‘Trump’s reign of terror must end’: California Democrats plot national return to power | California

Anger at Donald Trump was the currency of the realm as thousands of California delegates, activists and elected officials gathered in San Francisco this weekend, emboldened by a string of victories and confident that the Golden State would help give the president a grip on power in the upcoming midterm elections.

On Saturday, Democrats flocked to the Moscone Center convention complex sporting lanyards emblazoned with Gavin Newsom’s name and tote bags emblazoned with one of Nancy Pelosi’s favorite aphorisms: “We don’t suffer, we organize” — symbols of a party in transition, with the former speaker nearing retirement and the term-limited governor setting his sights on a presidential campaign.

Pelosi, who honored the Democrats’ long legacy with speeches and tributes to their “forever speakers” throughout the weekend, said, “Trump’s reign of terror must end.”

Adam Schiff, a California senator and longtime opponent of Trump, used the grizzly bear on the state flag as a warning to the current administration: “When you poke the bear, the bear will tear your fucking head off.”

“There will be a showdown” he said to a packed hall in November.

Throughout hours of impassioned speeches and caucuses, speakers touted last year’s resounding success of Proposition 50, the state’s redistricting counterattack on a Republican gerrymander in Texas. To them, it was a testament to California’s role as both a “blueprint” for the national party and a bulwark against the Trump administration.

Democrats across the country are furious with the president after more than a year of sweeping policy changes — major health care cuts, a widening deportation campaign and the use of federal power to target political opponents and blue states. But in California, the conflict took on a personal feel.

The state, which Trump has long described as a liberal “hellscape,” is run by some of Trump’s most prominent political rivals. environmental protectionsimmigrant rights, access to abortion, and expanded access to healthcare. In June, Trump deployed the national guard and his troops to the streets of Los Angeles; It was a preview of what was to come in Chicago, Minneapolis and other blue cities.

With California leading the national resistance to Trump 2.0, Democrats have embraced a new crop of rising stars. In the chamber, Rep. Robert Garcia was treated like a celebrity. Garcia, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, has become a leading voice in investigating the Trump administration and pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. At a progressive caucus meeting, Congressman Ro Khanna was applauded as he pressed for accountability for the “Epstein class.”

Trump’s return to power also opened the door to a new, more combative rhetorical stance that included more swearing and trolling; It’s a reference to Newsom, whose all-caps, no-holds-barred mockery of Trump and his administration has catapulted him onto the national stage.

The race to replace Newsom loomed large at the meeting, as convention attendees worried that California’s expanding field of candidates had yet to produce a frontrunner with only a few months until the June primary.

California’s jungle primary system, in which the top two vote-getters advance regardless of party, has raised concerns that two Republicans could sweep through a fragmented field and keep Democrats out of the governor’s office in the nation’s largest blue state.

Emphasizing the Democratic National Committee’s determination to remain neutral in the debate among Democrats, DNC chairman Ken Martin called on the party to “unite behind one candidate as quickly as possible” in the governor’s race.

“We have to make sure we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot, so to speak,” Martin said.

A few latest opinion pollsConservative commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County sheriff Chad Bianco, both Republicans, lead the pack, followed by congressman Eric Swalwell, billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer and former congresswoman Katie Porter; A large portion of voters are still undecided.

None of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates won enough delegates to win confirmation, according to results released Saturday night. Swalwell captured nearly a quarter of the delegates, followed by former state comptroller Betty Yee with an unexpected 17% and former health and human services secretary Xavier Becerra with 14%.

The gubernatorial candidates took turns attacking Trump in their speeches on the convention floor, promising to protect Californians from the “chaos” and “tyranny” his administration has inflicted on the Golden State.

Porter turned his distinctive whiteboard toward the floor and asked delegates to repeat the message scrawled in black marker. “To hell with Trump!” They shouted slogans. Swalwell, meanwhile, vowed to use the office to “keep Donald Trump and ICE off our streets and out of our lives.”

In an interview, Yee argued that Sacramento needs more than an anti-Trump warrior; The state needed a governor with the experience to “fix” its chronic budget deficits.

“I think the cost of getting into this race is that you have to fight Trump,” Yee said in an interview. “But I think we need to do more than that.”

The San Francisco backdrop at the Moscone Center underscored the party’s competing impulses over how to fight the Trump administration and how to combat Silicon Valley billionaires who have forged stronger relationships with the president in his second term.

The widening gap between Democrats and Silicon Valley is particularly concerning in California, which is heavily dependent on the tech sector and where political leaders have long cultivated ties with industry executives. But as Silicon Valley politics shifts to the right and prominent executives pump money into local and state races, many Democrats are sounding the alarm about the unchecked power they say these companies wield.

Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor union, warned Democrats in a speech at the convention that it was time to stop “kneeling” the same tech giants that helped bring Trump back to power.

“There’s an enemy here, and it’s not just Trump,” he said in an interview. “The reason we’re reuniting with Trump is because we haven’t addressed the structural issues that really impact working-class people.”

As the party grapples with these internal divisions, internal strife continues over how Democrats will regain power in districts like Randy Villegas.

Villegas, a progressive politician who is backed by Sanders, is running against moderate Democratic state senator Jasmeet Bains, who has frequently criticized her party. to contain It’s about Republican congressman David Valadao’s redistricting plan that makes his district more Democrat-friendly. “Our race is very much a fight for the soul of the Democratic party,” Villegas said.

Outside the congress, the party’s ideological and tactical fault lines were displayed theatrically. A group of young activists dressed as snails and other invertebrate sea creatures demanded that Democratic leaders “put out a spine and use it” to protect transgender children and immigrant families. As delegates left the hall, a costumed mollusk handed out business cards warning: “Trumpism thrives when Democrats rush to meet tyranny squarely.”