CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2022 OR THEREAFTER
BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“WHITHER NEWSOM: WHAT’S NEXT FOR
THE GUV?”
Few
California politicians have been more opportunistic than Gavin Newsom, just
reelected easily to four more years in the governor’s state capitol office.
But
few governors ever seemed more bored with the job itself. Like several
predecessors, Newsom has lately seemed far more obsessed with national politics
than his own job.
But
none has ever felt more blocked in advancing from Sacramento to Washington,
D.C. Yes, a few California governors like Jerry Brown and Goodwin Knight have
been willing (Brown did not succeed in this) to move from being governor to a
seat in the U.S. Senate. The most successful at this was Republican Hiram
Johnson, early in the 20th Century.
But
most governors here see the Senate as a step down, the only real step up being
the presidency.
Like
many politicians before him, Newsom denies any interest in that. No one keeps
score of this, but few officials have ever issued more denials of desire for
the nation’s top office than Newsom.
That
may be because right now he looks boxed in on two fronts. First, there’s
incumbent president Joe Biden, who implies he wants to run again in 2024, and
hang his lousy ratings in voter polls. Then there’s Newsom’s longtime
stablemate, Vice President Kamala Harris, a fellow alum of San Francisco city
government with whom he has shared political consultants.
That
scene could change very quickly when 2023 ends and the 2024 primaries begin.
Biden’s age (81 in 2024) could affect him even more than it already seems to. And
Harris, who has never made it past the opening caucus states during the primary
season, might falter again. If either of these not-at-all-unlikely developments
became reality, the way would open for Newsom. He might be an opportunist, but
has never been a traitor to political friends like Biden and Harris.
Meanwhile,
Newsom decries Democrats’ electoral passivity and has been more active against
potential Republican presidential candidates than any other national Democrat.
He’s often critical (or more) of ex-President Donald Trump. He used
advertisements to attack hard-line rightist governors of Florida and Texas, Ron
DeSantis and Greg Abbott.
Other
national Democrats have noticed. Why else would Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar,
another potential presidential hopeful, blast Newsom for not campaigning enough
for other Democrats around the nation?
Newsom
talks as if he’s itching for a real fight after coasting to reelection,
grimacing visibly and almost painfully at the notion of debating DeSantis.
That
came after he ran biting TV ads on Fox stations around Florida asserting
Californians enjoy more freedom than folks in Florida. He cited abortion and
COVID-19 survival rates as two such areas. Newsom followed up with newspaper
and billboard ads in Texas making similar comparisons.
Both
brief ad campaigns drew blood. DeSantis soon started featuring blasts at
California in his almost daily emailed fund-raising pitches. He castigated
California for closing public schools and shutting down many businesses during
the pandemic, claiming this state has “hobbled law enforcement and allowed
drugs and crime to destroy their (sic) cities.”
He,
of course, did not mention that if California had followed the laissez faire
DeSantis Covid policies, 40,000 more Californians would be dead by now in that
plague, atop the current toll of 92,000.
DeSantis
took to calling Newsom “Gov. French Laundry,” for his infamous visit to a
pricey Wine Country restaurant while other Californians were stuck at home.
Never passive, Newsom quickly labeled DeSantis “Gov. DeathSantis.” Newsom then
began contributing campaign money to Democrats around the nation.
There’s really
nothing substantive Newsom and DeSantis could fight over other than the White
House, unless each somehow wound up as a vice presidential candidate on someone
else’s ticket.
Meanwhile,
several polls have shown Newsom with a better chance of defeating Trump in 2024
than Harris or Biden, while also indicating he would beat DeSantis if they were
matched today.
As
for Abbott, Newsom mocked his open-carry gun policies, and his almost total
shutdown of abortions, sponsoring a gun-lawsuit law that specifically mocks the
Texas abortion measures.
Legendary
Republican consultant Karl Rove then called Newsom “brilliant” for all this.
It’s
very unlikely that it will lead nowhere at all.
-30-
Email
Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough,
The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch
It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias
columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
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