Californians: You Have a State to Save

 

Larry Elder long used the tag line “America, we’ve got a country to save” with his daily radio show. Now he is running to save his state. Born and raised in California, Larry Elder has spent a lifetime refining his position on a wide spectrum of issues. The depth of his thought, his command of relevant fact, and his ability to communicate clearly and confidently was on display in the nearly hour long reporter round table hosted by the Sacramento Bee. Contrast Larry Elder’s performance with the incumbent governor’s defensive, hostile response to tough questions by a media assumed to be in his corner.

The incumbent governor is feeling the heat, and not just from wildfires. The California governor recall election polls are close and a new one shows a significant swing to a majority favoring recall. Gavin Newsom got defensive and hostile toward reporters asking him tough questions instead of just carrying water. Steven Hayward of Power Line says Gavin Newsom went Captain Queeg.

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  1. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Larry Elder is bright and talented. If elected he could do great things–even with the Dems.

    • #1
  2. CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill
    @CarolJoy

    Some of us are a bit worried that Elder seems to be the Chosen Golden Orator, and beloved by the PTB.

    I fell for that kinda guy once in 2008, won’t do it again.

    Elder has no experience in governing – just good at orating.

    Sure, everything he says passes the current day definition of the ramblings of a decent Californian conservative.

    But again, it is not hard to create the cookie the public wants. Only I am jaded enough to want to know what is actually inside the cookie.

     

     

    • #2
  3. CACrabtree Coolidge
    CACrabtree
    @CACrabtree

    Newsome was pretty pathetic in that interview.  However, I believe that it has been so long since Democratic politicians have faced a functioning press, they no longer know how to answer normal policy questions without becoming defensive (and hostile).

    • #3
  4. navyjag Coolidge
    navyjag
    @navyjag

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    Some of us are a bit worried that Elder seems to be the Chosen Golden Orator, and beloved by the PTB.

    I fell for that kinda guy once in 2008, won’t do it again.

    Elder has no experience in governing – just good at orating.

    Sure, everything he says passes the current day definition of the ramblings of a decent Californian conservative.

    But again, it is not hard to create the cookie the public wants. Only I am jaded enough to want to know what is actually inside the cookie.

     

     

    C’mon CJ. They said the same things about Reagan in 1966.  He is clearly better than Gov. French Laundry. And from everything he has written or said in the last 20 years much more palatable than Arnie.  Let’s try him out. 

    • #4
  5. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Some of us remember Newsom as a drunken mayor. He was an arrogant twit even then:

    • #5
  6. Chris Oler Coolidge
    Chris Oler
    @ChrisO

    Good grief, around 16:45 in the Elder video, a reporter claims “multiple police officers died” defending the Capitol on January 6th.

    And I’m sure he probably believed it.

    • #6
  7. navyjag Coolidge
    navyjag
    @navyjag

    Django (View Comment):

    Some of us remember Newsom as a drunken mayor. He was an arrogant twit even then:

    No kidding. Has been since he was adopted by the Getty’s in the late 1980’s.  Long story involving his father, a very good appellate judge in California and, ironically, a client at one time.  Classmate of Gordon G. at St. Ignatius in San Fran in the 60’s.  So this idiot had big money from the get go. Even before he married Siebel’s daughter.  Rich guy but not Getty class. 

    • #7
  8. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    Some of us are a bit worried that Elder seems to be the Chosen Golden Orator, and beloved by the PTB.

    I fell for that kinda guy once in 2008, won’t do it again.

    Elder has no experience in governing – just good at orating.

    Sure, everything he says passes the current day definition of the ramblings of a decent Californian conservative.

    But again, it is not hard to create the cookie the public wants. Only I am jaded enough to want to know what is actually inside the cookie.

     

     

    Good points. I don’t know much about Elder, but I have a similar reaction to anyone who hasn’t had experience governing.  It takes a lot more than “common sense and good judgment” (to use his words).  Maybe it isn’t realistic to ask him to do this, but it would help if one knew what kind of staff he would put together–and whether he could get those people to come and work for him/with him.  

    I doubt he would have trouble standing up to the hate machine, so that’s an important point in his favor.

    • #8
  9. Freeven Member
    Freeven
    @Freeven

    I used to listen to Larry Elder regularly about 20 years ago. I enjoyed his show and learned from it. Then, quite suddenly it seemed to me, he shifted his style to what I call “combat radio,” and I stopped listening. He’s got tremendous command of the facts, but I much preferred it when he laid them out calmly and gave them a chance to breathe, rather than turning a verbal fire hose on people and simply dominating the exchange through sheer force of delivery.

