News: POLITICO California Playbook: NEWSOM's turnout tactics — CAGOP endorsement vote looms — HARRIS' crisis control

Friday, August 6, 2021

POLITICO California Playbook: NEWSOM's turnout tactics — CAGOP endorsement vote looms — HARRIS' crisis control — VAX mandate for HEALTH CARE workers

Aug 06, 2021

By Jeremy B. White, Carla Marinucci and Camryn Dadey

THE BUZZ — How do you get Democrats to vote? The answer will determine Gov. Gavin Newsom's political future.

As you've probably read by now, Team Newsom is confronting a turnout problem. The Republicans who propelled the recall to the ballot are unsurprisingly raring to cast their votes. Democrats are less excited. That galvanization gulf could allow Newsom's foes to make up for enormous voter registration and fundraising deficits.

Newsom's recall strategy to this point has been twofold: emphasize the good and don't descend to the critics' level. The governor has spent months traveling the state and touting his policies and their concrete effects on voters, from cash rebates to huge outlays on homelessness and schools to health care for undocumented residents. And he has largely floated above the recall fray, denouncing the exercise as a Trumpian takeover attempt — a case Newsom can now make in the official voter guides — while declining to engage his rivals or appear on the debate stage.

But there are signs Newsom's not breaking through — at least not enough to avoid defeat. One reason why looks to be a lack of liberal enthusiasm for Newsom himself. Another is a dangerous brew of indifference and complacency — a Democratic base either unaware of the recall or utterly convinced it will fail. And that latter belief risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy if energized Republicans turn out and eye-rolling liberals leave their ballots blank.

The upshot: Democrats could hand the governorship to a Republican who's so conservative he opposes a minimum wage. But in the dwindling weeks between now and Sept. 14, Team Newsom's principal task will shift from persuasion to turnout. They don't need to convert many independents to their side if they can get enough of the state's huge Democratic base to fill out and submit the ballots set to arrive at every registered, active voter's home.

So what will that look like? Millions of dollars in advertising. Attempts to text every registered Democrat. Armies of organizers knocking on doors and collecting ballots. Deployments of recognizable messengers to remind voters what's going on (it's no accident that Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren made sure to mention Sept. 14 and incoming mail ballots during her pro-Newsom ad ). And on the other side, the California Republican Party is poised to dispatch tens of thousands of volunteers and engage in the ballot collection practices — long derided by Republicans as "harvesting," — that he CAGOP now sees as a key to victory.

BUENOS DÍAS, good Friday morning. California Republican Party delegates will gather tomorrow to vote on who to endorse as Newsom's replacement: Larry Elder, Kevin Faulconer, Kevin Kiley and Doug Ose — or none of the above. The party's recently agreed-upon process make it possible that no Republican gets the nod — which is what some conservatives want, believing a party pick would dampen enthusiasm. (Missing from that list are businessman John Cox and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner; neither made the minimal requirements of delegate support to be included.)

Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit cmarinucci@politico.com or jwhite@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @cmarinucci and @jeremybwhite.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "The recall challengers complain well, but they all lack the experience and depth of expertise needed to steer the fifth-largest economy on the planet — Elder and Cox especially. Let us be clear, though. This partisan recall attempt should be a wake-up call for California's Democratic supermajority." The Sac Bee editorial board rejects the recall but warns Democrats.

TWEET OF THE DAY: Former California High Speed Rail chair @DanRichardJr on whether Democrats should vote on the recall replacement question: "This is a nightmare for Democrats. I had a very smart enviro lobbyist saying she &her friends thought leaving question 2 blank would help Newsom. No! Not at all! If question 1 passes, there would be a new Governor. Period. So you need to pick the best on the ballot."

WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

TOP TALKERS

— "Scoop: Inside a Kamala Harris crisis dinner," by Axios' Jonathan Swan: "It's telling that so early in the Biden-Harris administration, such powerful operatives felt compelled to try to right the vice president's ship."

