Op-Ed: Newsom survived recall by getting back to his bold self (via latimesopinion)
When his Republican opponents took the bait by attacking vaccine and mask mandates, Newsom drew this as the primary line of distinction between himself and his opponents. He could have said “so many constituencies, so many nuances.” But instead he doubled down with campaign ads trumpeting his measures, calling the recall a “matter of life and death.”
In the afterglow of Newsom’s victory, it’s hard to remember just how much of a risk this was. The recall race was deadlocked at that time, according to some. The pandemic, along with the response to it that Newsom led, had been primary drivers of the “Yes on the Recall” campaign for months. It was not just the French Laundry dinner but the uneven pandemic policies that it seemed to symbolize that put Newsom in jeopardy.
He did, and that built his political revival. After taking firm stands and drawing a political battle line, Newsom headed into the last month of the campaign on surer footing, with a clearer message. He steadily rose in the polls, then delivered the knockout on election night. According to exit polls, COVID was the most important issue in the race to voters. It was the primary concern for 40% of Democrats but only 20% of Republicans, indicating that Newsom’s focus on the pandemic drew his base back to his corner. He cast the recall as a referendum not on himself but on California’s approach to COVID.Newsom’s history shows that the riskiest strategy is being timid. Faced with a recall, the governor went back to his old ways: He gambled and won.
Thad Kousser is a professor of political science and co-director of the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research at UC San Diego.
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