Even if Newsom wins, the recall shows how far he has slipped

Schwarzenegger and Brown were studies in adaptation. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, drifted to the center and embraced climate change after a humiliating ballot defeat in his second full year as governor. Brown, a Democrat, with his canoe theory of governing, frustrated the left — for example, telling Democratic lawmakers that he’d go along with single-payer health care if they could demonstrate how to pay for it.