Upcoming events: Thursday Evening

A TV spectacle: California Governor Gavin Newsom vs. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

In Southern Oregon: Tobias Read, a candidate for Oregon's chief election office, Oregon Secretary of State.

Newsom v. DeSantis 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Thursday on Fox News 

There are good reasons to scoff and laugh this off. The "debate" is a made-for-TV event that has all the electoral legitimacy of a pie-eating contest. Worse, it sends viewers to a network -- Fox -- and a news host -- Sean Hannity -- who are relentless propaganda organs.  Worse yet, it lets Fox and Hannity present themselves as honest brokers who can stage a fair exchange of views. 

I will record and watch it.

Gavin Newsom is attempting to do two contradictory things. He is putting himself onto the national stage as the leader of the Democratic Party. That is the job of the Democratic president or party nominee. Biden has that job and Biden's control of the Democratic Party meant that Biden blocked pathways to be replaced. Newsom is auditioning for the role he can't have. That is unless events intervene. Stuff happens. 

In a romantic comedy Newsom would be the beautiful bridesmaid that the groom is attracted to but cannot marry because some element of the plot history dooms the groom to a lackluster match with the less-beautiful bride-to-be. The decent thing for the bridesmaid to do would be to decline to show up at the rehearsal dinner, but there she is at the dinner, all too visible. In the romantic comedy -- or in the spectacle on Thursday -- the Newsom-bridesmaid makes a big speech telling guests how wonderful the bride is, how smart, how virtuous, and how happy the couple will be. The plot frisson comes because the more eloquent the speech, the more the dinner guests realize the bridesmaid is the superior match. In a happy-ending comedy, the bride calls off the wedding. In a darker drama, perhaps set in wartime, the wedding goes forward out of necessity.

This is the plot of Casablanca. It doesn't take much to see that the problems of Gavin Newsom don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. The spectacle is worth watching because we will be watching Newsom-as-Rick do the noble thing. Or maybe not completely. Or not at all.

Newsom is currently the Democratic Party's foremost spokesman for the success of Biden's presidency. He is repositioning himself from California liberal to practical moderate washing off that California-crazy scent. He wants to keep the jobs, innovation, and economic engine part of the California story while he sheds the Berkeley wokeness, the homeless on the sidewalks, and housing prices that make Americans gasp. It's TV worth watching.

DeSantis has no future. He thinks he is a contender. He is a sparring partner. 

Meanwhile, in Southern Oregon. 

Tobias Read, Oregon State Treasurer, is running for Secretary of State. 

This informal meet-and-greet takes place at the same time as the Fox News spectacle. I expect Tobias Read to be a strong candidate in a general election since he is a moderate Democrat currently holding a statewide office. 

In the past I did not spend much time thinking about the Secretary of State office, but the new GOP changed that. The GOP has not foresworn election denial. The former GOP Secretary of State candidate lost her election in 2018 but retained her office as a state senator. After the 2020 election she led a drive to get Oregonians to overturn the election by supporting the Texas lawsuit to discard the electoral votes from Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. GOP officeholders in Oregon generally now admit that "Biden is president." But they dare not say that Biden was elected president. To say that would make one a RINO and no longer a Republican in good standing. Second District U.S. Representative Cliff Bentz (R) voted to overturn the Pennsylvania vote in January of 2020.  Both Bentz and the new Fifth District Representative, Lori Chevez-DeRemer, supported Mike Johnson for Speaker. He led the effort in the House to discard electoral votes cast for Biden.

I have many friends and former clients who vote for Republicans. I am accustomed to Republicans holding offices. The world survives. However, Republicans cannot be trusted in offices that manage elections until election denialism has been cleansed from the party. 

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