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The only game theory I can think of is: if Democrat party endorses someone on Q2, then one may ask themselves: "Do I really want Newsom? If this other candidate is cool, why not just vote YES on Q1".

So the Democratic party are a bunch if slime balls, and KNOW everyone hates Newsom, and they KNOW if a significant Democrat challenged Newsom, they would have an EXTREMELY high chance of winning! So in that sense, I understand why they are playing this move.

But it is a HUGE gamble. Lots of people are not really that dialed into politics. There are going to be a ton of people who see this ballot and scratch their head, and think ya, Newsom sucks, I'm going to vote for one of these random people, why not!?

The Democrats are dialed into politics are holding their nose and voting NO. That is NOT the kind of campaign energy you want. Even Biden had better enthusiasm behind him!