Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

3 days ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

3 days ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

4 days ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

4 days ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

4 days ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

4 days ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

4 days ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

4 days ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

4 days ago
Walters: Governor Delivers a State of Newsom Address
dan_walters
By Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary
Published 4 years ago on
March 15, 2021

Share

With the nation at war in 1944, tunesmiths Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer wrote an uplifting song for a morale-building movie, “Here Come the Waves.”

“You’ve got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative,” Bing Crosby crooned. “Don’t mess with Mister In-Between.”

Dan Walters

Opinion

It’s doubtful that Gov. Gavin Newsom, born in 1967, ever saw the movie or heard the song, but he was humming it last week in an elaborately staged State of the State address in an empty Dodger Stadium.

Newsom boasted that California, with himself at the helm, has survived the COVID-19 pandemic and “so now, we look ahead to better days with the California can-do spirit — with the energy and optimism that defines us — we will beat this virus and realize our dream of a California for All.”

Campaign Style Speech

It was clearly a campaign speech by a politician who faces the likelihood of a recall election later this year, using his official pulpit to persuade voters that he’s been working hard for them and thus deserves to remain in office.

Newsom overstated the positive — a half-truth, for instance, that “California’s death rate has remained one of the lowest per capita in the nation” — and downplayed the negative. He glossed over the complete meltdown at the Employment Development Department, an erratic vaccination program and his passive attitude toward reopening schools until the recall was on the verge of qualifying.

Newsom dismissed the negatives in one brief passage: “And look, we’ve made mistakes. I’ve made mistakes. But we own them, learn from them, and never stop trying.”

Only Single Reference to Recall Effort

And he referred to the recall only obliquely, saying, “We won’t change course just because of a few naysayers and doomsdayers. So to the California critics, who are promoting partisan power grabs and outdated prejudices, and rejecting everything that makes California great, we say this: we will not be distracted from getting shots in arms and our economy booming again.”

There is a larger issue — whether in his obvious desire to persuade Californians that he’s managing the pandemic well, he’s allowed political factors to influence it.

Newsom insisted last week that “we listened to the experts and were guided by the evidence” in managing COVID-19, but which activities were shut down and which were allowed to continue had tinges of politics from the earliest days of the crisis a year ago.

“We were the first state to issue a stay-at-home order, which helped us avoid early spikes in cases,” Newsom boasted, and that’s true. But he also eased up a few weeks later in response, as he acknowledged at the time, to complaints about millions of jobs being erased, and then cracked down again when infection rates spiked upward.

Thus began a rollercoaster ride of openings and closures that seemed to coincide with the political influence various interest groups wielded, leaving many Californians confused and eventually angered about the seemingly arbitrary nature of Newsom’s decrees.

Political Aspects of COVID Response

Overtly political aspects became especially evident in recent weeks when the recall movement neared the threshold of 1.5 million signatures on petitions to force an election. Suddenly, the state eased up on restrictions by redefining its county-by-county “tiers” and Newsom, after months of passivity, pushed hard to reopen schools.

Newsom cited lower infection rates as his rationale, but he had done that previously in easing up on restrictions only to reimpose them when infections spiked upward. He’s betting that easements will continue and that as children return to classrooms, businesses reopen, unemployment rates drop and Californians’ mood brightens, he can accentuate the positive and beat the recall.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

[activecampaign form=19]

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

TikTok Building New Version of App Ahead of Expected US Sale, the Information Reports

DON'T MISS

Hamas Government Office Rejects US Accusation of Involvement in Gaza Aid Site Attack

DON'T MISS

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 78, Trump Plans Visit

DON'T MISS

Trump Calls Musk’s Formation of New Party “Ridiculous” and Confusing

DON'T MISS

Fresno DUI Driver Slams Into CHP Motorcycle, Tow Truck on Highway 99

DON'T MISS

Russia Downs 120 Ukrainian Drones Overnight, Defense Ministry Says

DON'T MISS

Israel Sends Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Talks Ahead of Netanyahu Trip to US

