The Morning Briefing: It's Primary Day in California — Raise a Glass to the Underdogs

Top O' the Briefing

Happy Tuesday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. Huylobrusc felt that a pre-meditation snack of kippers and Milk Duds led to his most inspired limerick creations.

Reckoning/Primary Day has arrived in California, and we will soon find out just how resilient the Democrats' hive mind status quo is. I know from my decades as a conservative in California that the Democratic machine there is a formidable beast, even when it's reeling a little bit.

This particular political season in the Golden State has been getting a lot of national attention because a couple of Republicans have been making some noise: Steve Hilton in the gubernatorial race and Spencer Pratt in the Los Angeles mayor's race.

California has what is not-so-affectionately referred to as a "jungle primary," an open affair where the top two vote-getters regardless of party move on to the general election. The rules were changed at a time when the Democrats had so much power that they really didn't envision seeing any Republicans ever threatening the top two spots. (Side note: I call it a jungle primary because the Democrats in California are animals and have been running the state like rabid beasts ever since they started this nonsense.)

Former reality television star Spencer Pratt has been running one of the most entertaining campaigns I've seen in a while. He's been using AI ads to skewer Mayor Karen Bass's myriad failures. He mixes humor and serious messaging to deftly illustrate what an idiot Bass is.

Pratt is also much better at social media than his lefty opponents. Here's an example from a post that my RedState colleague Nick Arama wrote:

I don't even need to make campaign ads anymore. Karen and Nithya just keep making them for me. pic.twitter.com/Ey724YZv51
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) May 31, 2026

The problem with the jungle primary is that — like all election laws Democrats love — the system is too easy to ruin. This is from Victoria:

As we go into the final day of voting in the Los Angeles mayoral race, there are three candidates leading the pack: the worst and most destructive mayor of all time, Karen Bass, Bass's radical, ideological twin and stalking horse, Nithya Raman, and Spencer Pratt.
Bass and Raman have been accused of teaming up to flood the zone with commies to game California's top-two primary system. The top-two system is the Democrat protection act in real time. For normies, to the extent L.A. has them, Pratt is their only hope in this race.

The best hope that Hilton and Pratt have is getting votes from independents and disgruntled Democrats. The mere fact that both have been able to make so much noise this cycle shows a high level of discontent with the way Democrats have been running things. That doesn't mean much though. We see in urban areas throughout the country that have been ruined by Democrats for decades that consistently poor performance doesn't keep Democrats from getting reelected. Dems are Stockholm Syndrome voters.

A real obstacle for Pratt is that so many of the people who would be naturally inclined to vote for him have left Los Angeles. I know because I'm one of them. Republicans and independent conservative voters have long been in the minority in the City of Angels, and we've been fleeing en masse for about a decade. Pratt has become popular with conservatives all over the country, but there may not be enough of them in L.A. to get him to November.

That Karen Bass is still in this race is probably the only sign we need that Los Angeles is irredeemable. Her first term in office is completely devoid of anything that she can point to as a success. It doesn't matter, of course, because she's the first female mayor of the nation's second most populous city. The Democrats are still all-in on diversity. Their politicians just need to check boxes, not be competent. She could have personally set fire to each house in Pacific Palisades and most Democrats would still reflexively vote for her.

At the very least, the underdogs have made the Golden State Democratic Borg sweat a little. Perhaps there will be something to build on.

Perhaps.

Contributions to the Mailbag of Magnificence can be sent to [email protected]

Click the button to get the Morning Briefing emailed to you every weekday. Have your coffee with me, people. It's free, and it supports conservative media!

The Mailbag of Magnificence

I have gotten some excellent responses to last Friday's Pride Month MB. Douglas P. gets us going today:

Morning, Mr. K, and thank you for my daily coffee companion. Your thoughts on Pride Month are well taken. I would add that these weirdos have an additional target: they want to force on us an acceptance of ugliness, a denial of beauty. Beauty and truth are intimately connected, and the moral relativists want to deny absolute truth. Denying beauty is a powerful attack on truth. As you note, their tactics have moved beyond tolerance. Any reasonable person can be tolerant of another's mental illnesses, even sympathetic. But that's not enough. Ugliness must be normalized and glorified. They have now achieved a state where someone Rocky Horror would have called "gross" is reading to toddlers, and the only thing that makes people feel icky is voting for a Republican. Very best regards.

Very well put, Douglas, and bonus points for the Rocky Horror mention. Relentless attacks on objective truth are key to the left's ongoing construction of their alternative false universe. It's a creepy place that I don't want to be forced to visit.

Friend of the Briefing Bob in Michigan writes:

Good morning, Mr. Kruiser! It’s a curious but very real phenomena: The Left celebrates the Alphabet Mafia and their recruiting of (apparently) children as young as 3 and 4 years old for the LGBTQRSTUV+ life style … But Epstein’s “friends” are all pedophiles for having sex with teenage girls who willingly went to Epstein Island! Of course, I’m just and old codger/boomer … but I find that incredibly effed up! Cheers!

Now I feel as if I should come up with some sort of Epstein Island/Rocky Horror Picture Show mash-up. Working title: The Jeffrey Pedo Picture Show. It could be just what America needs to let the healing begin.

We'll finish with this. Sharon needs to get something off of her chest:

Just another maniac Monday, Kruiser! Having a barf bag handy is a necessity when exposed to any news from the DumocRATS, who obviously enjoy rummaging in all this garbage, in hopes that some of this trash will pass the smell test and turn into a treasure! They keep building bigger dumpsters, instead of getting rid of the garbage!

We talked last week about possible merchandising opportunities and I really like the idea of Morning Briefing Barf Bags for people who can't avoid Democrats. I'm always looking for ways to help. I'm a people person.

I won't name any names, but I got a couple of fun emails that were a bit too spicy to use here. Those are still welcome, of course, just know that they won't make it into the greater Mailbag. Thanks to everyone who keeps writing in!

Everything Isn't Awful

I saw Drama Queen Wombat open for My Chemical Romance in 2010.

Drama queen wombat.. 😂 pic.twitter.com/zbAht4Og1X
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) May 31, 2026

The Kruiser Kabana

Kabana Gallery

The Triumph of Alexander the Great #artbots #moreau pic.twitter.com/xSj06X6Tlp
— Gustave Moreau (@gustave_moreau) June 1, 2026

Kabana Comedy/Tunes

Haven't shared this gem in a while.

POTUS Press Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
06/01/26

DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR
TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 2026

TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 2026

In-Town Pool
TV Corr & Crew: CBS
Secondary TV Corr: Lindell TV
Photos: AP, AFP, NYT, Reuters, Getty
Print: Daily Mail
Secondary Print: Washington Examiner
Radio: BBC
New Media: ZeroHedge

EDT:
9:00 AM In-Town Pool Call Time

8:00 AM THE PRESIDENT participates in Executive Time
The White House
Closed Press

2:00 PM THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting
Oval Office
Closed Press

3:00 PM THE PRESIDENT participates in a Pre-Tape Interview
Roosevelt Room
Closed Press

4:30 PM THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting
Oval Office
Closed Press

5:30 PM THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting
Oval Office
Closed Press

Briefing Schedule
1:00 PM Press Briefing by the CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
On Camera

Click the button to get the Morning Briefing emailed to you every weekday. Have your coffee with me, people. It's free, and it supports conservative media!