Conservatives love to talk about “identity politics” and “race baiting” a lot when it comes to Democrats and elections, and the cynical expectation is that The Donks put forth candidates that aren’t qualified politically but do meet certain “check boxes” that will get us dumb low-info libtards to vote for them (cause that’s how Democrats get elected, duh.) The right usually makes an effort to dress this up under faux inclusiveness and big tent blather, but National Review’s Lampoon’s Journal’s Josh Kraushaar drops this little deuce that makes no bones about trying to start a civil war among California Democrats over Sen. Boxer’s open seat in 2016.
In the haste to coronate California Attorney General Kamala Harris as Boxer’s inevitable successor, Democrats are overlooking her strongest potential opponent in Villaraigosa, who would make history as the first Hispanic Democratic governor or senator in a state where Latinos are now the largest ethnic group. He’s seriously considering entering the race, boasts strong support among Hispanics, and has the highest name identification of all the candidates in the field.
Now, please note that what Kraushaar is not talking about are any Republicans running for Boxer’s seat, because they have about as much chance of winning here as I do being named Luxembourg’s next Finance Minister. He’s manufacturing a fight between Harris (who has said she is running for Boxer’s seat) and former LA mayor Villaraigosa (who hasn’t).
So it’s awfully ironic that much of the early coverage is so dismissive of his prospects. Instead of the hype that traditionally comes with trendsetting candidates, the response to Villaraigosa’s likely candidacy has been met with a yawn. He’s been treated like an afterthought, mentioned alongside longer-shots like billionaire political novice Tom Steyer. Much of the coverage is using the same arguments Republicans employ to downplay Democratic prospects in diversifying states like Texas, Georgia, and Arizona: Latinos don’t show up to vote. And Democratic leaders are conspicuously unenthused about his candidacy, even though the party badly lags behind Republicans in electing Hispanics to top statewide office. (Republicans boast four Latino senators and governors; Democrats only have Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey.)
Note that this goofy-ass attack conveniently leaves out the House, where Dems lead 22-7.
The discrepancy can be explained by the exuberant excitement over Harris, the hot prospect in Democratic politics since she was narrowly elected California’s attorney general in 2010. The gap between enthusiasm and results began then. In a heavily Democratic state, she barely won her first election, prevailing by only 0.8 percent of the vote, but was already hyped as a future Democratic star. It’s as much a response to her biography as her agenda; she’s multiracial, charismatic, and sports an accomplished resume.
Her ascendancy to the top of the Democratic recruitment list is a reflection on how much the Democratic Party prioritizes identity politics over tangible achievements. The Los Angeles Timeseditorial board, in endorsing her for reelection, said she was “a work in progress, with much potential yet unfilled.” She came into office opposing the death penalty and championing sentencing reform, but she’s been cautious in implementing the agenda. Her biggest accomplishment has been investigating banks engaging in unethical behavior over mortgages. But while she’s earned decent marks as AG, without her compelling biography, her resume wouldn’t suggest she’s a top Democratic recruit. Indeed, if her name were Katherine Harris, it’s unlikely she’d receive all the attention. One Democratic communications strategist involved with her nascent campaign told me that she could be a plausible future president, but struggled to list specific accomplishments as attorney general in the last four years. (“To be honest, I just started learning specifics about her,” the source said.)
The more than implied theory here is that Harris, a clearly unqualified woman of color, is ALL OF THE CHECK BOXES and since that’s how Democrats pick candidates (again, duh) it’s obviously now fact that Democrats hate Latino voters or something, so that to Kraushaar the left’s civil war fight will split the party and some Republican will come in and win easily.
I’m not sure if it’s occurred to the guy that the problem with that theory is California’s weird top two primary system, which means the top two primary voters regardless of party fight it out for office. It could be in November of next year Harris versus Villaraigosa, with nary a Gooper to be seen. If anything, it looks like Kraushaar wants as many Democrats in the ring and fighting to make sure that the top two vote getters could be Republicans. That doesn’t matter as much, however, because the point of the piece is to concern troll California Democrats.
