News: POLITICO California Playbook: PANETTA: Recall a ‘roll of the dice’ — PRISCILLA CHAN drops $750,000 on anti-recall effort — TEACHERS must get VAX OR TEST, Newsom to say

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

POLITICO California Playbook: PANETTA: Recall a ‘roll of the dice’ — PRISCILLA CHAN drops $750,000 on anti-recall effort — TEACHERS must get VAX OR TEST, Newsom to say — PG&E’s role examined in DIXIE FIRE

Aug 11, 2021

By Carla Marinucci, Jeremy B. White, Graph Massara and Camryn Dadey

THE BUZZ — Millions of his constituents watched his coronavirus briefings religiously. He became a national example of shining blue-state success. And as the surges came and went, his profile rose — only to come crashing back to earth.

Gavin Newsom is in a very different kind of jam , of course, than New York's soon-to-be-former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. But the recall election is drawing nearer, and the long arc of the California governor's career could face a similarly abrupt decline — as the man himself admitted this week.

"Those that think this thing is not close, I hate to disabuse you: it is," Newsom said on a call with supporters, including Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee and Karen Bass. "The reality is, this is close and it all comes to one fundamental thing. … We know the people more likely to vote at this moment tend to skew the RNC's direction."

And observers in the know — like Leon Panetta — agree he has good reason to worry.

HOW PANETTA SEES IT — The former California House member and U.S. Secretary of Defense warned Carla that the looming California recall represents a political "roll of the dice" by angry voters, with huge stakes for Democrats here and across the country.

"People are barraged by crises , Covid, climate change and wildfires,'' Panetta said in an interview Tuesday. "They're angry, they're frustrated, they go to the polls — and what better way to take it out than basically to throw the governor out."

WRONG FRAMING? Team Newsom's framing of the election as a Trump-fueled takeover attempt may be a mistake, Panetta said. It's one that ignores Californians' worries about their safety, their future and their quality of life, amid rising concerns about crime and the state's intractably large homeless population.

"This is not just a tornado or an earthquake. … This is something that goes to their survival,'' he said. "I'm not sure traditional politics works here. I'm not sure the ads on television break through''— especially those featuring Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and her warnings of Republicans "coming to grab power in California."

CALLING JOE? Panetta said President Joe Biden's voice may now be especially critical to help protect Democrats from losing another major blue-state governor — especially in the wake of Cuomo's fall. That's because "I don't think there is enough public awareness" of the long-term effects of a dramatic shift in governance right now, he said. "And what is being done is not moving people.''

BOTTOM LINE: It's time for Newsom to have a heart-to-heart with voters, Panetta said. "What he needs to say is: 'This is about California. It's about the future of California. This is what I tried to do as governor — and on some things, I have not been successful.' … He's got to talk about what it means for them. And their kids."

BUENOS DÍAS, good Wednesday morning. Republican recall candidate Caitlyn Jenner is back from her Australia sojourn and on the campaign trail in Southern California this week.

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: "So has he been vetted? ... Not in the way that we're used to — of candidates having to go through a process of showing up to town halls and press conferences, and respond to opponents, and provide answers and explanations for what they've said in their public life." Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson to the LA Times' James Rainey and Seema Mehta, on talk show host Larry Elder's sudden emergence as a leading GOP recall candidate.

TWEET OF THE DAY: The California Democratic Party @CA_Dem doubles down on instructions to voters: "In many parts of California, ballots are already on their way for the recall election. Remember: Vote NO on the first question, and leave the second question blank. It's up to all of us to #StopTheRepublicanRecall and stand with Governor Gavin Newsom."

BONUS TOTD: @GavinNewsom reacts to Twitter suspending Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene over vaccine misinformation: "Bye bye."

WHERE'S GAVIN? Newsom will be at an Alameda County elementary school this morning to announce his new rules for teacher vaccinations, as POLITICO's Mackenzie Mays scooped Tuesday night.

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

TOP TALKERS

HIGHWAY TO H — "Is California's 'Hydrogen Highway' a road to nowhere?" by the LA Times' Evan Halper: "In the case of California's 'Hydrogen Highway' — a network of fueling stations former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dreamed would lure masses of Americans to hydrogen vehicles — even the most climate-conscious, tech-savvy motorists are asking: What's the point?"

