On Tom Steyer and Xavier Becerra

Have you ever heard of the "Red Billionaire"? 

His name was Jean-Baptiste Doumeng. (I'm surprised he didn't change his name from something so religious to "Vladimir" or "Josef".) He parlayed his Communist bona fides into extensive business dealings with the Soviet bloc, and making une belle centime from all of it.

Now, far be it for me to castigate the hypocrisy of a Communist billionaire. These our latter days are filled with grosser hypocrisies. But it is a rather interesting segue to the topic of today's post.

Yes, the "movement" engendered by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-For Himself) has endorsed an actual billionaire for California governor, the you-can't-turn-on-your-TV-without-seeing-him candidate Tom Steyer.

Now, full disclosure: If Steyer makes it through the jungle primary, and his opponent is one of the two leading Republicans, I will have no problem voting for him, and he will likely win. However, I do find it rich that an organization which inveighs against the perniciousness of billionaires is endorsing an actual malefactor of great wealth for the governorship of one of the most powerful governments in the world. And, of course, while Steyer seems like a perfectly decent fellow, he has—like so many of those endorsed by Sanders—no government experience. Considering what we've been subjected to for the past ten years through two Donald Trump regimes, one would think that would be a deal-breaker.

But, of course, no. Sanders and his group endorse anyone who makes the requisite ablutions before the altar of Berniehood. He makes all the right populist noises. He is, indeed, our American Monsieur Doumeng.

Again, "Our Revolution" is free to endorse who it wishes. But I do find it amusing that it consistently endorses people like Steyer, or Graham Platner, whom according to their own ideology should be anathema. For them, victory is all. And that is, indeed, the meat and potatoes of politics. But that kind of win-at-any-costs mindset leads to people like John Fetterman and Nina Turner: people who should be nowhere near any levers of influence due to their complete unsuitability for power. Having power over fellow-citizens is a heavy weight; those we choose to have that power should be chosen on more than "vibes" or on with whom we'd like to drink. 

California and the Democratic Party dodged a bullet with Eric Swalwell. Here was another white man who coasted to front-runner status based on vibes, and on his aggression against Trump on social media. Now Steyer is saying the right things that excite the likes of Our Revolution. And he's a billionaire! He gets the memo! 

Meanwhile, a new poll places former California attorney general and Obama cabinet member Xavier Becerra as second in the jungle primary. A Latino, a self-effacing soul, one running for the good of the state. Again, Tom Steyer would be fine. But is he the best we can do? Another white governor for a state which is 41% Latino? And for me, I look side-eye at anyone who gains the endorsement of the likes of Bernie Sanders. Such an endorsement is often the kiss of death. 

I will be voting for Becerra. I encourage my fellow Californians reading this blog to give him a look. He's the guy we have at the cookout who tends the grill while the host has to go attend to something else, sipping on a Tecate, entertaining a crowd around him which realizes that he is the key which makes any gathering gel. But, more to the point: He has faced down Donald Trump as California attorney general, and won. He has run one of the largest departments of the federal government. He's a public servant, and as a fellow public servant he speaks to me. We don't need a governor who will need a learning curve. And he doesn't have questionable alliances with groups which want to remake the Democratic Party into a coalition which would exclude many reading this blog. 

¡Adelante!