Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man

Reminder: 290 and 67. The 290 represents how many U.S. House of Representatives members it takes to override a presidential veto (all Representatives are up for reelection this year). It takes 67 U.S. Senators to override a presidential veto (35 Senators are up for reelection this year with 22 of those being Republicans—the ones we have to concentrate on the most). These numbers are very important this year at the ballot box because it will take this number of votes to help right this vast ship of a country for all of us, not just the billionaire class.

On the primary ballot for California Governor this past Tuesday were a total of 61 candidates. There were 24 Democrats on the ballot and 10 Republicans, with eight of the Democrats and two of the Republican candidates actually viable, the rest were Independents and a variety of other parties. Some of the candidates suspended or dropped out of the race, such as Betty Yee and Eric Swalwell. 

As of today, and according to California’s “jungle” ballot process, the top two candidates advance to the November election: Xavier Becerra (D) and Steve Hilton (R). Tom Steyer (D) came in a close third, but only the top two advance. Now I am a believer in fair competition in elections. We should have more than the two major parties on the ballot, and have those third parties be viable. In a perfect world, this would be the best for us all. But we don’t live in a perfect world and are essentially stuck with Democrats and Republicans.

We also aren’t living in a world in which having a Republican on the ballot is a good thing based on their current political philosophies and platforms. As a reminder, Republicans are for eliminating the social safety net (including Social Security), working for less than a living wage, healthcare for only those who can afford insurance, and ripping families apart.

California is a great example of Democratic candidates who think only of their own egos and not what is good for the country—California is not unique in this, but a good recent example.

Because of the egos of the eight top candidates, and to a lesser degree, the remaining field of 16 Democratic candidates, California does not have two Dems at the top vying for Governor. This means it is possible, but not probable, California could have a Republican governor come November, and possibly an increase in Republicans in the State legislature with the coattail effect.

This could be a good thing in terms of debate and compromise, but this isn’t the point of my post today.

My point comes from the adage, “United we stand, divided we fall”—Founding Father John Dickinson. This has been a motto of the United States now for centuries. One we seem to have forgotten here in modern times and it shows.

For example, in our current move towards outright authoritarian and fascist rule, egos only continue to divide us, especially those of politicians running for office. Going back to California, had Katie Porter, Matt Mahan, Antonio Villaraigosa, and Tony K. Thurmond dropped out of the race and endorsed either Xavier Becerra or Tom Steyer, it is likely both of these two Democratic candidates would be in a runoff in November. Becerra wouldn’t be running against Trump endorsed candidate Steve Hilton. 

Becerra, as said earlier, will most likely win, but why did Democrats take that chance. Porter, Mahan, Villaraigosa, and Thurmond have thrown a sure thing of a Democratic win into jeopardy, thus throwing millions of people’s lives into jeopardy. Why?

Ego, plain and simple. The U.S. in general, but politicians specifically, seem to think only about winning and power, without regard to the consequences. This is why we have politicians in their 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s running for re-election rather than stepping aside for new ideas and energy. In doing so, their thinking remains entrenched as very few of politicians of that age have been able to pivot to the modern and quickly evolving modern era. 

This is why we don’t have universal healthcare. Why we don’t have universal pre-school. Why we don’t have universal voting rights. Why we don’t have universal paid maternity leave. Why we still have a minimum wage of $7.25. Why we don’t have high-speed rail and public transportation systems. Why we have people at the top not paying their fair share of taxes. Why we are ignoring climate change. Why we have had 179 mass shootings so far this year. Why we have mass deportations without habeas corpus. Why we have minimum hours to work to get health insurance. Why we have the elderly and disabled losing benefits. Why Medicare doesn’t cover all health issues like vision and dental. Why women have fewer rights than men. Why we have the creation of the billionaire dollar slush fund. Why we have criminals paying for pardons. And so on, and so on.

All because of politician and billionaire egos. They want power, they want money, or for most, they want both. And, they don’t care who gets hurt, meaning us, in the process.

If we don’t all come together for the election in November, like the French did in 2024 to stop the authoritarian-like party from winning in their national election, like the Canadians did in 2025 to stop the Trump-like candidate, like the Hungarians just did to oust Orban, to vote for candidates who care about us, not the billionaires, then we most likely will have lost the window to do so for many generations to come—our children, grandchildren, and their grandchildren will pay the price.

As long as we allow politicians, the media, and the billionaires to divide us over stupid stuff, nothing will change. Stupid stuff that includes lies about transgender people and athletes, election results and rigging, helping those most in need, mail-in ballots, immigrants taking our jobs and other benefits, and so on and so on. Utter nonsense. The longer we as non-billionaires fall into these traps they set to divide us, the longer our lives continue to get worse.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it. Only we can save us. The only way to save us is to vote for candidates who are willing to put government to work for us—NYC Mayor Mamdani has shown us the way—not us to work for the government.

We can do this, but only if we are united.