Saturday’s launch of the Recall Thao campaign, at Jack London Square, got only scattered media coverage. For the most part the recall hasn’t yet sunk in for most Bay Areans. I personally think that recalling Thao, which I support, is going to be a harder lift than recalling Price. The latter is clearly so dangerous to public safety that, if the election were held today, she would be voted out of office. But Thao’s recall, for various reasons, is going to be a tougher sell.
As she comes across on the T.V. screen, which is how most of us perceive her, Thao doesn’t present anything particularly objectionable, the way Price does. Indeed, she doesn’t come across as anything, just a bland cipher with an uncomprehending deer-in-the-headlights look in her eyes. Those of us who follow Oakland politics know that Thao is in way over her head and possesses neither the intellectual skill nor the philosophical wisdom to govern Oakland competently. But the greater T.V. audience sees nothing especially objectionable. Nor do they blame her for crime—at least, not yet, although this is changing. The Thao recall people are going to have to address how to pin the crime wave on Thao or, to put it more accurately, to explain how her actions and inaction for years have brought us into this mess.
At least for the moment, Thao doesn’t seem riled. She’s not out there fighting back against being recalled, the way Price is. I understand that Thao just lost her mother; we offer our heartfelt sympathies. It’s only natural that she’d take a few days off. No doubt she has her own internal polling on the recall. If it’s showing she’s in trouble, she, like Price, will take to the propaganda road and do what she does best: taking responsibility for nothing, uttering platitudes, and hoping that her nice-girl, prom-queen image will salvage her in the eyes of the voters. Of course, it’s Thao’s very vacuity that protects her from political blowback. It’s easy to despise someone like Pamela Price. Thao is so bland, it’s like punching porridge.
I should hope people wouldn’t be fooled by her much longer, but Oakland voters have proven, time and again, that they’re not the brightest stars in the constellation. They seem to fall for these grifters every election, and as with all stupid people, they never learn lessons from their bad choices.
We need an iron broom to thoroughly clean house in Oakland. Get rid of the incompetents, the ideologues, the craven and greedy climbers, and replace them with honest, common-sense solutionaries who know how to fight crime and will work to grow Oakland’s economic base instead of tearing it down. The Coalition for a Better Oakland will soon publish a Voter’s Guide to the upcoming elections next month. It’s an important and potentially historic election, and we hope you’re geared up for it!
Steve Heimoff