Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Walters: Newsom Hurts Himself with Unforced Errors
dan_walters
By Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary
Published 4 years ago on
March 23, 2021

Share

The quarterback drops back to pass, spots a receiver and cocks his arm to throw, but the football slips out of his hand, a lineman from the other team snatches up the loose ball and runs for a touchdown.

It’s called an “unforced error” and in sports it’s the worst kind of mistake, one that could mean the difference between winning and losing.

What’s true in sports is also true in politics and Gov. Gavin Newsom should confess, at least to himself, that he faces a recall election that could tank his political career largely due to his unforced errors.

Dan Walters

Opinion

Recall was Going Nowhere Until …

Newsom characterizes the recall campaign as a desperate effort by right-wing kooks, but it was going nowhere until Newsom committed the grandmother of all unforced errors — a very expensive dinner at Napa’s French Laundry restaurant with some lobbyists that plainly violated his pleas to Californians to avoid gatherings and wear masks.

Were French Laundry an isolated example, Newsom would have probably not been seriously affected. But he has continued to do and say things that reinforce the recall campaign’s theme that he is an arrogant elitist oblivious to the concerns of ordinary citizens.

Another example popped up last week when he told a CNN interviewer he’s “been living through Zoom school,” a few days after telling Californians in his State of the State address that he and his wife have struggled to help their four young children “cope with the fatigue of Zoom school, the loneliness of missing their friends, frustrated by emotions they don’t yet fully understand.”

He clearly was attempting to identify with millions of parents whose children have been kept at home for a year and whose angst as been one of the recall’s drivers. However, as journalists quickly pointed out, Newsom’s children attend a tony private school that reopened many months ago.

It was an unforced error, not on the scale of the French Laundry, but once again contributing to the image of a governor who’s tone deaf.

Complaints Over Rules for School Sports

And while we’re on the subject of education, Newsom, or at least the officials he commands, committed another unforced error regarding the resumption of high school sports, another sore point with the parents.

The Department of Public Health allowed games to resume, but said only one parent could attend and banned cheerleaders, who immediately complained about the unfairness of the decree.

The rules were quickly revised to allow cheerleading, but the flap could have been avoided had Newsom and his advisors thought through the sports guidelines from the standpoint of parents and students by actually talking to them before issuing orders from on high.

Blue Shield Controversy

Speaking of which, how about that Blue Shield deal?

With the state’s COVID-19 vaccination program bogged down, Newsom suddenly decided to offload supervision to Blue Shield, a health care behemoth that has, as journalists quickly pointed out, a long history of donating to Newsom’s political campaigns.

However, what Newsom thought would be a move to smooth out the vaccination program turned out to be another unforced error. The shift immediately attracted opposition from local public health officials who apparently had not been consulted and many of them refused to sign contracts with Blue Shield.

It forced the administration to allow the refusniks to contract directly with the state, rather than Blue Shield. Rather than demonstrating that Newsom was on top of the vaccination situation, it lent credence to an image of arrogant bumbling.

Newsom is still favored to avoid recall, but if he continues to make unforced errors, he could die the political death of a thousand small cuts.

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

One Person Killed in Explosion Outside Fertility Clinic; Police Say Act Was ‘Intentional’

DON'T MISS

Trump Wants a Deal With Iran, but It May Be Weaker Than His Supporters Demand

DON'T MISS

Duffy Blamed Biden for Air Traffic Woes. It’s a Decades-Old Problem.

DON'T MISS

The Day Grok Lost Its Mind

DON'T MISS

Police and Firefighters Respond to an Explosion Rocking the California City of Palm Springs

DON'T MISS

Clovis Goes Full Throttle With Biggest Old Town Motorama Yet

DON'T MISS

Israel Launches a New Military Operation in Gaza a Day After Trump Leaves the Middle East

DON'T MISS

Kristen Stewart Was Always Ready to Direct

DON'T MISS

Walz Calls Trump a ‘Tyrant’ Who Is Trampling Americans’ Rights and Violating the Rule of Law

DON'T MISS

Severe Weather Leaves at Least 23 Dead, Including 14 in Storm-Battered Kentucky

UP NEXT

Trump Wants a Deal With Iran, but It May Be Weaker Than His Supporters Demand

UP NEXT

Duffy Blamed Biden for Air Traffic Woes. It’s a Decades-Old Problem.

UP NEXT

The Day Grok Lost Its Mind

UP NEXT

Police and Firefighters Respond to an Explosion Rocking the California City of Palm Springs

UP NEXT

Clovis Goes Full Throttle With Biggest Old Town Motorama Yet

UP NEXT

Israel Launches a New Military Operation in Gaza a Day After Trump Leaves the Middle East

UP NEXT

Kristen Stewart Was Always Ready to Direct

UP NEXT

Walz Calls Trump a ‘Tyrant’ Who Is Trampling Americans’ Rights and Violating the Rule of Law

UP NEXT

Severe Weather Leaves at Least 23 Dead, Including 14 in Storm-Battered Kentucky

UP NEXT

Trump Says He Will Call Putin, Then Zelenskyy, on Monday to Push for Ukraine Ceasefire

The Day Grok Lost Its Mind

1 day ago

Police and Firefighters Respond to an Explosion Rocking the California City of Palm Springs

1 day ago

Clovis Goes Full Throttle With Biggest Old Town Motorama Yet

1 day ago

Israel Launches a New Military Operation in Gaza a Day After Trump Leaves the Middle East

1 day ago

Kristen Stewart Was Always Ready to Direct

1 day ago

Walz Calls Trump a ‘Tyrant’ Who Is Trampling Americans’ Rights and Violating the Rule of Law

1 day ago

Severe Weather Leaves at Least 23 Dead, Including 14 in Storm-Battered Kentucky

1 day ago

Trump Says He Will Call Putin, Then Zelenskyy, on Monday to Push for Ukraine Ceasefire

1 day ago

‘Eat the Tariffs!’: Trump Warns Walmart Not to Pass Costs to Customers

1 day ago

Biden Audio Release Pressures Democrats Who Would Rather Talk About Trump

1 day ago

One Person Killed in Explosion Outside Fertility Clinic; Police Say Act Was ‘Intentional’

An explosion that heavily damaged a fertility clinic in the upscale California city of Palm Springs appears to have been intentional, local ...

1 day ago

1 day ago

One Person Killed in Explosion Outside Fertility Clinic; Police Say Act Was ‘Intentional’

1 day ago

Trump Wants a Deal With Iran, but It May Be Weaker Than His Supporters Demand

1 day ago

Duffy Blamed Biden for Air Traffic Woes. It’s a Decades-Old Problem.

1 day ago

The Day Grok Lost Its Mind

1 day ago

Police and Firefighters Respond to an Explosion Rocking the California City of Palm Springs

The Old Town Motorama in Clovis is expected to draw up to 35,000 people Saturday for its biggest classic car show yet.
1 day ago

Clovis Goes Full Throttle With Biggest Old Town Motorama Yet

1 day ago

Israel Launches a New Military Operation in Gaza a Day After Trump Leaves the Middle East

1 day ago

Kristen Stewart Was Always Ready to Direct

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

Search

Send this to a friend