Of Primary Importance

With the California primary three weeks away, I received an email from a friend who was passing along an email and video link that had been sent to her.  It concerned a USA Today poll that has Republican Patrick Little in second place behind Dianne Feinstein in the open primary for the U.S. Senate.  Little is not only a Holocaust denier, but considered a neo-Nazi.  

As I wrote back to my friend, I wrote about this two weeks ago, though -- as readers here will recall -- in a slightly different context.  It's a subject I've brought up twice previously, and will again, as the primary nears, not only because it's important, but hopefully word will spread in California how Democrats can seriously impact the general election in November.
 
To be clear, as I told my friend, it’s of course horrific if Patrick Little gets the attention of being the official Republican nominee for Senate in California.  BUT – I think there’s something else to keep in mind.  In realistic terms, there is zero chance of him beating Dianne Feinstein if it comes down to those two in the general election.  Yes, I understand that no one should take anything for granted, and "Anything is Possible."  Absolutely true.  What's also true is that we it's far better to view reality clearly because then you can deal with it properly.  And Patrick Little would not beat Dianne Feinstein in California.  Two great potential Democratic challengers for Sen. Feinstein's seat -- Rep. Adam Schiff and Rep. Eric Swalwell -- pulled out of the race when she announced she'd run again, because they knew they couldn't beat her.  So Patrick Little is not beating her.  But (and this is the important part about looking at the situation realistically) having him as the official GOP nominee would be a monumentally horrific black eye to the Republican Party.  Not just in California – since it could keep some Republican voters from going to the polls, but across the country. for the entire GOP  All Republicans running (and even Republican officials who aren't candidates, but who have to answer questions about the party) will have to relentlessly defend their party for having a neo-Nazi on the ballot for U.S. Senator in California, the largest state in the union, representing the Republican Party  It would be devastating to Republicans.  Their worst nightmare in this election.  Every Republican candidate in the U.S. would have to talk about the Republican Party being the party of neo-Nazis.
 
To be clear, it’s pathetic that Patrick Little is in second place, and I hope dearly he doesn’t become a candidate.  All I’m saying (and wrote to my friend) is that people should also realize that if he does become the Republican candidate that, as absolutely horrible as it is, that is not the entire picture, and there is a massive downside to the Republican Party.
 
And that leads to the additional reason I hope he does NOT become the nominee, other than the obvious "He's a neo-Nazi" explanation.  And that, in large part, was what my earlier article was about --

There is another Democrat in the primary race, Kevin De Leon, who is the President Pro Tem of the California Senate, and he’s in third place, very close to being in second.  Since California has an "open primary," if Mr. De Leon finishes in second place, that would put two Democrats on the ballot for U.S. Senate and no Republican.  And given that it’s possible the Democratic Lt. Gov Gavin Newsom and Democratic former-Mayor of Los Angeles Anthony Villaraigosa could both be the two candidates on the ballot for governor, that would leave ZERO REPUBLICANS running for the top two races in the primary.  And that would likely drastically drive down Republican turnout in a mid-term primary with no Republicans in the two major races to vote for.  And that, in turn, could turn every close House race in California for Democrats. 

And that is the point of my "mission," about which I’ve written, will write again before the election and have told people – Democrats should vote for Kevin De Leon in the primary even if they like Dianne Feinstein.  She’s going to get nominated.  She’s SO monumentally far ahead, it’s essentially a guarantee.  But by shifting only about 10 percent of her vote to Mr. De Leon, that could make him the other nominee.  (Besides which, if the Democratic voter is liberal, De Leon is much more liberal than Feinstein.)

And with two Democrats on California's November ballot for U.S. Senate, and two Democrats on the ballot for governor, that could be seriously problematic for Republicans in the state.  And with so many House seats in California, a monumental problem for Republicans trying to maintain control of the House.

So, as I will write again before primary, I hope Democrats in California vote for Kevin De Leon in the primary