I expected someone to say this. You're comparing apples and oranges. Traditionally, primaries are usually lighter turn-out (and yes, in general the turn-out numbers of registered Republicans overall is a problem here in any election), based on what I've seen from both parties it's usually about half the number of registered voters will vote in a primary.
Comparing the 3.5M votes to Steve's 1.7M (so far) isn't a fair measurement, but based on this I would expect/hope he gets over 5M votes, based on taking @ChadBianco 's voters from this primary and adding them to Steve and then doubling it. Had Chad dropped out, as he should have, I am fairly sure Steve would have been above 2.2M voters for sure. In a Primary. That is hopeful.
Regardless, I'm just saying: I was a supporter of Larry's. I voted for him. I wasn't excited about him except initially, but as soon as I saw how he campaigned I thought, "Well, still ... anyone other than Newsom or another Democrat hack. Surely people will do the right thing and get rid of Newsom".
But Larry's campaign was appalling in my opinion. This isn't a personal attack, it's feedback, and if you defend the campaign or are in the CAGOP leadership and didn't learn anything by the failure of it other than, "The odds were against us" then there isn't much hope in this state. Frankly the number of TXT messages I get, I'm not sure why I'm even registered as a Republican anyway.
But yes, I too absolutely blame the CAGOP for the lack of support in 2021 (and their lack of clear support now for Steve Hilton). They failed to promote Larry and they're failing to promote Steve, but the difference is Steve is running an exceptional campaign with media, debate, team members, verbalizing his ideas and vision, etc. I heard *nothing* as remotely concrete to this from Larry (sorry)
Another way to look at it: in 2021 there were 5.3M registered Republicans. So Larry got let's say 66% of the Republican vote (I would guess though, it was probably a lot of independents in the mix as well). Why didn't more people vote? It's an off-year special election, but also, IMHO, he just wasn't an exciting candidate at all. Plus people were hunkered down with COVID from this God-awful repressive state.
Still, yes.. the changes are slim in general based on the ratios that Steve (or any Republican) will win, as people will see Becerra as someone new and safely on "their" side. But that's kind of my point.. Larry had an exceptional chance to win the state given how awful everyone thought Newsom was at the time. Still, who knows.. I see Steve Hilton campaigning everywhere, not just Republican strongholds. Odds aren't great, but anything could happen.
One interesting side note ... I had grok build a table and based on these numbers, it actually looks like our numbers are increasing while Democrats are declining over the same period. That gives me quite a bit of hope, but in order for a Republican to win the state a candidate will need to get as many of the independents as possible. I feel like with the way things are going, more and more people are waking up to how badly this state is constantly turning people over and shaking the coin and bills out of the pockets of all classes with little benefit in return. We're sick of the high costs in this state but also the amount of nickel and dime'ing from our leadership class in Sacramento.
Me either. Not for me, but for what my kids had to endure, while fucking Gavin Newsom goes on tv to "apologize" like a smiling psychopath (all while his kids attended in-person school in Sacramento, unlike mine). Nancy Pelosi and her salon visit. All these baffoons unmasked at a football game. Screw every last one of them. I will never forget what they did.
He deserves every bit of the value he's created across so many world-changing, engineering feats.
Plus, if he never sells his shares, which he's said he doesn't plan on selling anything, he's only a trillionaire on paper. Sure, he can borrow against his shares and probably does to survive but it's not like he has mega yachts and jaunts out to Caribbean islands. The dude just works and works and works. Good for him.
@AVGirl4Life For the true Leftists, I think Venus would be nice. I'd even be nice enough to give them a spacesuit, which would give them at least a few seconds of survivability.
I didn't see him campaign nearly at all, compared to Steve Hilton. While I agree with almost 100% of Larry's conservative principles, that wasn't going to win an election -- he needed to be on the attack against Newsom and especially what had happened during COVID. It was absolutely his for the winning, but I didn't get a sense he wanted to win at all from everything I heard him say.
There also was no friendliness in his speaking. I don't think he tried to come across as likable. Compared to Steve Hilton, who is doing a fantastic job in a ridiculously tight race, his goals and plan is solid and definable. What was Larry going to do differently from Newsom? "everything" isn't an answer. Generalized conservative points like school choice and anti-lockdown things isn't enough, he had to make the case for why those things are important better than what California had.
Then the scandal attacks happened. it should have been anticipated and handled way better.
Anyway, the GOP is a mess in this state overall. They couldn't even decide to nominate Steve over Chad and so of course voters will be split. There's no messaging at ALL, it just seems like a private club where they're happy rubbing shoulders but they don't actually want to win because, I think, they don't actually think they _can_ win against the Democrat machine in this state.
When Trump campaigned in 2020, there were rolling Trump Trains in the state. I saw things I never thought I would see, especially with Latino voters supporting him (and in 2024). When it comes down to it, I don't think the GOP candidates have a great strategy to win the right voters in this state at all. And every day we don't, more and more people leave the state and the demographics get worse for future chances.
We'll see what happens with this upcoming election but I'm sorry ... I liked Larry as a person, I liked what he said on the radio and I thought he was going to have a clean sweep. Newsom was as weak as he's ever been, showing everyone over the past few years what type of character he had. Larry should have attacked him like no other and called out every difference. If you asked a person on the street right now what Larry's campaign was about or how he was different from anyone else, I bet you no one would have any idea what to say. unmemorable.
And if I come across as angry, it's because I am. I *hate* Newsom. That guy affected my family, businesses, our church, every aspect in life. And the psychopath sat there smiling, even when he was caught doing bad things. I wanted to see him taken DOWN.
@BillboardChris First time donator here .. so happy to be able to contribute to your campaign, Chris. Your UN speech was epic. Principled, empathetic, reasoned and logical. Absolutely winning.
@larryelder You ran an absolutely terrible campaign against Gavin Newsom, we don't really need any negativity from you.
Pratt did what you should have done. Even with cheating that went on, Gavin Newsom was ripe for being recalled and you failed.
Yup understood, it's all dirty strategy. I'd still like to think the people who voted for her (or Karen Bass for that matter) have some sort of mental retardation. Because .. why? What have they ever done? Why don't people want *real* radical change? can they actually be happy with the way things are going in LA?
@paxtrader777 I took a long on $NQ at 10am up to target, biggest trade I've done, was beautiful. I wish I had enough time to continue but walkes away from the charts. My God what a beautiful day it would have been.
@kelly_ques The English Patient.
Because it was so bad, I wished for the sweet release of death by morphine myself to escape the hell that was that movie.
I'm also thinking about this, @amazon .. not just because of the Stargate fiasco but also b/c:
* Prime membership keeps getting more and more expensive for no reason or added value (It was $129.71/yr in 2019, jumped up to $151.68 in 2023. That's a 16% increase right when times were hard due to COVID. Why? Greedy much, Amazon??)
* Most movies on Prime are for pay, the minority of content is included with membership. Again... what am I paying for with $151/yr? Faster shipping? Ability to return crappy products which are shit from China?
* No benefits to being a long-term member. I've been a member of Amazon since 1999. That's 27 years of loyalty.
@OC_Scanner Also how do they know the total number of outstanding balots if they're uncoumted, unless they already know what is in them? Maybe they had boxes of pre-filled ballots waiting. you know..
sort of a "break glass" scenario. Just saying...