integrity since some voters had to argue their votes were stolen when they appeared to cast their ballot and were told they already voted and they tried to explain that they in fact had not voted yet.

Paul W
Paul W
3 years ago

I have no doubt that mail-in ballots were, again, a big problem. While I believe that newSCUM was going to survive the recall vote, I don’t believe it was by a whopping 20%. Very accurate polls put it at around 10%. That additional 10% makes a huge difference in closer elections. This is exactly why the dims are attempting to federalize elections. H.R. 1 didn’t make it, so now they’re attempting to federalize elections once again with H.R. 4. This is why the dims frantically called in all of the opposition that they could muster to attack states that are/have passed voter integrity laws. They can’t abide by integrity…in anything; most especially…themselves.

B4&After
B4&After
3 years ago

It may not be that cheating won this election as it did the 2020 national vote. Without a full investigation, we will never know. But fraud is still prevalent, organized, unacceptable and a serious threat to our nation. The left is simply honing the fraudulent process that they are using to make the difference. Until we get this under control, we will continue to lose our nation.

Diane
Diane
3 years ago

Yes, it is not about any of these lessons! This state is 3/4 Dems and NO republican will ever be elected governor. This is what the dems are doing to the entire U.S. Turning all red states to purple and then blue. So many in CA are on some form of welfare and do NOT care about taxes or anything else. The big tech pays no taxes and the middle class is mass exiting. Communist CA will never get better, a few wins in the few conservative areas and that is it! The dems are cementing their strongholds w/voter fraud – they will NEVER allow for voter integrity. Reality is they believe cheating works and it does. This started w/JFK and 200K laying in the Chicago cemetery voting democrat. It is well ingrained into their system now.

George R Rivera Jr
George R Rivera Jr
3 years ago

There is only one lesson to learn from the California debacle of felons passed out in cars with hundreds of ballots and upwards of 70% in most precincts having “already voted” status when voting in person – unless the fraud of 2020 is resolved, there will be NO wins for Republicans anywhere unless they are RINO approved.

Tom
Tom
3 years ago

I was shocked by your statement that Democrat voter turn out far exceeded republicans. That’s crazy. Is the conservative voice that apathetic in California? And where was the conservative Christian vote? Wake up church! Wake up conservatives! You have only yourselves to blame at this point.

CoNMTX
CoNMTX
3 years ago

“…hopeful signs for the future.” What future? There will be no future for Americans after the demo/globalists firmly plant their brand of socialism and suck America into the one-world government. NOW is the time to act or there will be no other time. If you read Saul Alinsky’s book on how to make a country socialist in 7 steps, the globalists already have 5. That leaves 2 to go. People talk about the next election. There won’t be one once the globalists complete their takeover. The completion date for the establishment of the one-world government is 2030 or sooner. Also consider that the demo/globalists are Godless, evil, and satanic. They will stop at nothing to get their goal. Anyone who would kill babies is capable of anything.

Peggy Bojduj
Peggy Bojduj
3 years ago

We are governed at most levels by dems so far removed from reality of the little man. They focus on non citizens and keep enabling homeless druggies and encouraging irresponsible behavior. The schools promote perversion and are adding racism into the mix. A lot of conservatives who voted for Trump fled Calif along with the others who loved freedom for their business from all the regulations here. So Lion Hearted republicans and Christians worked to get numbers for recall But we do have to be more year of Newsom’s heavy handed rulings to effect these brain dead drugged up base of his to suffer under his next shut down and or draconian increasingly ineffective vaccine forced ruling

Rik
Rik
3 years ago

I haven’t heard whether Senator Joe Manchin WILL SUPPORT the 3+ trillion Communist Rule Tax Plan since his meeting with Jackass Joe “Lyin” Biden yesterday. Did you notice his meeting was scheduled AFTER the Results of the California Recall Election. You can NOW count on so-called Moderate Senators support after Jackass Joe POINTED OUT that “DON’T WORRY ABOUT BEING DEFEATED IN YOUR NEXT ELECTION BECAUSE I’M SURE COMRADE PRESIDENT REASSURED THEM BOTH THAT THEY CAN COUNT ON AS MANY VOTES AS NECESSARY TO GUARANTEE YOU’RE REELECTION!!! … AFTER ALL, THEY PROVED ONCE AGAIN THAT THEY HAVE NOW MASTERED PULLING OUT VICTORY FROM THE JAWS OF DEFEAT!” … Wanna now bet that the 2 “Moderate” Senators VOTE FOR the Communist Tax Package? That’s what the California Recall Election just proved!