But if Democrats are serious about turning the growing Latino vote into a more reliable voting bloc, it will need to start in California. And if Democratic leaders push Villaraigosa aside, it would be another example of a party that delivers rhetorically for Hispanic voters, but fails to come through when it comes to putting one in higher office. The party’s inability to nominate a Hispanic candidate for one of its top positions is a glaring oversight in a state where Latino influence is most prominent. Villaraigosa, more than most other statewide candidates, has the unique ability to mobilize Latino voters—especially in a presidential year when Hispanic turnout will be front-and-center on Hillary Clinton’s mind. To coronate another candidate would not just be a blow to one of the party’s most prominent Hispanic leaders, but to the larger Democratic effort of locking in long-term Latino support.
That’s a strange assumption, that Republicans, who openly antagonize the Latino vote and want to deport a whole hell of a lot of people out of the country, don’t have to “turn the growing Latino vote into a more reliable voting bloc”. Again, Kraushaar sees Harris who has openly signaled her intent to run, and Villariagosa who has not done that, and come up with the excuse that it’s Harris’s racial background that explains why Democrats have gotten behind her run, and not the fact that she’s the first one in the ring.
Oh well. Masters gotta bait.
Morzer
Well, it might just be that people are enthusiastic about Kamala Harris because she’s good at what she does and connects well to them. Making this about her “being first” strikes me as being just as patronizing in its own way as Kraushaar’s attempts to be the latest, greatest Machiavelli of Podunk.
MattF
This is pretty much an invitation to California Dems to form a circular firing squad. See “Jungle Primary”:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonpartisan_blanket_primary
It’s the only way a Republican is going to get on the ballot.
Patricia Kayden
Love how he downplays Harris while pretending to care about Latinos.
JK
Lack of enthusiasm also might have something to do with Villaraigosa ending his term as mayor of LA in the midst of a sex scandal.
geg6
@JK:
This.
Frankensteinbeck
Remember, racists think that non-whites are intellectually inferior, lazy, selfish and irresponsible. Even the ones who haven’t put those words on it use that pattern when judging what minorities will do. It is obvious to them that blacks, Latinos, women, you name it vote for the candidate who has their skin color and don’t care (indeed, can’t recognize) who actually will do a good job. Bonus points for projection, and because it lets them dismiss all arguments that their candidates (and thus they) are ever wrong about what’s good for minorities.
It also makes them think that minorities will fall for really obvious identity games like this, or Sarah Palin for that matter.
trollhattan
“Antonio who?” He’s a SoCal mayor and as such, has far less statewide exposure than the AG. Anybody bother to ask him whether he wants the job? Waiting for Gov or Feinstein’s seat?
Why are the Dems not pushing Kevin Johnson?
Rinse, repeat.
boatboy_srq
Congresscritters are a dime a dozen: see King, Steve, for the quality of said “persons.”
Emphasis added. “Crown” is the actual verb: “coronate” is wingnut trying to sound ejamacated by using words with more syllables. If the GOTea is going to continue to insist on English as Ahmurrca’s official language, they can either speak/write it properly themselves or STFU.
Jeremy
Also I heard that Antonio Villaraigosa is interested in running for governor in 2018. Though it’s clear that Gavin Newsom is going to run as well. He might consider waiting till 2018 because many are saying that Dianne Feinstein will not run for another term since she will be 85.
srv
Never heard of him. Like most Californians, I don’t vote for someone whose name I can’t pronounce.
Redshift
No offense, Zandar, but when I saw this title I thought it had to be DougJ.
Xenos
What, no love for Pierre Gremegna? He is a Democrat, or at least the local variation of one. Juncker, well, he is a Christian Socialist, which is to say a Tory in a Catholic monarchy. I am not sure how being voted soundly out of office got him elevated to running the EU, but those politics are not the most transparent.
As for Harris, that curly-headed pundit has no fucking idea as to what he is disdaining. A bit like their failure to take Obama seriously even as he kicks their ass.
jonas
Villaragosa also comes with a lot of baggage — he didn’t exactly cover himself in glory as mayor of LA, was implicated in a couple of embarrassing scandals, and pissed off a lot of key Democratic constituencies at the same time. I don’t get the impression that he’d be riding a wave of Latino enthusiasm either were he to run. Kamala Harris doesn’t have the statewide name recognition perhaps, but seems a much more solid (and solidly Democratic/progressive) candidate.
ET
Another day another kid shooting themselves (or someone else) with a gun. What a surprise it is Florida.
Villago Delenda Est
@Redshift: You know, I had the same initial impression!