NUTS FOR WATER — "Climate Change Could Mean Almond Production Moves North To Idaho From California ," by Boise State Public Radio's Lindsey Schmidt: "Almonds have been grown almost exclusively in California's Central Valley and rake in billions of dollars for the state's economy. But with rising temperatures thanks to climate change, increasing drought, and a scarcity of water in California, researchers are seeing if Idaho might become a suitable place to grow almonds."

AFTER NEWSOM'S CLEANUP — " Residents under I-80 underpass search for housing after encampment sweep," by Berkeleyside's Supriya Yelimeli: "Newsom personally accompanied Caltrans officials to clear out a longstanding homeless encampment near the Berkeley Marina Monday morning. But while officials claim residents were offered alternate housing, several of them are in states of limbo as they search for another place to live."

CAMPAIGN MODE

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Philanthropist and pediatrician Priscilla Chan will today announce she's donating $750,000 to Newsom's Stop the Republican Recall campaign, arguing in a statement that "protecting public health" is a key issue in the California recall.

"Governor Newsom has prioritized public health and made tough decisions to ensure that Californians stayed as safe as possible in the face of the unprecedented challenges over the past year,'' said Chan, who founded the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative with husband and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and who also served on Newsom's economic recovery task force.

AND ANOTHER BIG TECH-MONEY GIFT FOR NEWSOM — Emerson Collective founder and philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs donated $200,000 this week to the same committee fighting the recall, according to the California Secretary of State's website.

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE — "Larry Elder's outspoken conservative radio rhetoric under scrutiny in recall election," by the LA Times' James Rainey and Seema Mehta: " Elder would not answer detailed questions and a campaign spokeswoman insisted that many of the past statements and positions highlighted by The Times were not pertinent to the recall."

FORMER CAGOP CHAIR WEIGHS IN — Newsom recall election – here's why California governor is in real trouble," by former CAGOP chair Tom Del Beccaro via Fox News: "Newsom's big government, union, and ultra-environmentalist centric policies have predictably failed California – and now he is facing a recall election on September 14. Often politicians can often overcome bad policies – but not bad personalities – and that is the biggest problem Newsom faces. He is not liked."

HILTZIK'S TAKE — "GOP recall hopeful wants California to fight COVID like Florida, meaning much more death," by the LA Times' Michael Hiltzik: "Do Republican politicians even listen to what they're saying anymore, when it comes to the pandemic?"

— "California gubernatorial candidate creates site to report the unvaccinated. It doesn't go as planned." by Nexstar's Alix Martichoux: "The man who created it, David Bramante, says he didn't even mean for people to really turn in their neighbors. He meant it as satire, but not everyone got the joke."

— "Recall candidate Larry Elder condemns state of public schools at San Diego GOP event," by San Diego Union-Tribune's Kristen Taketa.

CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

PG&E PROBLEMS — "PG&E power line suspected in Dixie fire was set to be buried underground in safety move," by the LA Times' Alex Wigglesworth: "PG&E said it would bury some power lines snaking through Northern California forest land, significantly reducing the risk of wildfires caused when winds damage equipment. Among the power lines set to be buried was a 10-mile stretch that may have started this year's destructive Dixie fire, now the second largest in California history."

MENDOCINO MOMENT — " Dry California tourist town to guests: 'Please conserve,'" by the AP's Olga R. Rodriguez and Haven Daley: "Tourists flock by the thousands to the coastal town of Mendocino for its Victorian homes and cliff trails, but visitors this summer are also finding public portable toilets and signs on picket fences pleading: 'Severe Drought. Please conserve water.'"

— " 'This is not sustainable': California hospitals filling again as Delta variant rages," by the LA Times' Rong-Gong Lin and Luke Money: "Many of the state's most populous areas have seen their COVID-19 hospitalizations double over the span of a few weeks. And overall, California has seen its total number of hospitalized coronavirus-positive patients swell from 2,981 on July 25 to 5,973 as of Sunday."

— "Out of prison, then out of country. Poll asks Californians' view on deporting undocumented," by the Modesto Bee's Andrea Briseño: "Most Californians want to end the so-called double punishment of undocumented people, who often are deported once completing a prison or jail sentence, a poll shows."

COMPASSION OR CRACKDOWN? — " Homelessness Surges in Venice Beach, Leaving Locals at Odds," by Bloomberg's Patrick Sisson: "Residents of the Los Angeles beach enclave are bitterly divided over efforts to get unsheltered people off the streets."

