Eric Swalwell
California Congressman Eric Swalwell suspended his gubernatorial campaign on Sunday after multiple women came forward and accused him of various forms of inappropriate and criminal behavior. It wasn’t a surprise as his site had stopped taking donations days ago.
I’m not someone who enjoys cancel culture or a rush to judgment. But when the news came out I thought that he should drop out. I wasn’t alone as every endorser abandoned him very publicly and his staff deserted him en masse.
I met Eric multiple times when he and I were both running for President; we saw each other campaigning in Iowa where he was born. His number is in my phone. Eric made the first debate in 2019, which he spent challenging Joe Biden to ‘pass the torch’ and quoting Joe in his first Senate campaign saying that the incumbent was too old and out of touch and it was time to give way to the next generation. Joe came up to him during a commercial break, took Eric by both lapels, and said to him “nice try, I’m not going anywhere.” Eric then dropped out a few days later.
After 2020, Eric became a fixture on cable news programs, particularly MSNBC and CNN, mouthing Democratic talking points. He burnished his social media following. In 2024, when Joe Biden’s age became one of the central issues of the day and Dean Phillips tried to force a primary, Eric was nowhere to be found. He had gotten the message that being a good partisan soldier was a better path.
His approach worked, as he became the frontrunner to become Governor of California after Kamala Harris and Alex Padilla passed up runs for the position.
I was surprised by this; Eric is a bit of a lightweight. He’s not an intellect or a deep policy thinker. He’s sort of a normal-ish telegenic guy who found a path in politics.
As you can imagine, running for President requires a number of character traits: vision, intellect, confidence, conviction, communication ability, charisma, maybe even morality or principle.
I didn’t find Eric to be remarkable on any of these qualities. He’s just a dude. He was in way over his head running for President. He recently has come under some heat for not maintaining a house in his district; I think he just didn’t have the money to have one home in D.C. and another place in northern California. His net worth in 2018 was reported to be negative due to student loans and is more recently listed at around $400,000. His Congressional salary of $174,000 has been the family’s main source of income.
Apparently, Eric’s being a creep toward young women was kind of an open secret in DC and California circles. I was nowhere near that stuff. But as soon as the news came out, I thought, “Yeah, that tracks.” There’s no way in my mind it was all fabricated. His denial/non-denial video only seemed to make things worse. His suspension was a formality after just about everyone associated with his campaign abandoned him.
Best case for Eric, in my opinion, is that he doesn’t get drummed out of Congress by his colleagues – which I think he probably will be – but that he then loses his seat in a couple years when someone is in position to challenge him. His days as a cable news presence are over and he’s likely done as a politician. My heart goes out to his wife and 3 kids, who now have his behavior splayed out on news programs for all to see. It’s going to be devastating for his family.
I sometimes think of some of the other figures from my presidential primary ‘class,’ many of whom I’m loosely in touch with. I feel like Eric is Icarus from the Greek myths; he flew too close to the sun, and now he’s crashed to Earth. Human failure and frailty take multiple forms. I hope his family is okay, and that those closest to them in real life can get them the help they are going to need.
You know who my pick for Governor of California is? Matt Mahan! You can hear my interview with Matt here or read my post on him here. You know something we can all do better on? Our data. Go to noblemobile.com/yang for 3 months off your wireless bill, the best deal around that will also reduce your screen time and help you save for your family. Email matt@noblemobile.com to get a human being. The Hudson Valley Ideas Fest returns to Rosendale, NY on April 25th. Go outside and look up.
I wish Americans, as privileged as we are, had a sense of urgency to get rapists off the street in the same way we demand fast food to be fast and Starbucks to get our orders right. The “open secret” movement needs to end. I will never understand feeling uncomfortable to tell the police but fully comfortable to tell major media outlets.
I’ve worked on many political campaigns and I’ve primarily stopped. I’ve met so many bizarre volunteers on presidential and local campaigns that will take everyone and anyone. I’ve also worked on campaigns so cliquish I felt like I joined a cult.
I’ve met staffers who willfully lie. Lie about other volunteers. Lie about other campaigns.
I once had a roommate who managed volunteers on a different presidential campaign encouraging his staff to spread lies that a Democratic woman running for President was secretly involved with white supremacists! Nobody instructed this menace to operate this way — he did it willingly. My opportunity to kick him out came after my super showed me video of him urinating in the hallways of our apartment building. I guess one could say his anti-social behavior tracked.
I say all this because there is something about being in the proximity to power that attracts a massive amount of the strange and unusual — and I don’t mean Lydia Deetz.
I’m just not surprised anymore if a candidate turns out to be reckless scum, or stories circulating by volunteers which may align to malign.
I just wish a country that has so many options available to protect the people would utilize those options to protect themselves and others with a sense of urgency.
I enjoyed working on your campaign! I never got negative vibes on your run for President or NYC Mayor. Was an honor.
Thank you for your deep assessment of a tragic situation.