(#4610) NO to the recall wins big

      Like any major election day, I was a bit nervous about how this one would turn out. I remember vividly the confidence I had in 2016 with Hillary Clinton. Only to be shell shocked all night long as the returns came in. Even though that was 5 years ago and what seems more like a lifetime ago, It is etched deeply into my existence. In the 2017 elections for New Jersey and Virginia the confidence began to come back with big democratic wins in those two state races. In 2018, the return of Nancy Pelosi to the leadership of the House was exhilarating. Then the defeat of trump and the takeover of the Senate as well in 2020 renewed my faith in American elections.
     With this large triumph over the trump directed republican recall here in California last night I can now rest easier that the worst of what happened in 2016 and began to end in 2017 is over. It took us having to live through 4 years of worry that our lives were about to end to get to this point so breaking from that worry is not going to be easy. Yet with the turnout and vote for the NO on the recall it seems that our blue tsunami wave that began in 2017 is not letting up. That the leading vote getter for republicans last night went through the trouble of conceding and being somewhat gracious in defeat was a victory of sorts as well since trump republicans are not easily convinced they lost.
     Now we look forward to those same state elections that took place in 2017, in November 2021. That is in about 6 weeks so the early voting will begin in earnest very shortly. For our blue wave to show it's longevity we will need to advance our democratic base even further in those states to cement our view that democrats protecting democracy is the popular choice. A blueprint for electing democrats is being devised and in California last night was tested. It passed with glowing results but there are still some areas we democrats need to improve. Our male Latino outreach needs to be expanded and fortified and our common sense approach to facts and truth, needs to be more readily amplified. But we know our strengths and also our weaknesses so let us get to work on both going into November and 2022.