MD Patriot
MD Patriot
3 years ago

Well, the Commies have succeeded in yet another voter fraudscam in violation of the U.S. COnstitution! Obviously, there are not any Fedral Law Enforcement agencies that will investigate and arrest those responsible. Soros and Hatefull Hillary’s money, along with Big Tech company money goes a long way to hush treasonous crimes!! Totally disgusting!!!!

PaulE
PaulE
3 years ago

Lets just toss this article where it belongs and address reality, rather than comment on the white-wash being offered up to us. The same old “we’ll get them next time” referenced in Republicans are on track to win competitive House in CA districts next year” is particularly laughable. Here’s my take on why Larry Elder lost:

1) The Democrats used the exact same mail-in voting process that allowed them to “win” (control the vote totals) as last year’s President race and this year’s Georgia run-off elections. Why wouldn’t they? The process works for them. Pointing out yet again the importance of every state enacting voting reforms to prevent this process from being used over and over again in all elections.

2) The RNC was essentially nowhere to be seen in California from what I can tell. They threw in the towel before the ink was dry on the recall petitions. So the financial advantage heavily favored Newsom in media ads, which is how most uninformed people decide who to vote for.

3) The Democrats didn’t try to defend ANY of Newsom’s policies. They couldn’t as they are indefensible even to most of the Democrat voter base. Instead all they did was say Elder was somehow Trump and that was enough to rile up the Democrat voter base to once again vote against their own self interests and for Newsom.

4) Once a state’s voter population goes Democrat by more an half, it becomes nearly impossible for any Republican, no matter how good, to win in a state-wide election. With the Democrats having a numerical advantage of 2 to 1 over Republicans and with no real RNC support to even up the amount spent on media ads, the results were predictable given how the voting process was orchestrated.

Paul Barrese
Paul Barrese
3 years ago

California is a lost cause. It is a totally socialist/communist state with 47% registered democrats.

Amelia Lopez Saltarelli
Amelia Lopez Saltarelli
3 years ago

Biggest issue:
Too many Republicans on the ballot.
Need GOP to work together and get one candidate with best chances to win.
Otherwise voters get confused and frustrated looking at many names and just pick the one they recognize.
Many do not consider the actual issues at hand when they are overwhelmed by too many candidates on a ballot.
Trust me on this.

Anne
Anne
3 years ago

MOVE, I did.

Tom
Tom
3 years ago

Unless the fraud is addressed and the repubs. get a backbone it will continue to get worse. Where are the law suites? What is the vote count? Conservatives trying to vote were told they already voted. California is done for. The only solution is for the feds to pull out all gov. activities. Then the “5th largest economy” will crumble over night since it depends on the feds. This will wake the public up on both sides

Jon smith
Jon smith
3 years ago

Republicans will never win so long as those voting machines remain and, mail in ballots. Foolish to not face the real problem.

Benn
Benn
3 years ago

Democrats won the recall election by cheating with faux ballots. They will win the 2022 California Governor election by repeating what they did to “win” the recall election.

MIKE LYNCH
MIKE LYNCH
3 years ago

Cali is a mess , Democratic Party !