    • #9
  10. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Good points. I don’t know much about Elder, but I have a similar reaction to anyone who hasn’t had experience governing.  It takes a lot more than “common sense and good judgment” (to use his words).  Maybe it isn’t realistic to ask him to do this, but it would help if one knew what kind of staff he would put together–and whether he could get those people to come and work for him/with him.  

    I doubt he would have trouble standing up to the hate machine, so that’s an important point in his favor.

    Keep in mind at least he has some business experience. He ran his own attorney placement firm for a period. Not the best credentials, but at least he understands the meaning of work.

    • #10
  11. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Freeven (View Comment):

    I used to listen to Larry Elder regularly about 20 years ago. I enjoyed his show and learned from it. Then, quite suddenly it seemed to me, he shifted his style to what I call “combat radio,” and I stopped listening. He’s got tremendous command of the facts, but I much preferred it when he laid them out calmly and gave them a chance to breathe, rather than turning a verbal fire hose on people and simply dominating the exchange through sheer force of delivery.

    I can’t disagree with you, @freeven. I suspect, having listened to him when I lived in CA, that his rhetoric intensified in response to the pushback he was getting. But that’s just a guess, and I did appreciate his calmer style.

    • #11
  12. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    As several of us around here reside in the Golden State, we’re doing our part. 

    • #12
  13. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    I opened a youtube page to check out a short Jacques Pepin cooking video and was met with a “help youtube” by answering a question check box. It was about the Newsom recall. Yes, I will be voting to rid the capitol of his shadow. 

    • #13
  14. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Django (View Comment):

    I opened a youtube page to check out a short Jacques Pepin cooking video and was met with a “help youtube” by answering a question check box. It was about the Newsom recall. Yes, I will be voting to rid the capitol of his shadow.

    Exactly how is that question “helping” Google/YouTube, unless they are radical left Democrat partisans?

    • #14
  15. James Salerno Inactive
    James Salerno
    @JamesSalerno

    For a conservative, Elder’s stance on transgender bathrooms is disappointing. 

    • #15
  16. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Clifford A. Brown (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    I opened a youtube page to check out a short Jacques Pepin cooking video and was met with a “help youtube” by answering a question check box. It was about the Newsom recall. Yes, I will be voting to rid the capitol of his shadow.

    Exactly how is that question “helping” Google/YouTube, unless they are radical left Democrat partisans?

    Got me there. It’s usually a multiple choice question regarding which realtor’s site you prefer: Zillow, Realtor.com,  Redfin, etc. Or maybe, which of these have you seen advertised on-line recently? This was the first political question I’ve encountered. That might be significant 

    • #16
  17. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    James Salerno (View Comment):

    For a conservative, Elder’s stance on transgender bathrooms is disappointing.

    What’s that famous phrase again? Oh, right — “don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good.”

    • #17
  18. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    Some of us are a bit worried that Elder seems to be the Chosen Golden Orator, and beloved by the PTB.

    Elder has no experience in governing – just good at orating.

    “Siri, has there ever been a Republican governor of California who was elected with no experience in governing but was good at orating?”

     

     

    • #18
  19. James Salerno Inactive
    James Salerno
    @JamesSalerno

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    James Salerno (View Comment):

    For a conservative, Elder’s stance on transgender bathrooms is disappointing.

    What’s that famous phrase again? Oh, right — “don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good.”

    But this is a big issue. Something that conservatives should not be compromising on. We’re not arguing over the difference of a 4% vs. a 6% tax cut here.

    • #19
  20. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    Some of us are a bit worried that Elder seems to be the Chosen Golden Orator, and beloved by the PTB.

    Elder has no experience in governing – just good at orating.

    “Siri, has there ever been a Republican governor of California who was elected with no experience in governing but was good at orating?”

     

    Yes, and Larry Elder went straight there in one of his first answers.

    • #20
  21. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    James Salerno (View Comment):

    For a conservative, Elder’s stance on transgender bathrooms is disappointing.

    What to you understand his position to be? From the OP embedded video, his position is that you go to the bathroom that matches your plumbing. If you got radical chemical and surgical alteration to your exterior plumbing, that changes the bathroom, and, by extension, locker room, to which you go. 

