As I am sure you know by now, the Recall vote was defeated. Notice I did not say the Recall itself was defeated—that was, and will continue to be, a powerful movement, and a huge success. For the first time in decades, Californians from Northern to Southern were brought together and worked together over issues that concerned them exclusively, and not over a certain candidate or a divisive point of partisanship. We were brought together over animus towards a governor who has failed us and betrayed the public trust. This Recall movement gathered 2.1 million signatures, the most in any statewide initiative ever in the history of the United States. Over 1.7 million of those signatures were verified. This could not have happened unless people were unified with the one goal to remove this governor.

So, the fact that we did not succeed on the Recall vote, while disheartening, is in no way demoralizing. Despite the armchair analysis from the usual suspects (many of whom do not live in the state) and by the pundit class who get paid whether they’re right or wrong, we are still enervated and motivated. We will not stop calling this governor out on his failure and corruption, and we will not stop until we see California restored to proper governance, sound living, and policies that work for the people of the state, not the special interests.

What Newsom and his Democrat cohorts wanted to happen was to crush the Recall movement. Along with their rampant gaslighting, they presented Newsom and themselves as an all-powerful, unified force. Their propaganda machine also wants the nation to think that this is what voters want, which could not be further from the truth.

This Democrat super majority is a unified force, and they have an entire state and national infrastructure that they use at their disposal; particularly for His Hairfulness. But, they are not all-powerful. As to what the voters want, truth be told, what the majority of California voters want is to live their lives and be left alone. That is something these progressive Democrats have no desire to do, so many citizens have come to realize that they have to get engaged and push back against this government’s need for constant control, increasing taxation, and perpetual bad policies that disenfranchise people. But certain factions presented this Recall as a choice between the devil you know and an unknown element vs. lifting of tyrannical rule in order to choose self-governance.

Newsom and the Democrat’s Achilles heel is that, like Thanos, they assume they are inevitable. They also think they are infallible. But as the good book says, “Pride comes before destruction.”

This Recall revealed this much: Newsom and his one-man rule is vulnerable and capable of falling. While the movement did not have the time, financial prowess, or national infrastructure at its disposal, it did have the organization, the citizen leadership, and the motivation. It was these three elements that allowed us to come so close to felling this governor. We are all still heartened by this, and will continue to use it to fuel the coming battles until we win.

.I'm more determined than ever to keep politicians in California accountable. I am proud of the #RecallNewsom campaign.
Stay tuned.#Economy2022

— Randy Economy (@EconomyRadio) September 15, 2021

One factor which, had it not occurred, would have given the Recall movement a different outcome was the entrance of Larry Elder into the Recall race. Elder pretty much foisted himself on a movement that already had tremendous lift, and had no partisan leanings. In fact, attacks by Newsom to try to paint it as a “Republican Recall” and a “California Coup” were failing, partly due to the fact that it excluded and offended the Democrats and the No Party Preference voters who had signed the petition and wanted their voices heard.

Enter Elder, whose entrance was incredibly poorly timed. It detracted from the powerful image of statewide unity, no matter what the political leanings. In my opinion, Elder made the Recall election all about him and not about the Recall movement that presented him with the opportunity to run, and did us all a disservice by handing Newsom and his party the fodder they needed to animate their base.

With the help of a complicit legacy media, the progressives flooded the zone: painting the Recall as a referendum on Trumpism as opposed to a referendum on Governor Hair Gel. Elder was too focused on generating money and cultivating his own press to put up any credible opposition or to trumpet the Recall’s goals.

Elder also failed to engage the grassroots who began the movement. It is a show of respect that you acknowledge the people who created the ground on which you get to run for governor. Elder blew the grassroots off on several occasions, choosing to raise money with donors and his own special interests. Elder chose to participate in big rallies at megachurches. Because evangelicals, just like a lot of us, are distracted by megachurch prowess and bright, shiny objects, rather than legitimate issues and how they can be solved.

A second factor was Newsom’s “homegrown team,” the complicit California media which called the results after polls had been closed for less than an hour. It’s media malpractice at its worst that you call a race while people are still standing in line waiting to vote—and reports on the ground said this was indeed the case in certain counties.

While holding off reporting may not have affected the ultimate outcome, it would also have not given the illusion of a complete blowout and a sweeping mandate. It is neither. Newsom is still a horrible governor with a terrible record and overreaching policies. But for some, knowing what they are dealing with is more tolerable than having to deal with someone new. And if that new was a candidate like Larry Elder, it made things even more uncertain. We already live in times of uncertainty, so the legacy media’s focus on one controversial candidate out of a slate of 46 only served to increase this.

The last, but certainly not final factor, is that shenanigans did occur as was reported here, and here. Many people reported other instances to the California GOP and other outlets that were watching to guard the integrity of this Recall election. But, this will never be a quick fix, and the challenge before the election was driving voters to turn out. The Democrat Party has invested years in putting their infrastructure in place in California, and it will take years to dismantle. Any credible investigation and demands for accountability can work toward eroding that infrastructure, and maintaining the fight will allow us to ultimately put a wrecking ball to it.

The American Revolutionary War lasted for eight years and took many major battles, and major defeats to break the grip of the tyrant King George III.

If you look at the major battles that shaped the war, the 1776 Battle of Long Island (or Battle of Brooklyn) is one to look at. The British had taken New York, the Continental Army was roundly defeated, and the British were about to trap General George Washington and force a surrender. But Washington was able to slip through and retreat. Lots of battles were lost between then and Trenton, including the defeat at Brandywine, where the British were able to overthrow Philadelphia. Washington finally regrouped in New Jersey, and mounted an attack at the Battle of Trenton, which he won. This battle, and a subsequent victory at the Battle of Saratoga are seen by many historians as the two pivotal battles that changed the course of the war.

Had Washington retreated completely after the Battle of Brooklyn, and not regrouped to fight another day, we would not be living in the United States of America. We would still be British subjects.

Those of us in California plan to continue this fight. We are regrouping and preparing for our Trenton. We know there are battles in between to fight, and we will use what we learned here to continue to wage war, and ultimately to win.

Movements of historic significance rarely achieve a total triumph on the first attempt. They also rarely come as close as we did. A month ago polls showed a tie.

Rest up, relax, recharge, and get ready. The fight for California's future has only just begun.

— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) September 15, 2021