Why Gov. Newsom will never be president
If Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis are going to create space for hate and human rights violations, then why should anyone complain about California Gavin Newsom creating spaces that protect the rest of us?
That's the question that should be posed to California pundits who have responded with knee-jerk cynicism to Newsom's many interventions on behalf of Trump's targets. These pundits describe the governor's forays into national disputes over abortion, immigration and LGBTQ rights as political ploys — performed in service of presidential ambitions.
The truth is the opposite. Whether he's trumpeting a proabortion stance on out-of-state billboards or banning statefunded travel to places hostile to LGTBQ people, Newsom is actually throwing away whatever chances he might have had of being president.
Getting elected president, if you're a Democrat, is about softpedaling divisive issues, and building broad, diverse coalitions. That's how Barack Obama and Joe Biden won the White House. But Newsom's blasts into cultural politics divide the country and make enemies.
While picking fights with Trump and like-minded governors might be good politics, Newsom is also calling out national Democrats, including Biden, for not being combative enough. And his national battles are hurting his presidential chances.
So why is Newsom, of all people, sacrificing his chances?
There are three possible explanations.
The first explanation is that Newsom simply can't help himself.
The governor has always lacked discipline, ignoring basic rules of political communication.
He uses three big words when one short one will do. He's often a witness against himself, volunteering arguments against his own policies. He offers too many details, like an overeager waiter at his restaurants, telling you about all the specials, when you just want to order.
Newsom's self-indulgence has verged into personal recklessnes — he had an affair with a top aide's wife, and dined maskless at the French Laundry during the pandemic.
That's the ugly side of Newsom's undiscipline. But there is an admirable side to it, too — which leads me to the second explanation. While wise politicians try to avoid fights, Newsom tends to jump into disputes, and draw fire to himself. Why? I can't read his mind or put this child of divorce on a psychiatrist's couch. But, reviewing his speeches, I believe that Newsom often intervenes when he feels someone needs protection.
Just go back and look at his endless budget news conferences, where he explains almost every expenditure in defensive language. He is constantly protecting — the climate, the environment, the homeless, children, this community, that interest group.
This protective instinct is why he's jumped into national politics. If media are going to give the Trumpists space to spew hate, attack democracy, and spread fear among women and immigrants and gay people, how can he sit on the sidelines?
His recent decision to place billboards — paid for with his own campaign money, in seven states that eliminated abortion rights — is a perfect example of the Newsomian mindset. The boards tell women that California will protect their right to bodily autonomy and to abortion. If such boards turn off Ohio and Florida voters — whom a Democratic presidential contender will need someday — so what?
Let me be clear: These interventions aren't heroic. Here at home, his national blasts are good politics, feeding his base. And contrary to critics who say Newsom's national forays distract from his duties to Californians, the governor's national fights actually help him do his job. How? By keeping him in the spotlight, which has allowed him to make a public case for his wildly ambitious agenda.
But Newsom's California supremacy is poison in the other 49 states, where Americans can't accept the truth that we really do know better.
That's why Newsom is not sacrificing much when he sabotages his future White House prospects. A Californian doesn't have much chance at the presidency anyway. And Newsom is demographically wrong for a Democratic Party that desperately needs to nominate more women and people of color.
But Newsom is perfectly cast to call out while male political bullies.
And who knows? While he'll never be America's president, he still could lead a nation someday.
If our state and the rest of the country grow further apart, it's not hard to imagine Newsom as the first president of an independent California Republic.