BURNED TOWN MOURNED — "Eulogy for Greenville," by the Plumas News's Meg Upton: "I loved Greenville's stubbornness and tenacity, its characters. It was most definitely a place all its own. And now the bulk of it is gone."

— "As cargo shipments boom, ship strikes imperil whales in California and worldwide ," by LATimes' Susanne Rust: "With the increase of cargo and cruise boat traffic the last several decades, ships have become one of the deadliest threats whales face in open oceans and coastal waters. Ship strikes are not thought to be a predominant cause of the West Coast die-off of gray whales since 2019, but they are a factor, and an increasing concern."

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CAMPAIGN MODE

BEE REJECTS RECALL — Voters should reject Gavin Newsom recall, Sacramento Bee urges, via the Sac Bee's Editorial Board: "There are plenty of reasons to be frustrated with Newsom, but replacing him through this egregious recall process is wrong and dangerous … when put to the test, answering tough questions about California's essential issues, some (GOP candidates) displayed a total lack of understanding, presented bizarre, untenable views and repeatedly failed to disavow Trumpism — an undemocratic, chaotic ideology that deserves no quarter in our Capitol."

— " Republican John Cox proposes $30B tax cut that faces host of implementation problems, by POLITICO's Colby Bermel.

NATIONAL HELP — The Democratic Governors Association has sent Newsom another $1 million to fight the recall, building on an earlier $500,000 investment.

AG ENDORSEMENT — Rep. Darrell Issa has backed Republican former U.S. Attorney Nathan Hochman's 2022 attorney general bid, going with Hochman over GOP-turned-independent Sacramento D.A. Anne Marie Schubert. Issa said in a statement that Hochman "will put an end to the failed policies of the past that have put the needs of criminals above California families."

CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

VAX NOT TEST — "California says all health care workers must be vaccinated, scraps COVID testing alternative," by the Sac Bee's Sophia Bollag.

— " Frontline service workers left out of the vaccine mandate trend, by POLITICO's Victoria Colliver and Alexander Nieves: Requiring vaccines is more complicated in sectors like retail and agriculture, where employers risk losing workers in a tight labor market and vaccine enforcement could be expensive. Some labor leaders who represent low-wage service workers also have pushed back against strict mandates.

— California hits drought milestone as Oroville hydropower stops for first time, by POLITICO's Debra Kahn: The Hyatt Powerplant at Lake Oroville went offline for the first time in history due to low water levels in the state's second largest reservoir.

PRIVACY PITFALLS — "'Functionally useless': California privacy law's big reveal falls short," by POLITICO's Susannah Luthi: The largest companies targeted by the landmark California Consumer Privacy Act are required to disclose detailed figures on data-privacy requests they have received from the state's residents since last year. But the firms have published widely disparate figures that raise serious questions about compliance and make it impossible to evaluate the law's effectiveness.

— "New tribal colleges offer 'sense of belonging' for Native students but hit roadblocks ," by CalMatters' Emma Hall and Charlotte West: "Tribal colleges provide culturally relevant education for Native students. But in California, they face an uphill battle because of lack of funding and a lengthy accreditation process."

STEINBERG'S PLAN — "Sacramento Mayor Releases Plans To Shelter Homeless Residents At 20 Sites," by CapRadio's Sarah Mizes-Tan and Janelle Salanga: "The City Council will vote on the plan next Tuesday. If it passes, the 20 priority sites laid out in the plan could be used to house about 3,600 homeless people a year."

— "River Fire near Colfax nearly doubles in size and sends thousands fleeing blaze in Gold Country," by SFChronicle's Jill Tucker, Sarah Ravani and Emma Talley: "A fast-moving wildfire roared through more than 2,400 acres of dry, dense vegetation near the town of Colfax, destroying or damaging at least 50 structures within the first day and forcing thousands from their homes."

NOW SAN JOSE — "San Jose employees must vaccinate or be tested, by San José Spotlight's Lorraine Gabbert.

— "Editorial: Homeless people on Venice Beach got interim housing. Can't this happen all over the city?" by LATimes' Editorial Board.