Steven W. Anderson
Steven W. Anderson
3 years ago
  1. He was recalled. This means the shine is off the apple and he will be watched every day. He will have to be double slick. His short victory speach and photo’s show that everyone is masked up and they will have to stay this way for many more months.
  2. As a supporter of the recall and finding someone who is in touch with the populas, I was delighted that the process took a year out of Newsom’s life and political over-reach.
  3. Finally, all of the massive problems in California remain. People are voting with their feet (and moving vans) as the population of the state fell 182,000 last year, the first yearly loss ever recorded for California. This is a huge story because not even the geography of this beautiful state could keep the mobile set from fleeing. 
bobby
bobby
3 years ago

NSA knew they would cheat again and use Dominion. Their sting op worked again. It was all recorded in the broadcast. Going down.

Ralph S
Ralph S
3 years ago

Is this another TV reality show??? The Dems are not Dums! Pick your favorite act and vote up to 12 times each and every day and mail in your votes or call 1-800-FOOL-ME2

Larry W.
Larry W.
3 years ago

The people of California see and hear of the problems in their state first hand. If that’s not enough to recall Newsom then he will probably be reelected by the same group of blind and deaf folks.

D. Brown
D. Brown
3 years ago

Speaking as a fugitive from Commie-fornia, I saw how the well-oiled machine of corruption is so overwhelming in it’s complete control of tactics, narrative, and willing participants to ensure victory. These minions are like blind hypnotized zombies, marching in lock-step, like Nazis on parade, wearing their BLM shirts and “pink” hats, shouting down (and sometimes beating up) anyone that dares not show total submission to their narrative of extreme socialist/globalist/”Soro-ist” non-liberty compliance. The Leftist voters are crazy extreme activists, and don’t want to hear any dissension.

MJC
MJC
3 years ago

And people showed up to vote only to be told they had already voted. Another rigged voting system and machines. Sound familiar?

D. Brown
D. Brown
3 years ago

Forgot to add that the Repubs (RNC) don’t really care about clown-show Kali- they are happy to sit on their hands, do only Fundraisers, wring their hands, clutch their pearls, and whine about how unfair everything is, while ignoring what real conservatives want. As a life-long Repub myself, I’m fed up with the feckless, spineless, do-nothing talking-heads that most establishment Repubs are.

Steve de Kater
Steve de Kater
3 years ago

The real problem, as I see it, is that we have to get back to the concept of Election DAY; not Election Week, or Election Month, and certainly not voting by mail.
If people can’t find the time to carve out of one day each year to cast their ballot, then maybe voting isn’t that important to them. The only concessions I would make is to expand voting hours and locations where needed, and of course allow reasonable accommodations for those who have legitimate reasons why they can’t vote in person on Election Day.

Tim Thompson
Tim Thompson
3 years ago

You don’t need to be a brain surgeon to know that California relished the Covid idea that mail in ballots had to be sent out to everyone that really made little sense unless they intended to cheat again. California has always been on the forefront of methods to develop tricks to foil elections in their favor. Amazing how fast the election was declared and no one came forward to say again it was a stolen election.

Wayne Peterkin
Wayne Peterkin
3 years ago

The number one lesson by far is that honest elections matter. We will never have an honest election with mail-in balloting, ballot harvesting, no voter IDs at the polls, or any of the other tactics being pushed by the Democrats and the left. To the left, the ends always justify the means. Election integrity means nothing to them. They are determined to control the outcome of any election they can. There is no doubt at all that the recall had a lot of dishonesty involved whether it swayed the final outcome or not. It cannot be tolerated, and Pelosi is pushing the same fraudulent tactics nationwide. The fate of our nation depends in large part on honest elections so any scheme that is ripe for fraud must be condemned and defeated.

F. J. Dotton
F. J. Dotton
3 years ago

Got to clean up California election laws or the Dems will always win

Centurion
Centurion
3 years ago

“Regardless of whether voter fraud was a factor in the recall election…”
“…the California voting envelopes are thin enough to see through with a cellphone flashlight and thus determine how one voted.”

The point is gruesome newscum only won because of massive voter fraud. The demon-communist-cRATS will be doubling down on the fraud next year.

susabella
susabella
3 years ago

It just might be a good idea to have someone who is actually qualified to be in charge of the state, not a radio talk show host.