Jeremy
This guy is a republican hack. Every piece is about how great the GOP is and how the democrats are in trouble. A lot of democrats have been talking about Julian Castro being a potential vice presidential nominee. I think we will see more Latinos in prominent roles going forward.
schrodinger's cat
BTW coronate is not a word, although coronation is. The word the Dubya like reporter wants is crown.
ETA: boatboy got there first in comment # 8.
Cervantes
@boatboy_srq:
If only it were just “wingnuts” who make that mistake. It appears everywhere; I bite my tongue. Better you explain it than me — for which thanks.
@schrodinger’s cat:
And thanks to you also.
Villago Delenda Est
@Frankensteinbeck: Which is one of the things they just cannot help about themselves. If they were smart….well, let’s just say it’s as likely as Zandar getting his dream job in Luxembourg.
Jacks mom
How is it that she “sports an accomplished resume” yet hasn’t done anything?
I don’t think that word means what you think it means Josh.
Villago Delenda Est
@Jacks mom: I recall a friend in 1988 telling me that George H.W. Bush had the best resume anyone could ever ask for in a Presidential candidate.
Uh-huh.
schrodinger's cat
@Villago Delenda Est: Great resumes don’t always make great Presidents, ask Hoover.
Gin & Tonic
@schrodinger’s cat: Grammar police on the job. Good. That was the first thing that struck me, too.
Lurking Canadian
@Cervantes: It is best to stop talking about this, or somebody will show up and start pointing out that it is too a word, and languages are fluid, and prescriptivism is a form of cultural imperialism.
But I am totally on board. “Coronate” sucks almost as much as “obligate”.
Morzer
@Cervantes:
I hate to say this, because I find “coronate” singularly ugly as a word, but it is a perfectly acceptable verb, although described as rare by the OED.
The Ancient Randonneur
From his byline:
See, he even plays a political analyst on TV!
Allan
California Democrats know that the (heavily Latino) Southern California party is a cesspool of corruption and corporate cock-sucking, who couldn’t win a statewide election even if they are the better-known candidate (see John Perez, term-limited speaker of the house, who just lost the Controller’s race to Betty Yee).
Kamala Harris is unbought and unbossed, and she scares the shit out of our corporate owners.
Allan
@jonas: Kamala Harris has been handily elected twice to statewide office.
mai naem mobile
While I think Zandar is right about Kraushaar, I also think the Dems need more Hispanics in leadership slots. Dems seem to have plenty of second/third tier Hispanics but the GOP has Sandoval, Rubio, Suzanna Martinez and Cruz. The Dems have Robert Menendez and a bunch of House Reps. It doesn’t look good. I love Nancy Pelosi but part of me thinks her,Hoyer and Clyburn all need to retire to make room for younger leaders.
OT, I heard on the news that Sheldon Silver got arrested today for public corruption related stuff. Any New Yawkers got any opinions on statewide/national implications.They said he was at some event with Cuomo yesterday.
Also too, as far as firsts, pretty sure being half black/half asian is a first for a statewide California office.
Paul in KY
‘Low-info libtard’ seems like an oxymoron.
Paul in KY
@Villago Delenda Est: It was a good resume, if you completely ignore the fact that GHW Bush was the one with that resume.
ranchandsyrup
The nativists down here in San Diego are crowing that Kevin Faulconer is gonna be the next GOP superstar. On the radio yesterday someone said he’s the “next chris Christie!”.
Nutella
So this guy thinks Harris is a token from one minority and therefore the election needs another token from another minority? And he’s from a party that supported Rubio for US Senate and Carson for president in spite of their skimpy or non-existent political achievements and because of their minority status.
Yep, Dems should definitely listen to this very sophisticated political analysis and advice!
WaynersT
ugh – they’re ‘unenthused” about Villaraigosa for the same reason no one’s chomping at the bit for Gavin Newsom. Messy, messy, messy personal lives. Look at Clinton’s name all over the Jeffrey Epstein trial. Between that and the Ron Burkle party plane, it will be a miracle if Bill doesn’t tank Hillary’s campaign.
burnspbesq
There is no there here. It’s simple. There are three candidates–Harris, Newsome, and Villaraigosa–for three jobs that will come open between 2016 and 2018. Harris has made a pre-emptive claim for Feinstein’s Senate seat. Newsome has signaled an interest in becoming Gov.. By default, Villaraigosa gets Boxer’s Senate seat. Done.
kindness
@mai naem mobile: While I agree that inclusion is important to the Democratic Party here in CA, I don’t think one can fault the party because more Hispanics aren’t in leadership positions. It would be a massive stretch to suggest the party is a top down type thing here in California. It isn’t. It’s more a herding cats type thing here.
