For almost a year now, every discussion about whether or not Joe Biden will be replaced on the Democratic ticket has quickly gotten around to California Governor Gavin Newsom as the most likely replacement. If I happened to be involved in the discussion I would waste no time in disabusing everyone else of the Magic Newsom Replacement Theory. I had a lot of reasons for doing so, but one of the biggest is that I don't believe Newsom's radical leftist politics would go over well outside of the Golden State.
I left California almost six-and-a-half years ago, before Newsom began his commie reign of error. The state had already begun its inexorable slide off of the leftist cliff, but there was still enough to love about it that I wasn't fleeing in a hurry. Since returning to my native Arizona, a good many of my conservative friends have hot-footed it out of California.
What's happened to the state now that it is under the thumb of Newsom and a Democratic super-majority in Sacramento is tragic. Gavin Newsom was one of the worst of the tyrant Democrats during the COVID pandemic, and his lust for tyranny has only grown since then. He proudly champions any law or executive order that restricts the freedom of the citizens he views as his subjects.
Newsom is also completely beholden to the California Teachers Association, which is the wealthiest and most powerful political lobby in the state. Teachers' unions and their lapdog Democratic politicians are waging a never-ending war against parental rights because they want to be able to indoctrinate children without any interference.
On Monday, Newsom signed into law a bill that bans public schools from requiring teachers to inform parents if their children want to experiment with being transgender. That prompted Elon Musk to announce that he would be moving the headquarters of X Corp. (Twitter) and Space X out of California.
Musk clarified on Twitter/X that this wasn't a hasty decision:
I did make it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2024
The announcement comes a day after it was revealed that Musk would spend around $45 million a month on a super PAC devoted to getting Donald Trump elected in November, which Matt wrote about.
Newsom and his Democratic cohorts in the California legislature have been steadily eroding the tax base by driving away families and businesses. Catherine wrote last week that the state lost $24 billion in personal income over a two-year period.
None of the decline bothers Newsom, who insists that all is going well on his watch. California's population, along with the fact that it's still home to the entertainment industry and Silicon Valley, help keep the state from a rapid, catastrophic financial collapse. Newsom will be able to revel in his delusion for a while longer because of that. Unfortunately, that means he can also continue to wreak havoc on the economy and not face any immediate consequences.
By the time Newsom is done, the next governor will be running a salvage operation. Sadly, there won't be much to save.
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