Lorraine Perez
Lorraine Perez
3 years ago

The Recall election was stolen. We did not fail. Stop basing your stories on fake news.

Earl
Earl
3 years ago

CA is lost for good!

Philip Hammersley
Philip Hammersley
3 years ago

My cousin, who lives in CA and is in an occupation normally loaded with liberals, received THREE mail-in ballots! Add to that, the multitudes who showed up to vote in person and were told that they had already voted!
Then we have a total media campaign supporting the deadbeat hypocrite and millions of Soros $$$ for nutty Newsom.

Gunrunner
Gunrunner
3 years ago

It doesn’t matter what lessons the Republicans learn, the fact is, they are a part of the problem, not the solution! We need to totally remove EVERY POLITICIAN, Democrat or Republican, and replace them with people who are determined to do the right thing and the will of the People, not fill their pockets with taxpayer money! One of the Founding Fathers, I don’t recall just who, said that the country will be in deep peril, once the representatives find out they can vote to give themselves the taxpayer’s money! Yes, that was paraphrased, but it is still the truth! A citizen once excoriated Davy Crockett for voting to pay a pension to the widow of a dead soldier, because it was NOT in the Constitution! We need to get back to following the Constitution, if we expect to survive as a nation. Or maybe that’s the goal of those who “Serve” US now? WE NEED TERM LIMITS, and NO RETIREMENT for Congressional representatives! Come to think of it, Term Limits would be a good idea for ANY Government worker, especially those SES slots…

Tim Toroian
Tim Toroian
3 years ago

Gunrunner and other people including one of my brothers overlook an important part of the problem, most state legislatures and the federal are in session far too long each year which makes politicians introduce bills to occupy the time. Bob Casey is one of my senators and I don’t like him but one asinine complaint some in his party have about him is that he has not introduced enough new legislation. When Chuck Schumer mover from the House to the Senate he commented he had a passion to legislate. Somebody should have gone upside his head on the spot.

Eddie Mack
Eddie Mack
3 years ago

Where is the San Andreas Fault when you need it?

Pat
Pat
3 years ago

There’s no hope left now for the Republican Party to win Any elections now that the dems outnumber us so.

Richard Hennessy
Richard Hennessy
3 years ago

That stupid Californians would dump the worst governor in decades was always a long shot. Everyone knows that California is hopeless. Most of the people don’t think, but rather, like sheep, just accept what other leftists (like Los Angeles celebrities) tell them.

Alamoal
Alamoal
3 years ago

It’s easy to report the election results so quickly when you know the outcome before the election.

Chris
Chris
3 years ago

The problems with mail-in ballots were once again apparent.
How to Steal an Election = Mail-In Ballots 

Hal
Hal
3 years ago

As long as the mail system is used in any phase of handling ballots (before or after marking by the voter) you will continue to have some level of rigging by the Democrat Party….period. And without an honest fair Constitutionally protected right of one-man-one-vote election process, you will NOT have a Constitutional Democracy balloting process. Using US mailing is to add haste to the voting process, but as far as actual political voting is concerned, HASTE MAKES WASTE as far as producing a guaranteed honest election. In case my point is not clear…. THE US MAIL SYSTEM SHOULD NOT DO ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH BALLOTS … PERIOD. it is okay to use the mail system to send bulk notices regarding voter sites, etc. but the actual balloting process should NOT has any connections with the voting process. There are so many ways the use of MAIL ballots pre-vote and post-voting is staggers the imagination as to how grossly it can be abused to rig an election result.

Eric The Patriot
Eric The Patriot
3 years ago

Unless we fix voter fraud … we will never have a fair election again!!

Xtech
Xtech
3 years ago

The Marxist Democrats will use the same playbook next year: Trump hatred & fear, character assassination in lieu of arguing issues they lose big on, and their ace in the hole, VOTER FRAUD!

Dave
Dave
3 years ago

Never underestimate the stupidity of the California voter.

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