Californias big mistake could pave the way for its big comeback

This year began with so much hope for the Golden State, where Spencer Pratt and Steve Hilton were mounting eye-catching insurgent bids for the mayoralty of its largest city and governor’s mansion, respectively.In failing blue states such as New York, Minnesota and California, decades of Democratic mismanagement seemed like they might serve as a countervailing force to the widespread dissatisfaction with the Republican-controlled federal government.What’s more, Pratt and Hilton were running savvy campaigns focused less on preaching conservative values than on solving California’s problems.But with the GOP’s bottom falling out in Texas, South Carolina and Mississippi, it stood no chance of defying the already long odds in the land of Hollywood, Berkeley and San Francisco.Still, hope paradoxically lives on, because the state has handed the keys over to a man who just about everyone agrees is bound to be a disaster as chief executive — and maybe one so catastrophic as to finally compel Californians to try something new.On this point, Hilton and progressive ex-Rep.Katie Porter are agreed.A recent CNN segment featured the ideologically opposed pair tsk-tsking Xavier Becerra over his continued caginess about what he intends to actually do as governor.Host Elex Michaelson noted that Becerra ran a largely substance-free campaign before allowing Porter and Hilton to take their at-bats.“As a Californian, I have questions!” declared Porter.“I need a commitment that my children are going to be able to afford to live here .

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we are less than two months from Gov.-elect Becerra leading the state.”For his part, Hilton couldn’t help but burst out laughing after watching a clip of Becerra tip-toeing around making commitments of any kind, before marveling at his inability to articulate his agenda.The truth that they put their finger on is this: Becerra is uniquely unsuited to the task before him.Neither a pragmatist nor an ideologue, Becerra is something much mo...