Eight reasons to vote for Prop 50 today

Seriously, don't stay home. Don't assume it's a given. Get off the couch and vote.

So today is a big day in California’s efforts to plunge a knife into Trump’s block of authoritarian gerbil excrement. Why? Because it’s Election Day—which means everyone (literally everyone) reading this needs to vote for Prop 50, the depressingly necessary redistricting effort that the GOP loathes for obvious reasons.

And if you require motivation … like, if democracy’s demise isn’t enough for you and yours, here are eight authentic reasons why one needs to vote for Proposition 50 …

1. Fuck Donald Trump: Seriously, fuck him, fuck his power grab, fuck Stephen Miller, fuck Pam Bondi, fuck Russell Vought, fuck unchecked power and fuck Project 2025. Fuck their stupid ideas and their loathing of democracy. Fuck them.

2. This is Gavin Newsom’s baby, and—as we speak—our governor has been throwing nonstop punches at the GOP’s master plan: Not that long ago, I was very much a, “Gavin can’t win the presidency” dude. Too slick. Too opportunistic. Too … California. That no longer applies. He’s a top-of-the-list candidate, and Prop 50 winning can only help his cause. Why? Because now, more than ever, we need a leader who can galvanize a movement.

3. I’m here to watch Ken Calvert and Young Kim carve each other up: If Prop 50 passes, CA-40 becomes significantly harder for Democrats. Hell, I expect a good number of our candidates to drop out by week’s end. But … with the district realignment, a newly configured 40th would extend from western Riverside County to eastern Orange County. That means Calvert’s CA-41 and Young Kim’s CA-40 (about a third) would morph largely into one. And that means either a Republican steps aside, or the two bobs go all Hulk Hogan-Andre the Giant on one another.

4. It sets the stage for Lisa Ramirez to test a theory: The immigration attorney is, in a revamped 40th, most certainly the Democratic Party’s best bet to maybe/possibly/if chips fall the right way steal a win. How? Immigration. As we speak, an endless conga line of Latinos are being rounded up by ICE agents. Do you hear Young Kim complaining? No. How about Calvert? No. Hell, they love it. I believe (perhaps naively) that with every passing day, more and more Latino voters can be wooed. The new 40th will be more than 20 percent Latino. Ramirez is the wise Democratic candidate to at least try for an improbable steal.

5. I want to see Will O’Neill’s tears: The chairman of the Orange County GOP (AKA: “The Rich Dude with Good Hair”) has shown literally no interest in democracy’s demise—except for Prop 50, which he is very much against. Because … eh … um … it’s … wrong! Really wrong! Terribly wrong! It’s all bullshit. Once upon a time, when Donald Trump was just a fake rich dude with a TV show, O’Neill was, I believe, a relatively decent chap who—Hey, what do I have to lose?—sold his soul to MAGA.

6. It sends a message: This, to me, is profoundly important. If Prop 50 passes, and Abigail Spanberger wins in Virginia, and Mikie Sherrill wins in New Jersey, and Zohran Mamdani wins in New York City, the plummeting-in-the-polls Trump looks weaker and weaker and weaker. I do, truly, feel like something has snapped these past few weeks, and folks are finally starting to wake up. The economy is in shambles. Terrifying masked Nazis grab folks off streets. The White House is being demolished. On and on.

   A big Democratic night can only boost the anti-GOP sway.

7. It’s a reminder that the right thing isn’t always easy: What I mean is, that we need a Prop 50 sucks. It sucks, it sucks, it sucks. Nobody is happy about it. Nobody thinks this is a wonderful moment for America. But sometimes, shit is complicated and uncomfortable. Sometimes you go against your happiness to preserve a principle. That’s the case here. Vote Prop 50 with your nose clogged, if you must. But vote for it.

8. Tupac would be all for the shit: Seriously, he would be. The man hated corporate greed, hated consolidation of power, hated people like Trump and Elon Musk who took, took, took and took. So do it for the subject of my latest book. Thug life, baby.

   Thug life!