Peter Thiel weighing bid for CA gov: https://t.co/gXWB9rrg3W At last the state's oppressed tech douche minority will get their voices heard.
— Paul Waldman (@paulwaldman1) January 15, 2017
From the Politico article:
… Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and was an early investor in Facebook, has been discussing a prospective bid with a small circle of advisers, including Rob Morrow, who has emerged as his political consigliere.
Morrow has worked at Clarium Capital, the San Francisco-based investment management firm and hedge fund that Thiel started.
Those who have been in touch with the 49-year-old entrepreneur are skeptical that he’ll enter the race. He is a deeply private figure, and California is unfriendly territory for a Republican — particularly a pro-Trump one. The president-elect won just over 30 percent of the vote there.
But they add that Thiel has conspicuously yet to rule out a bid and that those around him continue to discuss it…
Thiel, who is worth an estimated $2.7 billion, would fill an important need: the ability to self-fund. Waging a gubernatorial bid in California, where campaigns are famously expensive, could cost over $100 million.
He isn’t the only billionaire who may run. Environmentalist Tom Steyer, a prolific giver to Democratic causes, is also seen as a possible contender.
With Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown term-limited, several high-profile Democrats, including former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Treasurer John Chiang have already launched campaigns…
I’m assuming, from my perch here on the opposite coast, that Thiel is just drafting in Trump’s slipstream, getting his vanity stroked by Repub apologists like Politico without having to task his highly evolved brain with grubby political calculation.
Another sign of the President-Asterisks’s negative effects on the general political sphere — he hasn’t even been inaugurated, and he’s already encouraging the worst sort of anti-human grifters to speculate about following his slimy path.
i hope he gets his shit stomped and goes broke filing five million lawsuits against california voters https://t.co/Nv1OHCrZ7j
— Piss POTUS Jeb Lund (@Mobute) January 14, 2017
BillinGlendaleCA
I seem to remember that someone rich ran for Governor here a few years ago and spent a shit ton of money. That’s right he should ask Gov. Meg Whitman how that went.
Yarrow
Trump at least has a certain kind of charisma and, as a long time promoter of himself, knows how to keep the rubes entertained. Thiel has nothing but money. I don’t think that’s enough to win elections. But by all means, spend a ton of it on a vanity campaign.
Anne Laurie
@BillinGlendaleCA: I suspect Thiel sees himself as Schwartznegger ver.2 — the guy who takes over California because he’s not eligible to run for President. Thiel’s already talking about California seceding, because if that happened, he would totally become President-for-Life of the new Independent Republic, yah?
Much more efficient than this shoddy old-fashioned “democracy” kludgeware!
Juice Box
Oh good god. Do these billionaires all think that they’re so brilliant they can do even the most comp,ex task? Why couldn’t he take up human powered flight or self-brain surgery?
Darkrose
I’m worried, just because I didn’t think the shitgibbon could win and he did. But Thiel is uniquely unappealing in much the same way Meg Whitman was. It’s going to be important to tie him to Trump early, though.
Ruckus
@Juice Box:
Awake self-brain surgery. With no anesthetic. So he finally understands what the rest of us feel like when he speaks.
Fixit for you.
It might be cheaper for him to just offer each of us ten thousand a vote. Take the ten grand and then tell him you voted for him. He’s a republican, he should be used to lying.
Shantanu Saha
I don’t think he’ll actually run, because it would detract from his ultimate dream of becoming a true-life vampire.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Darkrose:
Uh, why are you worried? I know Meg romped all over the hapless Gov. Moonbeam retread from the 70’s.
@Anne Laurie:
I’m sorry, I just recovered from the coughing fit brought on my laughing at that.
Mnemosyne
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Whitman is exactly who I first thought of. And my second thought was, I wish a motherfucker would.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Ruckus: True, I think with Meg it was only $60 a vote.
Mary G
Yeah, no. I also remember Meg’s complete failure to connect and compared to Thiel, she’s Oprah v2. His speech at the convention was lame.
MobiusKlein
Thiel is not winning*.
I know about 20 gazillion CA Tech dudes, and they are not voting for that butt.
* Offer void in multiverses where Trump is POTUS**.
** Actually, I do work for a subsidiary of PayPal, and those folks are not tech assholes, generally.
mai naem mobile
@BillinGlendaleCA: yeah but Meg Whitman was a woman. Peter Thiel is a manly man. Also too,I am sure the evangelical fundies are all going to be gung ho about a gay candidate.
BillinGlendaleCA
@mai naem mobile: CA Republicans learning to love the gay. (Snorts!)
amk
whatev happened to snarly carly?
Suzanne
Just got back from seeing Hidden Figures. Saw Moonlight last night. A great weekend of movies. If the Oscars are so white again this year……there should be hell to pay.
