California Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari said Thursday he spent a week pretending to be homeless and he made a video to prove it.[...] Throughout the week, Kashkari was filmed sleeping on the street, being turned away from jobs and dining at a local homeless shelter.

Kashkari said he made the video to experience firsthand whether the “California comeback” being boasted about by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) actually exists for everyday Californians. “While the politicians who run California pat themselves on the back and claim a ‘California Comeback,’ they willfully ignore millions of our neighbors who are living in poverty,” Kashkari wrote. “California's most vulnerable citizens deserve leaders who will fight for them. It's a fight that Republicans should lead.”

The move by the multimillionaire Laguna Beach resident, who ran the federal government's Wall Street bank bailout, is intended to show the struggles facing many Californians, despite the improvements to the state's economy. [...] The former U.S. Treasury official, fund manager and investment banker plans to discuss his experiences in a Thursday appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program and at a press conference at a Sacramento food bank.

While I appreciate the sediment, as the kids say these days, I'm not sure he learned the right lesson. Or any lesson.Indeed they should, and I'm sure they will get right on that should they be elected, just as they have been for years and years and years now. When he does not have a two-person camera crew filming him sleeping on Fresno benches, the candidate's just-folks credentials are themselves a bit stretched I get this nagging feeling that something happened, maybe a few years back, that really did a number on California's economy... oh, what was that. Something about investment bankers, I think?

No, Kashkari is not expected to be a factor in the election. Note however that making a video pretending to be homeless is enough to land you a spot on the Wall Street Journal editorial page; I can't say I remember many actual homeless Americans getting similar treatment. I suppose if they wanted attention they should run for things.