Where do you get the crazy idea this thing is all over? They are just temporizing, to take off the heat a bit from opponents and clean house of Jerry Brown loyalists, like Richards. And perhaps to gauge how much genuine residual support exists from the heavy hitters in Silicon Valley, Fresno and Palmdale.

The raison d'etre of this megaproject is patronage, the mother's milk of a political machine, such as the one ruling California today. Pelosi and Newsom plan to send billions in Federal funds to the pet consultants and contractors, patronage that comes back to the machine in campaign contributions and more surreptitious good will. This type of corrupt operation is endemic to NYC and New York State and now dominates California.

They will have to use every machination at their disposal to oust Trump because they know if he is left in office there is always the quantum chance he might just get lucky and win. As in 2016. They simply cannot afford four more years of no patronage and earmarks to reward the faithful. So expect all hell to break loose any time and a move to impeach for starters.

They(the Party cadres) have already started to marshall their Wall St. allies to work over and shut down Bernie-Warren and Ms. OC. The radicals will be miffed and may threaten to go to 3rd party but I doubt they have the gumption and certainly not the money. They will anoint someone like Booker who can ride the coattails of the canonized Obama along with a female vice presidential candidate of acceptable limousine liberal ideology.

A pretty easy victory with the total support and aid of the media and Hollywood and the entrenched DC functionaries. And then the flood gates open to PBCAHSR. But there might be some changes, especially Pacheco if the Eastbay people decide they like HSR via Altamont after all.