BillinGlendaleCA
The only reason the Governator ever had a chance is that he got in through the recall of Gov. Davis(instigated by your friend and mine, Darrel Issa), he’d never have been able to win the Republican primary.
mai naem mobile
Why do almost all of Lumpys people have just the most punchable faces. They just have these cruel shiteating mouthaction faces with dead eyes. James Bond bad guy kind of faces who enjoy looking on as people are being tortured. Just ugly.
Mnemosyne
So I’ve finished 3 pussyhats so far. Any local (LA or SF) peeps need one for the women’s march on 1/21?
BillinGlendaleCA
I’m waiting for Lightroom to create smart previews for the pics I took last year. I took over 16,000* pics in 2016.
*98% are crap.
Darkrose
@BillinGlendaleCA: I’m worried because I clearly underestimated how awful people are, because I was sure there was no way the shitgibbon could win. I like to think that Thiel is enough of a creepy asshole that people won’t vote for him, but there are an awful lot of libertarian tech bros like my former co-workers who’d vote for him and use that as proof that they’re good guys because he’s gay.
Another Scott
@BillinGlendaleCA: Meg is the perfect example of what happens when some bazillionaire thinks they are better at politics than a real politician.
Why I came to California…
Cheers,
Scott.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: Nope, I’m headed for the hills. You ever been to Gaucho’s Village on Maryland? It’s a Brazilian steakhouse, we went for dinner there Friday night, yummy.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Darkrose: I don’t think he’d make it out of the primary cause he has teh gay.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott: I remember that ad, we sure had a good Governor* when Meg came to CA.
*Hint, it wasn’t St. Ronnie.
fuckwit
I see a straight line between Raygun, Jessie Ventura, Ah-nuld, and Troll.
Into the toilet.
GregB
Wow. Was reading a Teitter exchange between Raimondo and Scahill.
Raimondo is now full blown Trumpist because he will bring peace to the world.
War is peace.
Origuy
I think Meg learned her lesson about politics. She supported Hillary in the election; I got the feeling she had personal reasons not to like Trump.
Elizabelle
Who wants to discuss this fuckwit? Not moi.
XTPD
Don't. Please stop. We left-liberals have no chance running against you
.@Ruckus: You don’t actually need anesthesia for brain surgery, as it has no pain receptors.
GregB
@Mnemosyne:
Someone needs to dress up as Josie & The Pussyhats.
tpherald
I don’t understand why other wealthy douches on the Left side of the political equation don’t follow Thiel’s lead and sue Breitbart, InfoWars or Drudge out of existence the way that he did to Gawker?
It seems like you’d have your pick of people who’ve been wrongly accused and harmed by those sites.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Origuy: Maybe Trump tried to grab her by the pussy.
fuckwit
@Juice Box: My experience with Sand Hill Road douchebags is that they were all born on third base and thought they hit a home run.
Luck is what made them, not skill.
Mnemosyne
@BillinGlendaleCA:
We haven’t eaten there in a while. I remember it being good, but VERY VERY LOUD, and since we primarily eat out for date night, it kind of defeated the purpose.
The Dangerman
Hold it. City people sure in the fuck ain’t voting for him (Republican). The Central Valley sure in the fuck ain’t voting for him (Gay). He might be able to carry the North Coast (but they are all so high they’d probably forget to vote). I don’t see it happening for him.
GregB
@efgoldman:
No the guy from Anti-War.com. I used to think he was libertarian with a left bent but now seems full blown Trump blood gargler.
Trump is the peace candidate because Russia is like Sweden or something.
Christ we will have war in China it Iran before the year is out with this cabal of cartilidge knawing cretins.
James Powell
We ought to talk less about this asshole and talk more about who we are going to run. We need two strong candidates for the governor’s race and two more for the race to replace Feinstein.
Who we got?
XTPD
@GregB: Scahill, Sam Biddle, and Liliana Segura are the only people at the Intercept worth reading, even if their politics are a bit too left for my taste (and Segura at the least has the good judgment to not be an ass on Twitter).
@tpherald: It’s because the left is too concerned with basic decency. Note how reception to David Brock’s proposal for a “Breitbart of the left” has been mostly derisive.
Major Major Major Major
@Ruckus:
There’s a good Ted Chiang story like that.
Mary G
@Mnemosyne: I’m going to the one in Santa Ana. Even the OC is on the March!
Mary G
@James Powell: I like Adam Schiff for senate. He was my rep when I lived in LA County. He’s either Mnem or Billin’s congresscritter, or both.
Mnemosyne
@Mary G:
Sadly, we moved to the one weird strip of Burbank that is NOT in Schiff’s district. Our new rep is Brad Sherman, who is a perfectly adequate Democrat, but no Schiff.