    • #21
  22. James Salerno Inactive
    James Salerno
    @JamesSalerno

    Clifford A. Brown (View Comment):

    James Salerno (View Comment):

    For a conservative, Elder’s stance on transgender bathrooms is disappointing.

    What to you understand his position to be? From the OP embedded video, his position is that you go to the bathroom that matches your plumbing. If you got radical chemical and surgical alteration to your exterior plumbing, that changes the bathroom, and, by extension, locker room, to which you go.

    That is how I interpreted it. I guess I’m old fashioned, but I believe genital mutilation does not change your sex, and bathrooms are assigned by sex.

    • #22
  23. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    James Salerno (View Comment):

    Clifford A. Brown (View Comment):

    James Salerno (View Comment):

    For a conservative, Elder’s stance on transgender bathrooms is disappointing.

    What to you understand his position to be? From the OP embedded video, his position is that you go to the bathroom that matches your plumbing. If you got radical chemical and surgical alteration to your exterior plumbing, that changes the bathroom, and, by extension, locker room, to which you go.

    That is how I interpreted it. I guess I’m old fashioned, but I believe genital mutilation does not change your sex, and bathrooms are assigned by sex.

    I believe you, as well as everyone else, understand that it would be shocking for a person with male appearing external genitals to disrobe in a female locker room, and vice versa. And no one, including you, would be talking about chromosome tests or birth certificates.

    • #23
  24. James Salerno Inactive
    James Salerno
    @JamesSalerno

    Clifford A. Brown (View Comment):

    James Salerno (View Comment):

    Clifford A. Brown (View Comment):

    James Salerno (View Comment):

    For a conservative, Elder’s stance on transgender bathrooms is disappointing.

    What to you understand his position to be? From the OP embedded video, his position is that you go to the bathroom that matches your plumbing. If you got radical chemical and surgical alteration to your exterior plumbing, that changes the bathroom, and, by extension, locker room, to which you go.

    That is how I interpreted it. I guess I’m old fashioned, but I believe genital mutilation does not change your sex, and bathrooms are assigned by sex.

    I believe you, as well as everyone else, understand that it would be shocking for a person with male appearing external genitals to disrobe in a female locker room, and vice versa. And no one, including you, would be talking about chromosome tests or birth certificates.

    I can’t stop anyone from using the opposite bathroom if they pass the looks test. If it stays hidden, I’m not crazy about it, but no harm, no foul.

    But I do have problems promoting it. And the situation you outlined above does happen when you do not set boundaries, as evidenced by the recent Wi Spa incident in Los Angeles. Either bathrooms/locker rooms are clearly defined as male/female, or they are anything goes. There really is no limiting principal once you break that dichotomy.

    • #24
  25. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    James Salerno (View Comment):But this is a big issue. Something that conservatives should not be compromising on. We’re not arguing over the difference of a 4% vs. a 6% tax cut here.

    Compared to the massive problems we are dealing with in CA after 30+ years of single party rule, it’s way, way down the list of things I care about.  I want lower taxes, less crime, cities that don’t look like Bangladesh (and run like it too), far better energy policy —  including nuclear power, better forest management, desalinization plants, and better schools.

    Then we can get to who’s using which restroom. In the meantime, those few thousand people (in a state with 40 million people) can use whatever bathroom they want.  Makes no difference to me.

    • #25
  26. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    Clifford A. Brown (View Comment):
    Yes, and Larry Elder went straight there in one of his first answers.

    As he should.

    • #26
  27. Phil Turmel Inactive
    Phil Turmel
    @PhilTurmel

    James Salerno (View Comment):
    And the situation you outlined above does happen when you do not set boundaries, as evidenced by the recent Wi Spa incident in Los Angeles.

    The antagonist in that case was un-modified, and waving his member around.  In front of little girls.

    • #27
  28. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    Californians, does Larry Elder really have a shot at winning? I mean, that would just be remarkable. I might have to take a day off to recover from the schadenfreude.

    • #28
  29. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    Californians, does Larry Elder really have a shot at winning? I mean, that would just be remarkable. I might have to take a day off to recover from the schadenfreude.

    He absolutely does. 

    • #29
  30. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    Californians, does Larry Elder really have a shot at winning? I mean, that would just be remarkable. I might have to take a day off to recover from the schadenfreude.

    What about those of us for whom every day is a day off? Can we go back to work for a day and celebrate there? 

    • #30
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