Newsom: The sound of presidential ambition
California Gov. Gavin Newsom claims he has “subzero interest” in running for president in 2024, said Shawn Hubler in The New York Times, but he sure isn’t acting that way. The Democrat recently “ran ads in Florida and Texas attacking the states’ Republican governors,” Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott—dream foils for a progressive with national ambitions. Newsom says Democratic leadership has been “sleepwalking” while Republicans have banned abortion and blocked gun control, and last week he signed a bill that perfectly encapsulates his “fight-firewith-fire attitude.” The new law offers $10,000 to plaintiffs who successfully sue gun dealers selling firearms banned in California—an explicit imitation of Texas’ bounty on abortion providers. “Hollywood-handsome” and radiating passionate intensity, Newsom, 54, leads a state with a booming economy and a $97 billion budget surplus, said Jack Ohman in The Sacramento Bee. President Biden maintains he “plans” to run, but he’s nearly 80 and his approval ratings are in the 30s. A fresh face with obvious “star quality” seems to be ready to take the baton.
Newsom has clear strengths, said Henry Olsen in The Washington Post, but his slick California elitism, tailored suits, and “Hollywood perfect hair” might not play well in Iowa and New Hampshire. He provoked a recall election last year after dining maskless at the ritzy French Laundry restaurant, in violation of his own Covid rules. In a primary contest to replace Biden, Newsom would have to beat Vice President Kamala Harris, which could alienate the party’s crucial Black voters. The idea Newsom would “take the fight” to Republicans “is laughable,” said Kenneth Khachigian in The Wall Street Journal. He’d have to spend too much of his time in a campaign defending California’s soaring housing and electricity prices, rampant homelessness, and alarming homicide rate.
No Democrat will admit interest while Biden claims to want a second term, said Jack Shafer in Politico, but “there’s an art to being in the mix while saying you’re not.” With 64 percent of Democrats saying they want someone other than Biden to run in 2024, Newsom, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker are clearly trying to raise their profiles. After Newsom wins re-election in November, term limits will prevent his running again. That leaves “only one office suitable for his ambition.”