Trying to Figure Out Where the Democratic Party Is Going From the California Governor’s Debate

What do the locally-sourced, organic tea leaves say?

I have no idea where the center of gravity is in the Democratic Party right now. It seems like the distance between moderates and progressives, or centrist-liberals and left-liberals, or dickless sellouts and quasi-Marxist lunatics — or however you want to phrase it — is larger than its ever been. And our choice for nominee in 2028 will be extremely consequential, so I’m searching for any faint signs about which way the party will go.

And that — much like a desire to be famous despite not being talented — brings me to California. The California governor’s race is wide open; in just over a month, California will have a “jungle primary”, so-named because it sounds exotic and cool but is actually frightening and random. Of eight remaining non-crazy (or less crazy, because California) candidates, the top two vote-getters will face off in November. So: It could be two Democrats, it could be two Republicans, it could be two kinda-sane people, or it could be two fringe-y weirdos who make Gavin Newsom seem like a cross between Socrates and Lincoln. My only predication is that no matter what happens, they’re never gonna build that goddamned high-speed rail.

I watched Tuesday’s debate to try to get a sense of where the Democratic Party is going. Specifically, I was watching to see which messages the Democrats chose to press. Which topics were they eager to talk about, and which got the “I’d like to answer your question, but the real issue here is…” treatment? Sussing that out could be a preview of the 2028 presidential primary. And I think three indicators of where the party is probably headed stuck out; IMHO, one is good, one is bad, and one will probably throw a major spanner into the works but there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

But first, let me introduce the eight people who were on stage, along with an insulting-no-matter-what-I-actually-think-of-them characterization.

Xavier Becerra: A Democrat, he was a member of Congress, a state Attorney General, and he served in the Biden administration. He’s running on his experience and hoping that nobody asks how he managed to have so much experience without seeming to learn anything whatsoever about how government works.

Chad Bianco: He’s a Republican, the Sheriff of Riverside County, and a guy who practically has “I’M THE TRUMPY ONE” tattooed on his face. He also has the porn-iest name in politics unless there’s someone out there named “Rod Thunderjunk”.

Steve Hilton: He’s a Republican, a Former Fox News host, and he advised former British prime minister David Cameron, specifically on how to pull off the sport-jacket-with-a-slightly-too-unbuttoned-undershirt look. If he wins, he will very obviously be played on SNL by Ricky Gervais.

Matt Mahan: He’s a Democrat, the Mayor of San Jose, and his advocacy for zoning reform and teaching phonics in schools could gain him as many as 20 votes statewide. He keeps reminding us that San Jose is the third-largest city in the state, but their only pro sports are soccer and hockey so haha nice try.