DON'T MISS

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to Nearly 80,000 Acres, 30% Contained

DON'T MISS

Musk Announces Forming of ‘America Party’ in Further Break From Trump

DON'T MISS

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 59, Including 21 Children

UP NEXT

Hamas Government Office Rejects US Accusation of Involvement in Gaza Aid Site Attack

UP NEXT

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 78, Trump Plans Visit

UP NEXT

Trump Calls Musk’s Formation of New Party “Ridiculous” and Confusing

UP NEXT

Fresno DUI Driver Slams Into CHP Motorcycle, Tow Truck on Highway 99

UP NEXT

Russia Downs 120 Ukrainian Drones Overnight, Defense Ministry Says

UP NEXT

Israel Sends Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Talks Ahead of Netanyahu Trip to US

UP NEXT

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to Nearly 80,000 Acres, 30% Contained

UP NEXT

Musk Announces Forming of ‘America Party’ in Further Break From Trump

UP NEXT

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 59, Including 21 Children

UP NEXT

California’s Politics Drifts Right While New York’s Leans Left

Trump Calls Musk’s Formation of New Party “Ridiculous” and Confusing

10 hours ago

Fresno DUI Driver Slams Into CHP Motorcycle, Tow Truck on Highway 99

16 hours ago

Russia Downs 120 Ukrainian Drones Overnight, Defense Ministry Says

16 hours ago

Israel Sends Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Talks Ahead of Netanyahu Trip to US

17 hours ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to Nearly 80,000 Acres, 30% Contained

17 hours ago

Musk Announces Forming of ‘America Party’ in Further Break From Trump

17 hours ago

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 59, Including 21 Children

17 hours ago

California’s Politics Drifts Right While New York’s Leans Left

17 hours ago

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

2 days ago

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

2 days ago

TikTok Building New Version of App Ahead of Expected US Sale, the Information Reports

TikTok is building a new version of its app for users in the United States ahead of a planned sale of the app to a group of investors, The I...

10 hours ago

A logo is displayed over a door at the U.S. headquarters of the social media company TikTok in Culver City, California, U.S. January 17, 2025. (Reuters File)
10 hours ago

TikTok Building New Version of App Ahead of Expected US Sale, the Information Reports

Boxes of aid are stacked as Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it has commenced operations to begin distribution of aid, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 26, 2025. (Reuters File)
10 hours ago

Hamas Government Office Rejects US Accusation of Involvement in Gaza Aid Site Attack

A volunteer searches for flood victims after deadly flooding in Kerr County, Texas, U.S., July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Sergio Flores
10 hours ago

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 78, Trump Plans Visit

Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk listens as US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington, DC, U.S. on November 13, 2024. (Reuters File)
10 hours ago

Trump Calls Musk’s Formation of New Party “Ridiculous” and Confusing

A 22-year-old suspected DUI driver crashed into a parked CHP motorcycle and tow truck on Highway 99 near Fresno, narrowly missing an officer and bystanders, CHP said Saturday, July 5, 2025. (CHP)
16 hours ago

Fresno DUI Driver Slams Into CHP Motorcycle, Tow Truck on Highway 99

A service member of a drone unit of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo of the Ukrainian Armed Forces controls a heavy combat drone while it flies over positions of Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine June 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
16 hours ago

Russia Downs 120 Ukrainian Drones Overnight, Defense Ministry Says

An Israeli tank maneuvers in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 6, 2025. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)
17 hours ago

Israel Sends Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Talks Ahead of Netanyahu Trip to US

The Madre Fire near New Cuyama has burned nearly 80,000 acres as of Sunday, July 6, 2025, morning, prompting widespread evacuation orders and warnings across three counties. (CalFire)
17 hours ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to Nearly 80,000 Acres, 30% Contained

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend