Antonio Villaraigosa is everything wrong with the governor's race.
Bruh, you literally have zero chance of winning.
If there is one weirdly satisfying lesson I’ve learned from the whole Truth OC experience, it’s this: Politicians are (with rare exception) egomaniacal douches.
And you may be thinking, “Bruh, how is that even slightly satisfying?”
The answer is simple. No matter how far apart left and right, MAGA and non-MAGA, east and west, north and south may seem, there are universal truths that bind us all. And one of the greatest truths is that, to seek higher office, one must have an Andre the Giant-sized ego. One must think he/she/they are The Answer. One must think nobody else can capably do the job. One must believe he/she/they is universally beloved and darn close to perfect. I’m telling you—this applies to Donald Trump, to Joe Biden, to George W. Bush, to Barack Obama, to Pete Wilson, to Gray Davis, to the majority of your local congressional members. Or, put different: I am a big Katie Porter fan. I want her to be the next governor. But what type of sane human does this?
Answer: An egomaniacal douche.
I digress.
As we speak, we are inching terrifyingly close to the June 2 gubernatorial primary, where the top two vote getters (party affiliation be damned) will advance to the general election. Last I checked, all of the polls read similarly to this …
Read it.
Read it again.
And again.
Antonio Villaraigosa is the former mayor of Los Angeles, as well as former speaker of the California State Assembly. He entered the race months ago, which was certainly his right, but it’s just never really happened for him. There has been no fire. No great moment. No rise in the polls. No, “You know who we need? Villaraigosa!!!!!”
Nope.
And I understand, to a certain degree. You’re 73. The spotlight shines on others. You’re bored. You love power. You love attention. You start thinking about one last ride in the sun. Hell, Jerry Brown had a comeback for the ages. So why not Villaraigosa? Why not Antonio? So you run your ass off. You shake hands, hold press conferences, have some shiny moments in the debates. You feel revived and refreshed and perfectly tailored for a Return of the Jedi-esque revival.
Only, eh, we’re less than a month out, and you have no shot. Even worse, there is a somewhat decent chance we wind up with two Republicans in the grand finale if Democratic voters split their votes among all the (cough) egomaniacal douches.
And you know this.
You’ve been told this. By friends. By advisors. By media members. “Antonio, you can’t win. It’s a statistical impossibility.”
But … no. You will not step aside. You will not urge your followers to back Xavier Becerra or Tom Steyer. You will not rise to the moment.
You are Joe Biden.
You are Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
You are Dianne Feinstein.
You are Antonio Villaraigosa.
You are ego.
Sadly, this is true. This is why we need term limits, age limits, and campaign finance reform. What the egomaniacs won't do for themselves, voters need to do for them. I also think the jungle primary concept is nuts when we clearly live in a 2 party system. I want an actual choice.
Katie Porter is the leader I think could do the best job. Unfortunately that doesn’t matter. I’m holding my ballot to make sure my vote goes to the D front runner, whoever that is. Bracera is as exciting as wet paper, Styer is had to trust because billions but either are better than Brexit Steve or Oath Keeper/Ballot Bandit Chad.