Kamala Harris Not the Only Willie Brown Protege to Crash and Burn on Election Day
[guest post by JVW]
Lost in the shock of last Tuesday’s results was a California-centric race which ended up being very similar to the big national race. In both cases a black woman who got her political start in Willie Brown’s San Francisco machine lost to a businessman seeking his very first elective office. San Francisco Mayor London Breed, hoping for a second full term at city hall, was defeated by Levi and Hass Family heir Daniel Lurie, who had previously run a philanthropic company. Kamala Harris, who as Vice-President to an enfeebled chief executive can be considered somewhat of an incumbent, lost her Presidential bid to Donald Trump, the deposed Chief Executive returning to the Oval Office having never held any other elective position. Writing at City Journal, Erica Sandberg explains what happened:
It’s tough to oust an incumbent but even harder when that person is part of an insular, highly protective city “family.” Breed was one of Willie Brown’s protégés. The powerful, dapper former mayor was instrumental in her success. A San Francisco native, raised in the Western Addition housing projects, Breed went into local government after college. In 2012, she won election as district supervisor, eventually rising to become president of the city’s board of supervisors. In 2019, San Franciscans elected her as the city’s 45th mayor.
Since then, the City by the Bay has taken a nosedive. Instead of recovering after the pandemic, it became emptier and sadder. Neighborhoods such as the Tenderloin and South of Market have been gritty for decades, but as the drug crisis worsened, the blight and chaos spread elsewhere.
With an approximate $16 billion annual budget and only about 810,000 residents (down from a peak of about 890,000 in 2019), shouldn’t San Francisco have plenty of money on hand to ensure a safe and vibrant environment?
The piece goes on to explain all of the many ways in which Mayor Breed courted controversy during her nearly seven years in office. Like her fellow San Franciscan hack who managed to make it within a heartbeat of the Presidency, Mayor Breed was quite adept at shifting along with the political winds, and never let herself be encumbered by anything as annoying as consistency or ethics. She went from the trendy leftism of “Defund the Police” to pushing city council to hire more officers, install more cameras, and make use of drones to combat the increases in murder, assault, larceny, and drug use that she had so recklessly enabled years earlier. When homelessness went from being a national disgrace which good people must band together and combat with lots and lots of tax dollars and plentiful public bureaucracy to being a civic disgrace where dangerous permissiveness towards teenage runaways, drug usage, and prostitution had turned sections of the city into an utter hellscape, Mayor Breed was right there to shift her positions accordingly. As Ms. Sandberg puts it in her article: “No one in city government seemed willing or able to do the hard work that residents and business owners expected. And no one in government seemed to pay a price for these failures. In the end, if you’re employed by the city, you’re family. You’re protected. Accountability is just a pretty word.”
Now that London Breed has been dismissed, there is growing optimism that San Francisco might be able to more rapidly reverse its recent misfortunes:
Lurie thus became the outsider candidate. Other mayoral hopefuls criticized his lack of direct experience in government, but this became one of his primary selling points for voters. In his first appearance as mayor-elect, Lurie promised to clean house and populate his administration with an entirely new team. This is welcome news to many, including Marie Hurabiell, founder of the community action group ConnectedSF.
“I wanted to see the corrupt city family broken apart and smashed to smithereens,” says Hurabiell. “They didn’t look out for constituents, only for themselves. They created a cabal and weren’t focused on what is best for the city. Daniel Lurie is their nightmare. He’s not controllable by insiders.”
Not everyone is so scathing in assessing the city government, but the welcoming tone for Lurie is encouraging. Marisa Rodriguez, executive director of the Union Square Alliance, appreciates the outgoing administration’s support but contends that Lurie campaigned on a strong message about helping the downtown finally recover. “I am feeling very optimistic for our future,” she says.
There’s a fella headed back to Washington DC who learned the hard way that it isn’t easy to smash the machine. Some of it certainly was because he was undisciplined and failed to prepare for how strongly they would fight his efforts, but much of it was the tenacity and ruthlessness with which deeply embedded bureaucrats fight for their fiefdoms. Hopefully both Mr. Trump and Mr. Lurie have their eyes wide open to the daunting task ahead of them and will approach this crusade with strategic planning, Stoic discipline, and grim determination. San Francisco is a beautiful city with a rich history and so many amazing natural advantages that it has been painful to me to see it decline so rapidly over the nearly 30 years I have lived in this state. Maybe this is the moment that a new Breed (sorry, couldn’t help myself) of civic leaders starts repairing the damage.
– JVW
The original title of the post was going to be “Kamala Harris Not the Only Willie Brown Protege to Go Down on Election Day,” but fortunately I realized why that wouldn’t have been appropriate.
JVW (9e8c4b) — 11/11/2024 @ 4:32 pmFirst, that was very ironic and funny, JVW.
Second (and off topic), is this for real?
https://nypost.com/2024/11/11/opinion/fempata-outrage-heralds-trumps-coming-government-reforms/
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 11/11/2024 @ 5:15 pmArticle’s been pulled so … probably not?
