What Went Down At The California Recall Election: Live Results

I was joking last winter that Newsom should have appointed himself to Harris’s Senate seat for exactly the reasons Nathaniel was talking about — he’d end his political career, but at least he’d make it to the Senate for two years! It would be ironic if the recall ends up burnishing his political career and making his national political dreams a reality.

Nathaniel makes a good point. Recall (heh) that Walker’s survival in the 2012 Wisconsin recall helped make him into more of a conservative hero, and after he won reelection in 2014, he was a leading GOP presidential contender in 2016, although his campaign ended up collapsing early on. Perhaps Newsom could find himself as a big Democratic name for the future …

Chiming in with this chart from Geoff and Nathaniel’s piece this morning:

I don’t really think the recall has hurt Newsom’s standing. Though I do think recalls (and similar efforts) could become more and more common. Lots of people (especially in the Republican Party) see the opposing party as enemies and deny that they should even have a seat at the table, let alone lead the meeting. Losing an election, then, becomes existential, rather than a temporary political setback.