Finally the Media Are Starting to Tell the Truth About California, Drugs, & Homelessness – by Michael Shellenberger – Michael Shellenberger
For much of the last decade, journalists have described the California model of high taxes, strong regulations, and aggressive action on climate change as the progressive template for the rest of the United States. After voters elected Donald Trump president in 2016, they elevated California as the leader of the national resistance to his administration and agenda. And in January reporters noted that California is emerging as the de facto policy think tank of the Biden-Harris administration and of a Congress soon to be under Democratic control.
But with growing evidence that California voters may recall California Governor Gavin Newsom from office next month, the tenor of news media coverage is starting to change. CNN yesterday aired a segment headlined, Democratic Support for California Gov. Gavin Newsom Is Dwindling. In it, three lifelong Democratic women in Los Angeles said they were leaning toward voting for the recall because of rising crime and homelessness.
The recall is by no means assured to happen. The most recent fundraising numbers showed that Governor Newsom had ten times more money to spend than the top-polling Republican in the race, conservative radio show host Larry Elder. Forty-six percent of voters are Democrats and just 24 percent are Republicans. And Elder s opposition to abortion, the minimum wage, and laws banning gender discrimination, is viewed as fringe by most California voters.