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Just weeks after Caitlyn Jenner announced she would challenge California Governor Gavin Newsom in a possible recall election this year, the transgender reality star has just one bad news: a long-time political analyst. date declared his DOA campaign.
Columnist Neil J. Young wrote a lengthy essay in The Week this week, explaining, as he puts it, “Caitlyn Jenner doesn’t stand a chance.” He is able to find out: As a longtime political writer, Young has written work for The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, HuffPost, Vox, and Politico.
In the essay, Young explains that Jenner is already facing an uphill battle. Newsom already has a wave of support, and a number of other Republican candidates have announced their own nominations as well.
“Less clear are voters drawn to a Jenner candidacy and the reality TV star’s experience that prepares her for running the state,” writes Young. “Perhaps the least qualified person to ever run for governor of California,” read a response to Jenner’s tweet. “
Related: Caitlyn Jenner’s candidacy for the California government. just hit a snag: his children
“As the home of Hollywood,” he continues, “California was comfortable electing movie stars long before Trump arrived, of course. Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger both served as governors of the state. Other stars like Sonny Bono and Clint Eastwood have held public office as well. But even given that history, Jenner’s candidacy may seem to many like the ultimate example of celebrity rights, a vanity project that uses the political spotlight to stay relevant – or at least, in the news. “
Young also notes that the Republican Party has long positioned itself as the main enemy of the LGBTQ community, and that while a transgender Republican candidate may seem like a step in rehabilitating that image, it won’t change the perspective of voters.
“If Jenner’s candidacy turns eyes to the left,” observes Young, “it drew, more revealingly, vehement denunciations from the right. “We cannot allow Trump’s Party to become the party of… Caitlyn Jenner,” prominent white nationalist Nicholas Fuentes tweeted. “I’m not a big Republican Party fan behind Caitlyn Jenner,” Charlie Kirk said on his popular radio show. “
“The bad reaction of the right to Jenner belies any pro-LGBTQ image that the Republican Party has recently tried to promote, even without enthusiasm,” he continues. “Behind Trump’s occasional gay pride flag and his high-profile appointments of a few gay men in his administration, the Trump administration has waged a constant assault on LGBTQ rights, including stacking the courts with anti-gay judges . Transgender rights have suffered the most. From the moment he took office, Trump began to reverse the small number of Obama-era protections with frightening and cruel focus. At one point, the Trump administration even went so far as to propose a new rule that would have allowed tax-funded homeless shelters the right to deny transgender people access to their facilities.“
Young goes on to note that the Republican attack on gay rights – particularly against transgender Americans – continues, with several states passing anti-transgender bills just this month.
In other words, as we predicted, Ms Jenner’s candidacy will almost certainly fail, if she even makes it to the election herself. In addition to Republican antipathy to his race, Jenner’s own family oppose his candidacy for governor. She will also likely be faced with questions regarding a car crash in 2015, in which a woman was killed.