BRINGING HOME THE BACON — "The fight over cage-free eggs and bacon in California, explained," by Vox's Kenny Torrella: "An impending California law will get farm animals out of cages. Big Meat is pushing back hard."

— Delta variant increases school anxiety for parents — and Newsom, by POLITICO's Mackenzie Mays: Despite assurances from public health officials and the recall-threatened governor that California's 6 million-plus public school students "can and must" safely return, parents are anxious after more than a year of false starts.

— "Los Angeles County Working On Plan For Proof Of Vaccination Requirement In Indoor Public Spaces," by Deadline's Tom Tapp: "On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors ordered plans be drafted that would require proof of vaccination to enter many public spaces. The motion was just to make a plan for such a measure, not to actually implement one."

— "San Francisco schools will require teachers and other staff to be vaccinated or tested," by the SF Chronicle's Jill Tucker: "The decision came less than a week before the first day of school Monday and reversed a wait-and-see approach by the district, which included requiring the district's 10,000 employees to submit vaccination status by the end of the month."

BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL

— Lawyer for House conservatives suing Pelosi has his own rap sheet, by POLITICO's Olivia Beavers: Chris Wiest, the lawyer for Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) in their suit against Pelosi over the House's mask mandate, was previously suspended by the Ohio and Kentucky bar associations over insider trading, according to court and Securities and Exchange Commission documents.

SAN DIEGO-BASED OANN SUED — " Dominion Voting Systems hits conservative networks, Trump ally with $1.6 billion defamation suits," by ABC's Olivia Rubin: "The complaints were filed against Newsmax and One America News Network, as well as against former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, who is an outspoken supporter of the former president."

DIFI WEIGHS IN — " Op-Ed: To turn back Dixie fire and others in California, raise pay for federal firefighters," by Dianne Feinstein in the LA Times: "While California has made an effort to hire more firefighters and provide sufficient resources to fight fires on state land, the federal government has fallen behind. This is particularly dangerous considering 58% of California's forests are on federal land. The only long-term solution to reduce wildfires is to confront climate change head-on."

CA WINDFALL — "Senate approves Biden's bipartisan infrastructure bill with funds for California," by the LA Times' Jennifer Haberkorn: "The Senate on Tuesday approved an expansive bill to rebuild the nation's aging roads and bridges, with $8.3 billion specifically targeted to water infrastructure projects in the West and billions more to fund national projects to mitigate the impact of wildfires."

SILICON VALLEYLAND

— "We Research Misinformation on Facebook. It Just Disabled Our Accounts," by Laura Edelson and Damon McCoy in NYT.

— " Homeless encampment grows on Apple property in Silicon Valley," by Bay Area News Group's Marisa Kendall: "A large homeless encampment is growing on the site Apple earmarked for its North San Jose campus, two years after Apple made waves with a $2.5 billion pledge to combat the Bay Area's affordable housing and homelessness crisis."

SELF DRIVE IN SANTA MONICA — " Motional to begin testing autonomous vehicles in LA as part of California expansion plan," by TechCrunch's Kirsten Korosec: "Testing routes will initially be centered in and around the Santa Monica area, near its office and operations facility. Motional said it will use the all-electric Hyundai IONIQ 5, the vehicle that will be the cornerstone of its eventual commercial robotaxi service, in its testing there."

HOLLYWOODLAND

WIDE SHOT — "The streaming splurge is changing how Hollywood deals are valued," by the LA Times' Ryan Faughnder: "The epic streaming-fueled quest for more content has produced some truly staggering valuations for companies that make movies and TV shows."

CANNABIS COUNTRY

— "An inconvenient truth (about weed)," by POLITICO's Natalie Fertig and Gavin Bade: Marijuana has never been more popular in the U.S. — and its carbon emissions have never posed a bigger threat to the climate.

MIXTAPE

CLIFFHANGER — "After getting 'spooked,' woman drives off cliff in Santa Cruz," by LATimes' Robin Estrin.

— " California travel blogger in coma after scooter crash in Bali, family says," by NBC's David K. Li.

— "Murder, abuse charges against California foster parents," by AP.

— " A boxcar bridge? Newly listed $1.2 million California home has one. Take a look," by SacBee's TJ Macias.

— "After mixed experiences with distance learning, disabled California college students want flexibility," by EdSource's Michael Burke.

BIRTHDAYS

Alex Bernstein ... Lois Weinsaft ... Jacob S. Segal

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