While the national media has been focused on the imbroglio of the Cuomo harassment stories while continuing to sidestep the callous disregard for life in New York nursing homes, scant mention has been made of California.

Well, prepare for California to take center stage, because the recall of Governor Gavin Newsom is now a reality. The recall campaign has achieved 2 million signatures, well over the required 1.5 million needed to put the recall measure on the ballot (with extra to spare in case of signature disqualification). If the recall qualifies for the ballot, a special election will be called by the lieutenant governor 60 to 80 days after the signature certification.

In deep blue California, the fact that Newsom is facing a recall could be a sign of change to come, or a very very very motivated Republican signature gathering campaign. Newsom would like to believe that it is the latter. However, he can’t bet on it not being the former.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged mistakes in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but insists the recall effort against him has more to do with politics than the public health crisis.”

Newsom made his most direct comments yet about the push to unseat him during an interview Friday with KQED, saying his opponents are taking aim at his broader progressive policy agenda.”

“It’s about immigration. It’s about our health care policies. It’s about our criminal justice reform. It’s about the diversity of the state. It’s about our clean air, clean water programs, meeting our environmental strategies,” he told the San Francisco news station.”

Those “mistakes” he acknowledges? Yeah, it’s mostly the optics of having dinner at the French Laundry.

Newsom said “of course” he regrets attending that dinner.”

“That’s those things you can never get back. And, you know, I owned up to that. And no one hid it from that. And that was a mistake. Crystal clear,” he said.”

Newsom doesn’t mention closing beaches in order to lock people out of doing anything fun, or how his own kids have been in private school while public schools have been shut down, or how he eventually lost the battle to keep the churches of California closed – but only after the Supreme Court slapped him down. This isn’t just about the French Laundry dinner, no matter how much he wants to think it is.

But he is also right that the recall covers the overall decline of California, along with a rebuke to the Democrat “in club” that Newsom is a part of. It’s about watching the state burn up with wildfires after years and years of forest mismanagement. It’s about the electrical grid. It’s about the ongoing homelessness problem that never gets solved. It’s about a high speed rail system that is a money pit that no one at the top of state government will stop.

Newsom might have been able to skate by with all of the “typical” failures of the Democrat power structure that is so deeply embedded in California. The pandemic was the likely tipping point, but leadership comes with the job of being governor. And by the standard that matters, California was a failure when contrasted with the open policies of Florida.

Nearly a year after California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the nation’s first statewide shutdown because of the coronavirus, masks remain mandated, indoor dining and other activities are significantly limited, and Disneyland remains closed.”

By contrast, Florida has no statewide restrictions. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has prohibited municipalities from fining people who refuse to wear masks. And Disney World has been open since July.”

Despite their differing approaches, California and Florida have experienced almost identical outcomes in COVID-19 case rates.”

California and Florida both have a COVID-19 case rate of around 8,900 per 100,000 residents since the pandemic began, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And both rank in the middle among states for COVID-19 death rates — Florida was 27th as of Friday; California was 28th.”

Wait, you say – how is California a failure compared to Florida, if they had nearly “identical outcomes”?

Florida is ranked as the second-oldest state in the country – meaning that it has the second highest percentage of people 65 and older as part of their population. While California has a significant older population as well, it also has a bigger total population. Those numbers make California one of the youngest states in the country. And we know that when it comes to COVID-19, death comes for the older population at an exponentially higher rate. Which means that even with a significantly older population by percentage, Florida and California had equal case rates. I’d say that makes a pretty strong case for Florida, being open, a success over California, which is still mostly locked down. But hey, at least Disneyland is going to be allowed to open up on April 1st, right? (Disney has said that they actually won’t be ready to open until near the end of April.)

Whether a “California exodus” is taking place or not, it’s pretty clear that enough people are unhappy with the way California has been run to get the recall on the ballot. The real question will be the free-for-all that follows. Newsom may be a lousy governor, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he will be removed from office. There is going to have to be a compelling candidate to replace him – and if that compelling candidate is even more left-wing than Newsom, California will be well and truly screwed.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click