Gavin Newsom is positioning himself to replace Biden. But he can’t be trusted
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It’s that time of year again: the weather is getting colder and the political takes are getting hotter – with California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, doing all he can to rewrite history as the Republican Party descended on his state for its second presidential primary debate.
Newsom, long a leading voice of the activist Left in elected office, turned some heads by vetoing a series of fantasy legislative goals of progressives and alienating traditional Democratic constituencies like the #AbolishICE movement, unions, and transgender activists, all in the span of a few days. Like a San Francisco squatter, the governor posted up outside the GOP debate, trying to spin the Biden record while also seeming to acknowledge that Biden may not be mentally up to task.
For a politician as sleek and calculating as Newsom, nothing is coincidental; his bizarre penchant for invoking Ronald Reagan, his predecessor who as governor sent the cops in to Berkeley to crush student activists, combined with his signaling to centrist Democrats that he isn’t fully owned by the activist Left comes as some in his party wonder what to do about ailing President Joe Biden.
If Biden weren’t being yanked off stage by his own staff or needing help to complete sentences, the Democrats would treat Newsom like Yoko Ono – but instead, he’s able to implore all these lovely people to imagine him as John Lennon, begging them: “please, please me.”
During the debate itself, the Republicans seeking to oust Biden frequently violated Reagan’s famed Eleventh Commandment – while standing at the stage of his famed library, no less – of not attacking a fellow Republican. They also savaged Biden for his failures on the southern border, China, the economy, and more, leaving the attention-starved Newsom languishing in the corner like a lost puppy.
But fortunately for Newsom’s ambitions, Biden does have serious liabilities. Biden allies, including Democratic media mogul Laurene Powell Jobs, have seen progressive outlets like The Atlantic call for Biden to “step aside” or face a primary – while she herself has previously shovelled hundreds of thousands of dollars towards electing Gavin Newsom in California.
Instead, with Biden’s approval ratings plunging to never-before-seen depths – although not quite low enough to rival the unpopularity of Vice President Kamala Harris – Newsom is counting on Democrats to pass over their current numbers one and two, allowing himself to jump in as saviour.
While Newsom has done everything he can to dismiss speculation that he has any interest in running for president, several recent flip flops and highly-publicised trips to red states like Idaho won’t do anything to tamp down the speculation that he is chomping at the bit.
History is littered with the skeletons of politicians who “waited their turn” to run for president: think of Mitch Daniels and Chris Christie in 2012 and Elizabeth Warren in 2016. Pete Buttigieg and Ron DeSantis show the risks – and rewards – of jumping in while the proverbial iron is hot. By 2028, Newsom will be out of office, term-limited and potentially sitting on the sidelines (unless he appoints himself to fill the Senate seat vacated by Dianne Feinstein’s recent passing). 2024 may be his one shot.
The drastic Newsom shifts have come on everything from nuclear power (he previously opposed the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant) to criminal justice, where he and the legislature made child sex trafficking a serious felony. The latter instance was the first time the state’s legislature has ever added a new crime to its three strikes law, and was passed in the face of opposition from many Democrats in his legislature.
Despite these massive shifts towards the center, Newsom is still leading the way on amending the constitution and creating big government expansion programs, while browbeating a complacent local press corps into giving him credit for Joe Biden following his lead.
But what do these changes signify? Newsom started his career with the financial backing of the billionaire Getty oil family, and now he’s back to eschewing the no-nuclear power Left, and he’s even clamored for a presidential gubernatorial debate with Governor Ron DeSantis later this year to be held, curiously, on Fox News.
Newsom may have a tough time defending his record against DeSantis or any other Republican, however. California’s problems are such that the state’s outmigration cost it a congressional seat for the first time in decades. Newsom himself faced an (unsuccessful) recall in 2021.
It’s possible that Newsom’s pivot to the center is a simple acknowledgement of political reality spearheaded by an eminently savvy politician. Or, perhaps more realistically, it’s proof that Newsom is keen to do whatever he can to capitalise on the spotlight.
It’s hard for conservatives to imagine that Newsom does anything with sincerity, or that he can be trusted on any level – and that’s not just due to his movie super villain looks; just ask his friend and former campaign manager Alex Tourk, whose wife he slept with while she was working in his administration. This is still the same Newsom who encouraged social distancing in his state during the pandemic, while simultaneously wining and dining lobbyists at the swanky French Laundry restaurant.
It’s not often that Republicans come to town in California, but as they took the stage at the Ronald Reagan Library, they completely ignored his successor in Sacramento, suggesting his obvious media ploy didn’t actually work. Either way, that won’t stop him from trying to find a buyer for his newfound beliefs. In my estimation, they’re about as sincere as his hair is product-free.
