Re “Next Gov? Villaraigosa Sees Edges in Being Out of Office”
[img]1862|right|John Walsh||no_popup[/img]This is the time of year veteran reporters call the Silly Season, at the end of the year when nothing much news-worthy is happening.
So dumb news articles get written by reporters desperate to fill the empty space around the big holiday newspaper ads…this one by Dan Siders that was reprinted here yesterday.
My mother has about as much chance of getting elected the next governor of California as does Antonio Villaraigosa! My mother passed away quite a few years ago.
Antonio's “time-out” was not self-imposed. It is destined to last forever. (Antonio is as un-electable and as stale as yesterday's mashed potatoes.) By the way, your next governor and your next U.S. senator are Newsom and Harris. In what order? Fate shall decree.
Much Lighter Wallet
Antonio has ditched that cramped NYC apartment of his because he could no longer afford to pay the steep $18,000 yearly rent now that his paid lecture and lobbyist work back there in the Big Apple has dried up and blown away.
The national news media does not treat Antonio as a spokesman for Hispanic Americans when looking for a quote — as he hoped would be the case when leaving office.
Antonio Villaraigosa has been supplanted by the much younger Castro Brothers who embody the future of Latino Politicos.
Outside of East L.A. and Downtown, Antonio V. is almost as invisible here in his native Golden State as he was in far-off NYC…except for a handful of veteran California newshounds, like Mr. Siders, who simply can't resist writing silly stories about a fabled, future political comeback for still handsome Tony that can't ever come to pass in this real world.
History Is Against Him
In fact, no L.A. mayor has ever staged a successful comeback effort. Witness Sam Yorty, Tom Bradley, Richard Riordan. All came up empty-handed once departing City Hall.
Meanwhile, Antonio picks up a few bucks here and there to support his unemployed children and grandchildren with workaday gigs like lecturing a bunch of USC students who vaguely remember him from their middle school days. And lobbying anyone anywhere indiscriminately for the powerful Edelman firm.
Even his adoring first cousin, former state Assembly Speaker John Perez, got upset and took a whipping by a then-nobody, Ms. Betty Yee, when running statewide despite Antonio's ardent but ultimately worthless endorsement.
The Smart Lobbyists with their Big Money, keenly remembering how they got stung by the worthless Perez campaign, won't invest a dime in Villaraigosa's electoral future. No matter how many silly puff pieces the Sac Bee and other “news sources” grind out between now and far off 2018 that try unsuccessfully to portray the LA. xx-mayor as a winnable candidate for next governor.
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