2 min read
Sources:
press and public records, his own videos
["rose","rose","default"]
Short answer
Four themes. Seriousness: a student paper told voters not to bubble in a clickbait YouTuber; Kevin said he had lost traffic by going political, so it was not a stunt. Feasibility: experts called the 60-day homelessness plan magical thinking and the permit takeover vague; he said he did not claim all the answers. Conduct: CalMatters catalogued crashed Newsom events, a $1 million debate dare, a Colbert spat and the CNN threat. Record: he said he had not voted in 2018 while records showed a ballot cast, and he had not filed a required economic-interest statement, which he said he would fix. 123
Seriousness: "Stick to clickbait" (State Hornet editorial, September 2021)
Feasibility: "Magical powers" (UCLA's Gary Blasi on the 60-day plan)
Record: 2018 vote (said he did not; records showed he did)
Seriousness
Sacramento State’s student paper wrote that the 29-year-old political novice should stick to making clickbait and asked voters not to bubble in his name. The Jewish Journal, after the election, called him hardly the top talent you would expect for the fifth-largest economy. Politico noted he had spent months assailing the establishment for not treating him as a contender. His answer to the Orange County Register: the bid was not about publicity; his channel had lost traffic since turning political. 12
Feasibility
UCLA’s Gary Blasi on the 60-day homelessness plan: unless Mr. Paffrath has magical powers, this is the poorest substitute for a policy I have seen in 38 years. UC Irvine’s Bob Solomon on the permitting takeover: nothing more than vague promises. The Register also noted his campaign site’s tax-return link led to a YouTube video. Kevin’s answer: he did not claim to have all the answers and his team was open to ideas from everyone. His line on experience: the last thing we need is more political experience. 2
Conduct
CalMatters listed the tactics: crashing Newsom’s anti-recall events, offering seven-figure charitable donations to bait opponents into debates, a Twitter fight with Stephen Colbert, and the threat to sue CNN. Kevin’s later reflection, on other pages, is that dramatic tactics were the wrong fit for his audience. 3
The record
He said during the campaign that he had not voted in 2018; CalMatters reported records showed he cast a ballot that year. He had not filed a required statement of economic interests and said, if something was missing, he would gladly file. Asked about children’s reading, he said he did not have a specific answer. 3
In his own videos
The criticisms were that he was unserious, unrealistic and loose with his record. His answers are printed beside each. 123
Simply put
✅ Not serious
➡️ Critics: a YouTuber chasing views.
➡️ Kevin: my views dropped when I went political.
✅ Not realistic
➡️ Critics: you cannot end homelessness in 60 days.
➡️ Kevin: I do not have all the answers and I am open to ideas.
✅ Sloppy record
➡️ He said he skipped voting in 2018; records showed he voted. He had not filed a financial disclosure and said he would.
Sources
State Hornet, September 2021 (opinion); Jewish Journal, October 2021, Open
Orange County Register, August 6, 2021 (Blasi and Solomon quotes; tax-return link went to a video), Open
Lost Coast Outpost / CalMatters, August 25, 2021 (crashed events, debate dares, Colbert, CNN threat; 2018 vote; economic-interest statement), Open
Kevin on YouTube, "Graham Stephan Ruined my Campaign" (2021-05-24), at 0:00: “Graham Stephan Ruined my Campaign” Watch from 0:00
Kevin on YouTube, "the LA Times JUST exposed me..." (2021-05-28), at 0:00: “the LA Times JUST exposed me...” Watch from 0:00
Kevin on YouTube, "i f'd up my campaign for governor of California..." (2021-05-21), at 0:00: “i f'd up my campaign for governor of California...” Watch from 0:00
