Conservatives should remain hopeful about the California recall, but political gravity is starting to take its course. It looks like liberal Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is going to survive the election, but conservatives should not let their efforts end there.

As the election has neared, Newsom is beginning to pull away in polling. Since the end of August, he has enjoyed a double-digit lead over the recall in most polls, and FiveThirtyEight’s polling average has him sitting at a comfortable 16-point lead, with 54% supporting keeping him in place.