@WaynersT:
What planet are you from? The Clintons are generally loved by most out here.
burnspbesq
@trollhattan:
You mean Mr. Michelle Rhee?
That’s a LOT of baggage to carry into a primary.
Roger Moore
@JK:
You think? It might also be related to Harris having won statewide office twice while Villaraigosa has only won local office.
Just One More Canuck
@Lurking Canadian: Is it a perfectly cromulent word?
Roger Moore
@burnspbesq:
I think you have that backward. Harris has already declared an interest in running for Boxer’s seat, which leaves Villaraigosa to run for Feinstein’s seat. Or he could try for Harris’s job once she wins the Senate race.
burnspbesq
@Roger Moore:
Villaraigosa failed the bar exam four times. I don’t think he’s AG material. But i’m biased; Jackie Lacey, the LA County DA, is a law school classmate.
skippy
@Paul in KY: john kraushaar seems like an oxymoron.
as to villaraigrosa, anybody who lived in, around or near southern california in the last decade know what a corrupt failure his administration was. leave it to a gooper to ascribe success only to the level of job one has achieved, not the actual performance or results on the job.
“he was mayor, obviously the next step is governor! duh!”
Howlin Wolfe
@boatboy_srq: Boatboy, you gotta be more flexible with language, especially English. Coronate is a synonym for “crown”, corona being Latin for the English word “crown”. It is, therefore, not bad English as pretentious English. It’s pretentious enough that the commenting engine here at BJ doesn’t recognize the word. Dictionary.com, however, does.
Howlin Wolfe
@Cervantes: This is why I don’t take language lessons from comment boards. if you actually look it up, “coronate” is a word. Try dictionary.com. Merriam Webster lists it as well.
Cervantes
@Morzer:
Even if one were writing for an audience of Victorians, that old usage was somewhat more metaphorical, having little to do with the crowning of kings or queens.
@Lurking Canadian:
Well, I might agree that it was a word, and “languages are fluid,” and we have a better word for this particular occasion. (Actually, “anoint” strikes me as better than “crown” in this case.)
Cervantes
@Howlin Wolfe:
Thanks. You should take your lessons where you see them, of course.
My response is above.
Gretchen
@schrodinger’s cat: thank you. It makes me crazy when people use that made up coronate when they mean “to crown”.
Jay C
I’ve seen a bunch of discussion on the ‘Net over the succession of Barbara Boxer’s Senate seat, and – idiot concern-trolling aside – about the only main “problem” I’ve seen raised (which which I agree) is the possibility of California’s “jungle primary” producing two Republicans on the ballot: the theory (HUGELY dubious, IMO) being that too many Dems on the ballot will hopelessly scatter the D vote. I’m not sure that in a state like CA, a (any?) Democratic Senate candidate wouldn’t draw enough votes to at least make the top two, but too crowded a field is more likely to simply dissolve into personality squabbles: (especially with several “serious” candidates in the race) which might have negative effects in the general.
@mai naem mobile:
Sheldon Silver’s travails? Meh. I think its at least an even-odds bet that he’ll skate on the Federal charges (somehow): meanwhile, he’ll still (as far as I have read) be back at work in Albany; business as usual. The NY State Lege is a historically notorious cesspool even by most Statehouse standards: not sure what, if anything, can/will be done to clean it up. Not sure why, but I see Andy Cuomo’s grubby fingerprints all over this: pulling the plug on his corruption-commission aside, I think he want to beef up his prestige and power – by poistioning himself as the Champion Of Honesty In Albany (ha!) – getting an major Assembly honcho out of the way can only help.
feebog
@skippy:
Second your comments. Villaraigrosa accomplished very little in his eight years, at best he was a disappointment, at worst an utter failure. Yes, he has his supporters among SoCal Latinos, but the baggage will overwhelm his if he decides to run.
burnspbesq
@feebog:
Which made him a step up from Riordan, who accomplished a lot, nearly all of it bad.
