isn't an option for me. The fight has barely started.

...I just think we are going to have to be consistently, aggressively vocal about all of this.

I'm not convinced that a majority of people really understand ALL of the things Republicans are trying to pull.

It seemed like, in 2020, voters felt a sense of urgency and danger and voted to defeat Trump.

Then the "mainstream media" changed.

Most DUers probably know that a pair of right-wing billionaire zealots, David Zaslav and John Malone, are personally responsible for CNN's shift to "Fox News Lite" and the constant flow of Republican guests spewing the current talking points.

And it's inevitable that Republicans will stage their own P.R. campaign to "sell" the public on why it's OK for Republicans to do this in Texas but not OK for Democrats to do it in California. We know that's how they operate.

So when I say I don't depend on voters, I'm not throwing in the towel. I'm just saying that we can't take anything for granted, and that if the media won't do their jobs, people like us may very well have to do it for them.

In fact, if the press would do its job Newsom wouldn't have to employ such attention seeking tactics. But they won't and so he does.

ones who started this.

the former AG of the state and the former CA Senator. No way blue CA wouldn't support her!

with more details about how blue CA is and how we have the advantage here. I remember seeing all kinds of handwringing here when Newsom was recalled and it was all a joke built up by the far rightwing and the media. I even see people citing that recall now as a weakness of Newsom's although he beat it easily

It wasn’t even close

I’m feeling optimistic.

We’ve been brutalized by Trump and ICE and MAGAGOP thugs in general. Farmers on the Coast are looking at fields empty of workers. Businesses that count on day laborers are hurting badly. It goes on and on. The Central Valley where much food is grown for the country is hurting for water because millions of gallons were released from their reservoir during major fires in the Los Angeles region by orders of an orange idiot who has zero idea of California geography. It goes on and on.

Did I mention that the finest university system in the nation (UC) is being blackmailed by Trump?

We have plenty of Republicans in this state — but they are hurting too and they just need to be reminded of why.

...I'm just saying that I'm taking nothing for granted in the wake of 2024 voter turnout.

And, as people have pointed out here, yes...California voters were there for Harris in November.

I was thinking more of national voter turnout in 2024, and the media manipulation I described above.

I'm just still feeling the burn from 90,000,000 Americans sitting out last November.

I'm not saying this can't or won't happen. I'm saying the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and that we can't let Fox, Newsmax, CNN, and maybe half of MSNBC be the squeaky wheels.

(I gave up Sling TV very shortly after last November, so I have no idea who's currently held in high regard there beyond Maddow, Wallace, and O'Donnell).