When it comes to the recall election that is presently taking place in California, Larry Elder could beat the odds and actually unseat current Governor Gavin Newsom.
Analysts from both sides of the political aisle are expressing amazement at Elder’s rapid rise in the polls.
His emergence bears a remarkable similarity to another outsider candidate, who happened to have been a recipient of Elder’s ardent support at the time – number 45 himself, former President Donald J. Trump.
Like Trump back in the 2016 GOP presidential primary, Elder has managed to quickly eclipse his electoral competition, establishing his candidacy as the preferred choice of voters who are longing for a new occupant of the Golden State’s governor’s mansion.
Elder has something else in common with the former president, which may give him an edge over other candidates. It’s called star power.
The man is an accomplished attorney, bestselling author, newspaper columnist, nationally syndicated talk radio show host, and well known television personality.
His celebrity profile has continued to rise over the decades.
For years he enjoyed great In addition to being success as a talk radio show host who covered Hollywood, politics, and the culture. As many talk radio hosts do, Elder became the voice of the friend you count on to keep you updated, keep you entertained, and keep you company on your daily drive.
In addition to radio, television took a liking to him as well. In the late 1980s, he co-hosted a TV show that aired on Cleveland’s PBS member station WVIZ.
Then in the late 1990s, he hosted a PBS national telecast with well known news personalities Fred Barnes and Laura Ingraham.
Additionally, he hosted a TV court series, which aired in the 2000s.
He snagged an Emmy Award in 2000 for a KCAL-TV news special.
From 2000 to 2001, he hosted a syndicated television series called “Moral Court,” which was distributed by Warner Brothers Television as a sibling show to “The People’s Court.”
It was the only courtroom oriented show to deal with ethics and morality, as opposed to focusing on the law alone. Elder himself served as judge.
The series continued in syndication until 2006, and was also carried on ION Television in 2007.
Making the leap to the big screen arena in 2005, he produced and starred in a documentary film called “Michael & Me.” It was a powerful rebuttal to filmmaker and political activist Michael Moore’s documentary “Bowling for Columbine.”
In 2020, Elder became executive producer, co-writer, and star of the highly successful documentary “Uncle Tom.” Currently in post-production is the sequel “Uncle Tom Part II.”
If Elder were to become California’s next governor, he would join the ranks of those whose names appear on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: the late great former president Ronald Reagan and the Hollywood actor-turned-Golden State Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
After admiring his professionalism and talent as an entertainer, and simultaneously enjoying the radio ride, I got to appear as a guest on his talk radio show when it aired on KABC in Los Angeles. It furthered deepened my appreciation for him as a colleague and as an individual.
I later had the opportunity to introduce him when he spoke at the Nixon Library.
Much like others who have had the privilege to get to know the man better, I am of the opinion that he is a master when it comes to communicating ideas and a quintessential professional when it comes to preparedness, decisiveness, and judgment.
Elder is well known on the Left Coast as “The Sage from South Central.”
He grew up in a part of Los Angeles where most folks would be unfamiliar with restaurants the likes of the “French Laundry” and wholly uninterested in those who try to impress others by putting on airs.
Raised by a Marine sergeant father, who worked as a janitor and eventually ran his own café restaurant, as well as a mother who worked as a government clerk, Elder was instilled with the same work ethic that his parents had modeled for him.
In his youth, Elder excelled as an honor student at Crenshaw High School. Later in life he became a practicing attorney. He set up an attorney search firm and eventually ventured into multimedia.
He has recently managed to garner almost twice the Wikipedia traffic that Newsom is receiving, a sign that many people are interested in obtaining more information on the man who just might become Governor Sage from South Central.
He clearly caught the attention of the Democratic Party and of those who are involved in the anti-recall effort.
Plain and direct speaking on subjects such as soaring crime rates, widespread homelessness, and a growing economic chaos will do that.
But Elder is wise to the politics of personal destruction that are being deployed against him, and he is not deterred.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber kicked off the assault on him. His name was curiously omitted from the list of candidates that was supposed to appear on the ballot. The claim was that he had failed to submit complete tax return information as required by law.
Elder filed a lawsuit, which resulted in a Sacramento County judge determining that Weber had improperly disqualified him. The judge promptly ordered that Elder’s name be placed back on the ballot.
Ever since the announcement of his candidacy, many establishment media outlets have let loose with a barrage of negative hit pieces, some that even characterize the African-American man from South Central Los Angeles as a bigot.
Paradoxically, the attacks seem to be strengthening Elder’s already prominent name recognition and may ultimately even be improving his chances of gubernatorial victory.
James Hirsen 