California Recall Update: Elder's Long Game?

There is an interesting Roger Simon piece at the Epoch Times about a presser held by Larry Elder, in which the gubernatorial candidate focused on the problems faced by individuals of Asian descent -- whom Democrats have taken for granted as a "voting bloc" for ages:

Normally I abhor identity politics, but if a major population group in California -- Asians are 14.7 percent of the state, while blacks are but 5.8 percent, according to the 2018 census -- has been getting the short end of the proverbial stick, it is those Asian-Americans.

This is true in two areas especially -- education where they have been the victims of negative discrimination for doing so well in school while being restricted in college admissions, and in the growing issue of street violence where they have been among the groups most subject to attack.

The first of these areas is pretty well known, having been the subject of lawsuits and so forth, but the reality of the second has been largely hidden by the mainstream media because most of this violence is black on Asian.

The MSM, not surprisingly, doesn't want to talk about that. Elder, uniquely positioned to do so, did, during the press conference and, I would assume, elsewhere. As he put it, nothing changes if you don't tell the truth.

One quibble here: Is it really "identity politics" to appeal for the votes of members of a group when they face legalized discrimination because they're members of that group? I would answer with an emphatic No! -- so long as the remedies involve equality of all individuals before the law.

Assuming that to be the case, Elder would be taking advantage of a rare opportunity to argue for the effectiveness of equality before the law (in direct contrast to government picking winners and losers) as the best means for achieving a peaceful and prosperous society.

This could be a masterstroke: Newsom's support among Asians and Hispanics has been tepid. (And Elder seems about to give some attention to Hispanics next.) Successfully appealing to such voters can win the election for Elder, so long as Newsom is removed from office.

Enjoy watching Newsom do to his survival chances what he has been doing to freedom.

Doing so for the right reasons would also position Elder well to make a serious go at a full term later, particularly if he can either win some successes while in office or use his bully pulpit to offer the alternative of freedom that has been so lacking in California of late, and for which there seems a potentially great appetite among the forgotten men and women of the California electorate. Indeed, should Elder win, he'd be able to put the Democrats in the unenviable position of having to make concessions -- or barricading the doors to schools, just like they did in the 1960's.

If Elder indeed takes advantage of such an opportunity and is the right man to do so, California could well step back from the precipice of one-party rule. To be clear, this is a big if indeed. At a minimum, though, we see clear evidence that there is room for an alternative to the left among voters that too many people seem to assume won't listen.

-- CAV