Republicans clearly came out on top in this election, but there were some Democratic winners as well. Though he wasn’t officially running for anything, California Governor Gavin Newsom might be one of the biggest.
Newsom set to work meticulously positioning himself as the future youthful face of the progressive Democratic establishment well before President Joe Biden wrapped up the 2024 party nomination without a genuine primary fight. He then strove to become a public advocate for Biden in a transparent move to elevate his national profile while making it clear he was available as a Plan B should the aged and ailing Biden falter, as was widely feared.
Although Biden did that with a disastrous debate performance against Republican rival Donald Trump, Newsom was thwarted by the need to transfer the campaign’s substantial financial war chest, which is likely at least one of the main reasons Vice President Kamala Harris was hastily chosen to come to the rescue instead.
Now Harris is gone, crushed in the general election by Trump after further exposing her numerous political weaknesses, the most glaring being her career-long propensity to wilt under the spotlight. For Newsom, though, the outcome is an unalloyed positive. Perched atop an enormous platform as governor of the largest state per population in the nation for another two years, he can play the role of dashing cavalier beyond the gates of Washington, rallying the anti-Trump resistance – and he hasn’t wasted any time getting started.
Tilting at Trump Windmills
“Governor Gavin Newsom today issued a proclamation convening a special session of the California Legislature to safeguard California values and fundamental rights in the face of an incoming Trump administration. The special session will focus on bolstering California legal resources to protect civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate action, and immigrant families,” his office announced on Nov. 7.
The purple prose flowed in gushes throughout the official statement.
“This is the first of several actions by the Newsom Administration, in partnership with the Legislature, as the Governor begins shoring up California’s defenses against an incoming federal administration that has threatened the state on multiple fronts,” Newsom's team explained.
It's gonna be like this for two years, California. The actual work of governing the state will take a back seat to Newsom’s keen political aspirations. Even his allies in the big-box media agree. A carefully constructed political operation is about to go into overdrive.
“Newsom has long denied having presidential ambitions. But he has spent significant time over the past few years building a national political support network that could help him run in 2028,” The San Francisco Chronicle reported just hours after Trump’s victory had become official. “He started his own super PAC to support candidates in battleground races, traveled to red states to advocate for abortion rights and debated then-presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Fox News. He has built a massive list of donors that he could call upon to launch a presidential run.”
Republicans and Democrats in the Golden State see a fresh opening.
With Trump winning, Newsom “gets not only a lifeline to his career that was facing a dead end, but he will be able to position himself as the leader of the resistance,” Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist, who had served ex-GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, told the paper.
“I think Gavin Newsom would be top of the list for Democratic presidential contenders for ’28,” Democratic strategist Katie Merrill asserted. “He’s well positioned to take up that mantle from name ID nationally to a deep fundraising base and a record to run on.”
Fly in the Newsom Ointment
But is there a foundational flaw in the grand design? Newsom’s anti-Trump “proclamation” is peppered with the very things that harmed Harris: allegiance to a stridently progressive agenda that plays well in California but falls flat on the national level. Over-emphasizing abortion, championing climate change, and supporting illegal aliens is not the path to the White House in a battered post-Biden America.
Then there are the more exotic progressive excesses that flourished in California during his time as governor. Bizarre gender identity legislation, PC medical mandates, and a devotion to a thoroughly discredited criminal justice reform agenda are all the stuff of Republican opposition research dreams should Newsom navigate his way to the 2028 Democratic nomination.
Democrats stung by the Harris catastrophe should be fully aware of this. But denial ain’t just a river in ... well, you know. In the end, Gavin Newsom’s fate depends on which direction the defeated party takes.
If, chastened and self-reflective, it decides to steer a modified course back towards its traditional blue-collar worker roots, discarding the shrill progressive culture war issues that have driven its messaging ever since 2008, there will be no room for a Gavin Newsom.
If, however, in a spirit of spite and stubbornness, it clings tenaciously to its urbanite “defending democracy” Star Wars fantasies, with Donald Trump starring as Emperor Palpatine, his chances in 2028 are excellent and then some.
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