SaveFarris (fd1535) — 11/11/2024 @ 5:18 pmhttps://nypost.com/2024/11/11/opinion/fema-outrage-heralds-trumps-coming-government-reforms/
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 11/11/2024 @ 5:34 pmYeah Simon Jester, I’ve noticed that second-tier conservative media is really big on this story that FEMA targeted Trump households and told agents to avoid serving them. I read too that this bureaucrat, Marni Washington, who allegedly told FEMA employees to skip Trump neighborhoods claims that she is being scapegoated and that the reason some neighborhoods were passed over is because many residents made threats to FEMA employees safety. I’m not sure if I believe that, but I guess she’ll end up in a Congressional hearing probably having to recount that tale under oath.
I don’t know what to believe any longer.
JVW (9e8c4b) — 11/11/2024 @ 5:40 pmSimon,
that article must feel like Deja Vu for you considering the University you work at. Leftists can say and do the most outrageous things and be unpunished. But you need to walk on eggshells, do you not?
NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/11/2024 @ 5:55 pmWith all the why-they-voted-Trump stories that are now oozing out from behind the MSM firewall, I’m wondering whether we are seeing the beginning of a preference cascade. One that the MSM tried to stifle in service to Harris’ campaign.
Is California going to see a pendulum swing back? Is Newsom frantic in his attempts to man the barricades?
The next year should be interesting.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/11/2024 @ 5:55 pmJVW,
they have her messages to her underlings to avoid houses with Trump banners. It’s pretty straightforward.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/11/2024 @ 5:56 pmthey have her messages to her underlings to avoid houses with Trump banners. It’s pretty straightforward.
Right. But she’s going to claim that it had more to do with threats received from people in that vicinity than it had to do with Trump. And having witnessed the whole Lois Lerner situation, it won’t surprise me at all if she wiggles out of it.
JVW (9e8c4b) — 11/11/2024 @ 6:01 pmAs I said before, since the general election in California didn’t produce any surprises in the Senate (Schiff +18 points) or presidential (Harris +21) races, I would say no, though it depends what Republicans will run for governor. If, as in the past, a sacrificial candidate runs, then it will be business as usual. If a self-financed charismatic candidate runs with innovative policy ideas, then maybe.
I would bet on the former, however.
Rip Murdock (36978f) — 11/11/2024 @ 6:10 pmLerner did exactly what we said she did. All you are saying is the left protects their own.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/11/2024 @ 6:15 pmIf there is a political shift in California, it would show up in the registration numbers. Right now the Republicans are way underwater:
Republicans have a lot of work to do to get their numbers up.
Rip Murdock (e6a8e0) — 11/11/2024 @ 6:23 pm11, I think the R field will be cleared (or have a very niche candidate) for Nicole Shanahan, unless she is appointed to a longer scope post in the upcoming administration. Or does she not meet your eye test with regard to innovative policy ideas?
urbanleftbehind (397697) — 11/11/2024 @ 6:41 pmI would say no, though it depends what Republicans will run for governor.
Have you heard that some bitterly disappointed leftists now want Kamala Harris to run for Governor of California when Greasy Gavin is term-limited out? What a laugh fest that would be! It would be especially hilarious if she Wally Pipped poor Eleni Kounalakis who has been patiently waiting her turn to become the first female governor of the Golden State.
JVW (9e8c4b) — 11/11/2024 @ 6:49 pmShe certainly can self-finance, but the only “innovative” policy ideas I’ve heard are being an anti-vax/anti-IVF. Not sure how that will play in California’s jungle primary. After she was named to RFKJr’s ticket she virtually disappeared from the campaign trail, something she wouldn’t be able to do while running for governor.
And endorsing Trump also wouldn’t go over well with the majority of voters.
Rip Murdock (36978f) — 11/11/2024 @ 6:54 pmWhat are her “innovative” solutions (meaning “thinking out of the box”) to the problems that plague California: crime, poverty, education, health care, housing, deteriorating environmental conditions, etc.? Her positions on these issues are unknown.
Rip Murdock (36978f) — 11/11/2024 @ 7:30 pmWho?
Rip Murdock (36978f) — 11/11/2024 @ 7:32 pmJust kidding, I know who “poor Eleni Kounalakis” is. It just that no one outside of political junkies know who she is. Lt Governor, right?
🤣🤣🤣
Rip Murdock (36978f) — 11/11/2024 @ 7:36 pmCalifornia is hard to fix. Even though a good % of those “no preference” voters are republicans who don’t want to be outed as such:
(1), Union agreements dictate how many overtime hours are “needed” to do a one man, one-hour job, and how many workers to do it;
(2), state law requires that once a job is filled by a “member of the bargaining unit,” it can never be filled by anyone else: e.g., library aides: in a tight budget year, no parent can be a volunteer library aide if a union member once filled that job; etc.
(3) millions of 9-4:30 union workers are impossible to dislodge: shadow people to make sure that housed homeless take their meds; union workers doing some kind of work on the “bullet train” that has yet to lay a mile of track. etc.
