In Reply to: Steyer vs Beccera vs Porter: I'm surprised posted by blindness on April 22, 2026 at 10:57:15
I've been calling them "Corporatist Democrats," and over the years I've become more and more disillusioned with them. Frankly, even people I've greatly admired, including both Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and most Democratic members of Congress, are corporatist (centrist) democrats.
In 2004 and 2008, I voted for Dennis Kucinich in the Democratic primary elections for President. I even called myself a "Kucinich Democrat," and went to a couple of local rallies and made donations. In 2016, I voted for Hillary Clinton, hoping for another groundbreaking nominee and president, after 8 years of a groundbreaking president. Still, I had to hold my nose a little to cast those votes, because of the centrist/corporatist aspect. In 2020, my primary vote went to Elizabeth Warren.
As for Bernie Sanders, well, despite my agreement with almost everything he says and stands for, I couldn't bring myself to vote for him. I believed that his personality would be so grating that he'd never be able to get anything done.
So that brings us to the current California race for governor. As you brought up, Becerra seems very much like a typical centrist/corporatist democrat. I like him, but I want someone to keep shaking things up, as Newsom has brilliantly done. During the very first debate, last month I think, I was impressed by Tony Thurmond, and even by some of what Anthony Villaraigosa had to say. (Betty Yee seemed out of her league.) I was really disappointed that Katie Porter wasn't there, with no explanation, I heard, as I had high hopes for her as the person who could succeed Newsom and continue shaking things up.
So yes, it's unfortunate that Porter has campaigned as a centrist and not a true progressive, which we had good reason to think she was based on her awesome performances during Congressional hearings.
As for Steyer, I don't have an inherent bias against billionaires like you expressed, but I do worry about the lack of any actual governmental experience. OTOH, he's been an activist and, as his commercials tout, he tackled some important issues for the benefit of Californians.
Still, I have no idea who I will vote for. Like you, I thought Porter was the obvious choice, but it seems that she no longer is. Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to kind of expound on the theme. :-)