James E Powell
This situation calls for a good ole fashion Democratic ethnic voting bloc horse trade: Kamala Harris for Senator in 2016, Alex Padilla for Governor in 2018 – assuming both can keep hands & noses clean until election year.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@WaynersT:
IIRC, Villaraigosa’s affair was with a reporter for a Spanish-language TV outlet, so it was even bigger news among Latinos than with the Anglo population. I doubt they’re eager to vote for a guy who can’t keep his pants zipped.
James E Powell
@burnspbesq:
The only good thing about Riordan is the Pantry. And maybe the way his career made it clear to any moderate Republicans that the state party really hated them.
burnspbesq
@James E Powell:
If you’re referring to the meat-lover’s Nirvana on the corner of Ninth and Figueroa, that’s been there since the 1920s. When I was at USC Law, the choice when the library closed at 11:00 p.m. was to either pig out at the Pantry or head out to Santa Monica to drink.
trollhattan
@burnspbesq:
T’was a joke, but having been avec tablet I didn’t have time for a winky thingie.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@burnspbesq:
I’m still bitter that Riordan had the main LA library named after himself when it rightfully should have been the Ray Bradbury Library. Jackass.
boatboy_srq
@Howlin Wolfe: Actually I don’t. “Coronate” is a synonym for “crown” the same way “gift” is a synonym for “give”: there may be some Latin- or Saxon- based longer term, but the shorter one is always preferable, and misuse while a natural function of a language trends toward making language simpler not more (or needlessly) complex. “Coronate” as used here is the stamp of a writer convinced that the more polysyllabic his output, the more likely he’ll be viewed as a Very Serious Person because only the uninformed use single-syllable words. There is a long and storied history of English usage for this, right back to Normans preferring French-originated words to their shorter “rude and crude” Saxon counterparts, which is the origin of the modern disdain for four-letter words (the meaning was the same, but using the Saxon word instead of the (longer, more complex and presumably more nuanced) Norman one was just, well, uncouth). Modern Queen’s English – all the way through to Received Pronunciation – if anything goes the other way, finding shorter terms rather than longer ones, so the affectation isn’t an attempt at being cultured so much as being pretentious. Admitting a word to Dictionary.com doesn’t approve the usage of that word: it just provides a definition for people who aren’t versed in How To Write Like A Self-Important Pr!ck. If Kraushaar wants to impress his readers with his observations he can use language that speaks to his points and not to his conviction that more characters per word will give his writing weight.
EriktheRed
Damn, I wish National Journal still allowed comments to its horseshi…er, articles.
EriktheRed
@mai naem mobile: How many Hispanics do the GOP have in their ranks who aren’t Cuban…you know, the one kind of Latino they don’t refer to as “wetbacks”?
EriktheRed
@burnspbesq: @burnspbesq:
Uh…don’t you mean Boxer’s?
Pseudonym
So the Democrats should instead elect a token Latino with no notable accomplishments during his mayoral tenure.
HumboldtBlue
The latest headline from Rough&Tumble
Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer decided Thursday he will not be a candidate to succeed U.S. Senate Barbara Boxer and instead will continue his focus on helping Democrats and working to reverse the effects of global climate change.
There are several other headlines about Democrats rushing to support the first Latino Senator and they keep naming Villaraigosa and they couldn’t be more fucking wrong. Of course the bylines are all from writers at Politico and National Journal, so there’s that.
Sunbow Productions
Kraushaar should have gone full-concern troll and proffered this wise Latina: laprogressive.com/assemblywoman-patty-lopez/
Sure, Villairagosa has the history of labor antagonism and his shameless opportunism is the stuff of legend but can we really trust him to sell the people out?
skippy
@burnspbesq: and after my stand up comedy shows were over at the variety arts center downtown (now torn down, alas), the comics would head to the pantry for late night nosh and kibbitz sessions.
great place.
pluky
@schrodinger’s cat: Yes! The proper verb is “to crown”.
centerfielddj
@trollhattan:
I haven’t looked down thread to see if others have responded to your question, but the reason I as a member of the California Democratic Party do NOT want to talk about Kevin Johnson is that he strikes me as a particularly squirrelly politician who can’t be counted on to hold a quality political position and who holds plenty of rotten political positions. As an example, he supports his WIFE Michelle Rhee’s efforts to eviscerate the public school system in California and carve it up for distribution to the megarich push for for-profit charter schools.