Democrats play for keeps. Transient do-gooders, “enterprise zone” and other “soft” republicans come and go. Elon Musk can come and go: California state government was happy to see him go ( i was sad-what a loss);
You know what lasts in Detroit despite the decay? And in Oakland? And SF? And in DT LA? Unionized city workers. Nice people individually. But you can forget getting anything done (yes I once held a union job–loved the people. But ..)
Harcourt Fenton Mudd (944a36) — 11/11/2024 @ 7:42 pm16: I’d take her over any of the pre-packaged, tedious, “look at my binders of position papers” candidates from either party. Seriously, the “what are her positions?” approach sounds like Delta President Robert Hoover trying to make a speech while assuming Dean Wormer’s good faith, and still oblivious to the fact that the deck is stacked.
Harcourt Fenton Mudd (944a36) — 11/11/2024 @ 7:45 pmNJRob #6…
Oh my goodness, yes. It’s one reason I am retiring in a year. I’m tired of eggshell walking, exhausted by student fragility (promoted by institutions), irritated by jargon straight out of 1920s Russia, and despondent over the future of higher education.
Simon Jester (28f934) — 11/11/2024 @ 9:33 pmIt just that no one outside of political junkies know who she is. Lt Governor, right?
Yes. And she has announced her intention to run for governor in 2026. She is from wealth, born into a Sacramento real estate developer family and she ended up as the family company’s CEO. This afforded her with the financial security to pursue “public service” jobs, first as an appointee in San Francisco and Sacramento commissions and then later as Obama’s ambassador to Hungary. She parlayed support from both the Washington DC and Sacramento wealthy and connected elite to beat some hack state senator to win the Lt. Gov. position. She has all of the twee gentry progressive positions that most wealthy Democrats (Newsom, Pelosi, Boxer, etc.) have but she has interestingly enough been very quiet in office and does not call attention to herself at all. I guess she feels that by lying low she can just emerge as the default candidate for the party regulars and win on the strength of that. But I do think it leaves her vulnerable to a celebrity candidate like a Kamala Harris.
JVW (9e8c4b) — 11/11/2024 @ 10:06 pmMs. Breed’s loss feels like nature healing itself, where there’s the possibility that the rank nuttiness in the city could reverse.
Paul Montagu (509661) — 11/11/2024 @ 10:17 pmNicole Shanahan has no chance of being elected governor in a state where 46% of the electorate identify as Democrats, and where Schiff and Harris each received nearly 60% of the vote. Republicans would need to grow their 25% share exponentially to be competitive in two years.
Rip Murdock (36978f) — 11/11/2024 @ 10:17 pmBetter link for post 24.
Rip Murdock (36978f) — 11/11/2024 @ 10:20 pmBetween October 2004 and October 2024 Republican registration in California declined from 34.7% to 25%.
Rip Murdock (36978f) — 11/11/2024 @ 10:32 pmRepublicans have a lot of work to do to get their numbers up.
Indeed. But Newsom and the Democrats are doubling down on exactly the things that failed nationally.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/11/2024 @ 11:23 pmNicole Shanahan
The woman who slept with Musk while married to Sergey Brin? Now there’s good judgement.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/11/2024 @ 11:24 pmObviously, California politics are different from national politics; otherwise we would have seen the election of Steve Garvey and Donald Trump receiving California’s electoral votes.
Good thing for California that the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is not in force. 😉
Rip Murdock (36978f) — 11/12/2024 @ 7:11 amGood thing for California that the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is not in force.
Good thing for the nation, as we would still be waiting for CA’s results.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/12/2024 @ 7:30 amActually, no, since California’s votes weren’t necessary for Trump’s election.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/12/2024 @ 8:52 amShe earned her money the old fashioned way.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/12/2024 @ 9:04 amJVW (#5):
It’s pretty clear there is evidence this FEMA administrator gave the order to skip Trump houses:
https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-fema-official-ordered-relief-workers-to-skip-houses-with-trump-signs
(Article has pictures of an I-phone message)
I believe she has been fired. I have also not seen anything else showing that any other FEMA bureaucrat gave those orders.
Appalled (4df434) — 11/12/2024 @ 9:20 amhttps://x.com/TheDailyID/status/1856170598562463982
She claims it’s the government’s protocol to avoid homes where they openly support the president-elect.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/12/2024 @ 10:41 am#34 Love to see a transcript of that show. (Don’t care to watch 30 minutes of embittered idiot saying whatever.) She might be telling the truth (scandal) or lying to protect herself (hardly unusual)
Appalled (4df434) — 11/12/2024 @ 11:26 amThis was in connection with contacting people and telling them they could apply for help.
It could be it is true this was because the reaction of some people was to treat them like Ronald Reagan said were people who would hurt you: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
Still, even if true, you cannot generalize how you will be treated based on yard signs. So she was fired. It would be like not delivering the mail where there was a sign saying “Beware of dog” Even if her excuse was true.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/12/2024 @ 4:09 pmPossible title of movie based on the career of Kamala Harris:
featuring as a foiled rival: Kimberly Gilfoyle.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/12/2024 @ 4:39 pm