Would Gavin Newsom be a good president?: The California governor isn’t running for president, although he’s sort of acting like he is. Does Newsom have what it takes to be the post-Biden Democratic standard bearer?
Here Comes Gavin Newsom
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is not running for president in 2024.
He has been clear that he is supporting President Biden for re-election, and has joined the entirety of the Democratic elected establishment in opting not to run against the president.
That said, Newsom has been doing a lot of presidential candidate-like things, such as taking steps to position himself as a national figure.
He has stumped for and raised money for candidates in states far away from California, and sent email blasts with subjects like “Freedom,” “Book Bans,” and “Stop and Look at This Map.” Newsom also recently launched a political action committee called Campaign for Democracy.
He’s also gotten into a high-profile feud with another governor, Ron DeSantis, which both lays out a contrast between their very different approaches to state governance, but also raises the idea of Newsom being a presidential candidate because, after all, DeSantis is one as well.
“He’s taking his eye off the ball,” Newsom recently said of DeSantis, per the AP. “And that’s not inconsistent with my own assessment of him, which is he is a weak candidate, and he is undisciplined and will be crushed by Donald Trump, and will soon be in third or fourth in national polls.” DeSantis, for his part, called for Newsom to launch a primary challenge to Biden.
That’s not going to happen, once again, and Newsom’s efforts have been coordinated with those of the Biden team, the AP story said.
“Newsom is not going to run against Joe Biden and never would. But life is long, and Newsom is one of the prominent national Democrats. It’s part of that role to have these big national battles,” Newsom ally Nathan Ballard told the AP.
Whether Biden wins or loses in 2024, there will likely be a wide-open primary battle for the Democratic nomination in 2028 (unless, of course, Kamala Harris will have ascended to the presidency ahead of schedule.)
Harris and Newsom, five years in advance, can likely be called the early favorites in that race; those two Bay Area politicians have a long history with each other. There are numerous Democratic governors — Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, Colorado’s Jared Polis, and Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker — who are also possible presidential contenders, as well as other names who likely have not yet surfaced. After all, very few had heard of Barack Obama, five years before he ran for and won the presidency.
But how strong a candidate is Newsom?
Yes, he’s the prominent governor of a major state, who has been good at raising money and winning elections, first for mayor of San Francisco, then as lieutenant governor, and then governor; he even successfully defeated a recall effort in 2021.
But Newsom has baggage as well, whether it’s his embarrassing flouting of COVID restrictions in 2020, a big sex scandal that happened when he was mayor, and his past marriage to Kimberly Guilfoyle, now the fiancee of Donald Trump, Jr., and a prominent MAGA figure.
Journalist Josh Barro, in his Substack newsletter last fall, made the case against Newsom, arguing that the governor is “Gross and Embarrassing and Will Never Be President.”
“The biggest reason Newsom’s antics bother me is that he would be a really bad candidate for Democrats, whether in 2024, 2028, or thereafter,” Barro wrote. “Who exactly is Newsom a candidate for? Is Gavin Newsom supposed to help the Democratic Party retain what support it has among non-college white voters in the Midwest? Does he particularly excite black or Hispanic voters? Is he supposed to appeal to moderate suburban women who are worried about which political party is going to go too far? What kind of crossover appeal has he ever demonstrated?”
Barro went on to rip Newsom as “a replacement-level liberal California Democrat with no especially appealing backstory, ideology, or dedicated support base to differentiate him… He’s practically the opposite of Relatable Joe from Scranton — an effete, sleazy, high-handed liberal from San Francisco who seems like he might hit on your wife if she’s hot.”
Should Gavin Newsom ever be a major Democratic candidate for president, expect these issues to come up, fairly frequently.
Expertise and Experience: Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
From 19FortyFive
The Second American Civil War Has Begun