Schiff would never be acceptable to the Wilmer crowd, though. He used to be a Blue Dog and he’s in the pocket of Big Media since Disney and Warner Bros are both in his district along with innumerable small media companies.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mary G: He’s my congresscritter, Mnem moved out of the district. He’d make a good Senator, my college roommate was in his law school class.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne:
AKA, porn.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: It was loud, but good for a b-day dinner(our friend’s was the same as Elvis & Bowie and mine is next Sat). We do his and mine together and madame and the kid’s together(there’s are only 5 days apart).
sigaba
@XTPD: In fact they usually try to keep you awake, so they can ask you questions and make sure they’re not breaking anything.
@BillinGlendaleCA: No I think she’s talking about my people. Porn is not small, even in California. And I find the suggestion that a federal officeholder would openly lobby for porn to be… dubious.
sempronia
Thiel’s a piece of work, but I think he would get many more votes than he deserves by championing California secession. Could definitely see bros and frustrated lefties flocking to him just for that.
trollhattan
Thiel canbe our next Meg Whitman. Yay. Go away, asshole.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: you’d like this. If B-rnie S-nders Cares About Cheaper Drugs, He Should Stop Smearing His Colleagues For Rejecting His Flawed Amendment https://cenlamar.com/2017/01/14/if-bernie-sanders-cares-about-cheaper-drugs-he-should-stop-smearing-his-colleagues-for-rejecting-his-flawed-amendment/
p.s. Have the trolls been around much ever since Operation Wilmer really took off?
XTPD
@Major Major Major Major: Where’s the “Wilmer” reference come from?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: I think the Google Alert still sounds if they say his name.
Major Major Major Major
@XTPD: pseudonym that I think Mnem picked to evade trolls’ suspected google alerts. they only show up towards the 100’s of comments in threads where he’s being discussed.
Steeplejack
@XTPD:
Origin of Wilmer. Credit to Jim, Foolish Literalist.
Major Major Major Major
@Steeplejack: maybe some day that will be in the lexicon. Is that thing even maintained?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack: Thanks, I’m surprised I missed that thread.
Major Major Major Major
@BillinGlendaleCA: happens to the best of us.
Steeplejack
@Major Major Major Major:
I think Anne Laurie is the one who maintains it.
Ruckus
@XTPD:
No pain receptors? You’ve obviously never had a migraine. I have, for over 40 yrs I’ve been enjoying them. Believe me you can feel pain in the brain or at least surrounding the brain. When you feel like a 6′ 2″, 200 lb 25 yr old fire fighter has just hit you in the head with his best shot with his fire axe, you will call that pain.
Aleta
https://www.lawfareblog.com/why-are-trump-allegations-hanging-around-when-they-havent-been-substantiated
laura
@The Dangerman: nope. Possibly higher up the state and east – the free state of Jefferson fuckwits.
opiejeanne
@laura: There aren’t so many of those guys in the state so I doubt he’d even get out of the primary.
p.a.
There’s no Repub legislature to sabotage the state in advance to give Thiel traction as a ‘change’, ‘effective businessman’ candidate.
M. Bouffant
Your lips to ears somewhere
Laura Ingraham is alleged to be thinking of running against Tim Kaine for Senator from Virginia. Gah.
bjacques
The same actors running the 2016 playbook could try it for 2018. Only 31% of eligible voters (42% of registered) turned up in 2014, so flipping 1-1.5 million votes could put a Republican in the governor’s mansion and change the Assembly from a Democratic supermajority to a simple Dem majority.
You’d need a purity pony candidate whose followers could be set against the Democratic frontrunner, some state Party dirt, hacked or not, that can be thrown up as proof of corruption and a rigged election, more media attention than usual and maybe even personal attention from President Trump to encourage state Republicans and local brownshirts. A Republican state executive branch would make local voter suppression a lot easier.
Maybe not every factor in that was in place nationwide in 2016 would be in place in California in 2018, but flipping the state red would be worth the effort, with its 55 EC votes and its symbolic value as the largest and most organized seat of opposition to Trump and the GOP.
Something to keep an eye on, anyway.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
mehm, self funding millionare douchbags is just how the Cal GOP rolls.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@mai naem mobile:
Whitman won most of the white vote, which is a big meh in a majority of none state. Tribal politics don’t work here.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@GregB:
Does the little dear understand Trump want this Russian alliance to wage war on the Muslims?
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne: Wow, those are so cute! I wish I could say I was going, not just for the sake of sisterly solidarity, but to get one of your hats! I can’t knit worth a damn so I’m always rather in awe of those who can!
Haircelljon
@XTPD: @XTPD: @XTPD: Dura has load though, so you might want a local around the edges.
eyelessgame
OH FUCK NO
Any halfway decent Dem will crush his weenie ass – but we need a halfway decent Dem.