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BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL

— "Biden targets 50 percent clean car sales by 2030," by POLITICO's Alex Guillen: The big three U.S. automakers and many foreign manufacturers appear to be unified behind Biden's strategy, even after many lobbied former President Donald Trump just four years ago to slash the Obama-era standards that they felt were too aggressive. The industry ultimately had to talk Trump back from completely gutting federal tailpipe standards and from starting a regulatory war with California that threatened to split the country into two separate auto markets.

KAMALA'S PATH — " Can Kamala Harris Solve the Vice-President Paradox?" by the Atlantic's Peter Nicholas: "Polls show Biden is significantly more popular than Harris, and his team is running more smoothly than hers. If she doesn't close that gap, and soon, she risks inviting Democratic challengers into the field of a future presidential primary. And even if she prevails in such a fight, unless she can win over more voters to her side, she will struggle to win the presidency — just as she struggled to win the nomination when she tried for it herself."

CAMPAIGN MODE

— "Newsom, in recall fight, says it's 'not acceptable' for homeless to camp on streets," by LATimes' Benjamin Oreskes: "Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed strong support Thursday for increased efforts around California to remove large homeless encampments, calling them unacceptable and saying the state will need more federal help to create additional housing and expand services for homeless people."

SILICON VALLEYLAND

— "Ex-Tesla Employee Called Racial Slurs Wins Rare $1 Million Award," by Bloomberg's Malathi Nayak and Dana Hull: "The rare discrimination award by an arbitrator to Melvin Berry, which followed a closed-door proceeding, caps years of complaints from Black workers that Tesla turned a blind eye to the commonplace use of racial slurs on the assembly line and was slow to clean up graffiti with swastikas and other hate symbols scrawled in common areas."

NYU STRUGGLE — " The FTC hits back at Facebook after it shut down NYU research," by Protocol's Issie Lapowsky.

— "Amazon, Google and other tech companies join government effort to fight ransomware," by CNBC's Lauren Feiner: "The Department of Homeland Security's new Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) will coordinate national cyber defense planning across agencies and with the private sector, according to prepared remarks from Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly at Thursday's Black Hat cybersecurity conference."

CANNABIS COUNTRY

— "Fresno gets weed dispensaries five years after California legalization. What took so long?" by Fresno Bee's Joshua Tehee: "Last week, the city of Fresno gave preliminary approval to three businesses to begin retail cannabis sales ... The dispensaries could be open by mid-November, according to a schedule from the city's Office of Cannabis Oversight."

HOLLYWOODLAND

— "Britney Spears Asks for Quick Hearing to Oust Her Father as Conservator," by NYTimes' Liz Day: "In a court filing on Thursday, a lawyer for the singer said that she would be harmed if her request to remove her father was left unheard until late September, as now scheduled."

MEDIA MATTERS

— "T-Squared: Sewell Chan is The Texas Tribune's next editor-in-chief," by Texas Tribune's Evan Smith: "The visionary, venerated editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Times — a veteran of The New York Times and The Washington Post — will lead our nonprofit newsroom in a moment when more Texans than ever are clamoring for reliable, credible nonpartisan journalism."

MIXTAPE

— "Ray Fosse stepping away from A's broadcasting duties to focus on cancer battle," by SFChronicle's Matt Kawahara.

— " The custom auto shop behind Hollywood's most iconic cars may be closing," by LATimes' Charles Fleming.

— "5 Palo Alto police officers sued over a Black Lives Matter mural. Some residents say they weren't surprised," by SFChronicle's Rachel Swan.

— "San Jose's Doobie Brothers house headed for historic landmark status," by Mercury News' Maggie Angst.

— "$2 million helicopters and vintage fire trucks: How frustrated Napa residents are taking wildfire protection into their own hands," by SFChronicle's Esther Mobley.

— "Sacramento Kings mandate employees to get COVID vaccine, but one group isn't yet covered," by SacBee's Dale Kasler.

IN MEMORIAM

— AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka dead at 72, by POLITICO's Tina Sfondeles and Rebecca Rainey.

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