Yes, I know Larry Elder is "old news" by now. He attempted to become California's governor through the failed recall election last month. However, I didn't have time to blog my thoughts on Larry Elder when the results came in, and I still want to document them now.
I first heard of Larry Elder back in the year 2000. At the time, I was between my freshman and sophomore years in college. At the time, I was really interested in learning more about the alternatives to the Democratic and Republican Parties, as well as the alternative to the right-wing & left-wing political philosophies.
At the time, Larry Elder identified as a libertarian. He hasn't yet evolved into the right-wing conservative Republican that people know him as now.
In fact, in his 1st book that came out in the year 2000, "The Ten Things You Can't Say in America", one of those 10 things was "Republicans and Democrats - Maybe a Dime's Worth of Difference". So basically, he was saying those parties aren't really that different from each other. He encouraged readers to take a look into the Libertarian Party.
St. Martin's Press
Larry Elder's book "The Ten Things You Can't Say in America"
The other parts of the book gave a libertarian perspective on economics, health policy, drug policy, and gun policy. He also talked about the importance of fathers and how absent fathers cause psychological harm to the children who are more likely to become negative statistics.
However, the part of the book that got the most controversy was the chapter that stated that "Blacks are more racists than Whites". Elder, who is an African-American from South Central LA, stated in that chapter that you can't blame racism for every problem, white racism was declining, and we make too many excuses for black bigots. All this was written when the 1992 LA riots and the OJ Simpson case were still fresh in people's minds.
Larry Elder was called an "Uncle Tom" and "sellout" by those who felt that any African-American who didn't toe the far-left line was disloyal to the black community.
I never like the idea that all those of non-European ancestries should all be far-left. But I also never liked the far-right, especially when many of them were religious fanatics and anti-immigrant.
In fact, at the time, Larry Elder was pro-immigrant and pro-choice.
But because Larry Elder kept beefing with left-wing activists, he eventually became more right-wing. Also, 9/11 happened and he distanced himself from the pacifism common among libertarians.
In his next book, "Showdown", published in 2003, Elder basically declared that he is now a right-wing Republican.
St. Martin's Press
Larry Elder's book "Showdown"
And since then, from his articles he posted online, there were less criticisms from him about the nation's militarized war on drugs, he now becomes more strict about illegal immigration, and he expressed sympathy for the pro-life movement. He defended US military adventures in Iraq.
He still occasionally wrote a profound editorial on the necessity of good fathers, and sometimes, his critique of left-wing activists still lands. But his once-libertarian soul became compromised to the point where he became just another average Republican.
And anytime a Republican said or did something controversial, his response was "but this Democrat said this, and this Democrat did that". He became the king of what-about-isms.
This really became a problem when Donald Trump became the Republican nominee and then the president in 2016.
Trump symbolized the worst instincts of right-wing Republicans. He started his campaign demonizing Latine & Muslim immigrants, had multiple sexual assault allegations, and violated free-market economics when it suited him. A real libertarian would never want to be associated with a guy like that.
As for Larry Elder? More what-about-isms! More of the "but this Democrat said this, and this Democrat did that" to distract from the fact that Trump is a repulsive racist, rapist, fascist and a con artist.
Trump is now gone from public office.
But Elder's constant pandering to Trump supporters poisoned whatever chance he had to become California's governor.
Larry Elder from his pro-libertarian days might've had a better chance to be California's governor.
I mean, the incumbent Gavin Newsom had his weakness. He was caught hosting a maskless dinner when he imposed restrictions on gatherings for the general public. Crime, homelessness, and the cost of living were going up. People were losing patience with the radical left and their "abolish the police" attitude. In 2020, the people of California voted against affirmative action, basically saying people should be hired on merit and not for diversity quota points. The 2000 version of Larry Elder could've won this!
But 2021 Larry Elder's sympathy with the anti-mask, anti-vax-mandate crowd wasn't popular with California voters. It would've worked in the red states, but not California.
Also, there were other reasons that California voters had no interest in voting for Larry Elder
- allegations that he threatened his ex-girlfriend with a gun (the case never went to court)
- mentoring student activist Stephen Miller, who later become Trump's advisor passionate about restricting immigration
- claims that undocumented immigrants took jobs away from African-Americans
- ending birthright citizenship for children born in the US to undocumented immigrants
- statements favoring employers asking female job applicants if they plan to become pregnant in the near future.
- his claims that feminists exaggerate incidents of domestic violence and sexual assault
In the era of #metoo, this wasn't going to work. In the era of increased activism among Latines, this wasn't going to work.
It especially wouldn't work in California.
And it wouldn't work even when far-left activists act unreasonable.
And Gavin Newsom, with all his faults, isn't a far-left activist, he's just another corporate Democrat, the type of Democrat that usually gets elected in California (and most other places where Democrats get elected).
Larry Elder could've presented a reasonable & moderate pro-market, semi-libertarian, pro-meritocracy, and pro-law-and-older alternative. That's what Arnold Schwarzenegger did when ran & won in 2003.
But Larry Elder sold his once-libertarian soul to gain favor among right-wing conservatives. And for that, he lost! Sad!
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