Gavin Newsom
You look like an angel.
Walk like an angel.
Talk like an angel.
But I got wise,
You’re the devil in disguise,
Oh yes you are,
The devil in disguise.
Devil in Disguise - Elvis Presley (1963)
…..
The press is obsessed with the Trump indictments, as they are with all things Donald Trump. I have nothing to add on that subject that you have not already heard. I believe there are now ten candidates in the Republican presidential primary and there is lots of chatter about whether any of the nine not named Trump can beat him. But while all that is in the headlines, there is something going on about 10 pages deep in the news that may be as or more significant.
That “something” is Gavin Newsom.
Newsom was just comfortably reelected to his second term as governor of California. He is term-limited and cannot run again. The governors of California, Texas, Florida and New York (the 4 largest states) are always considered as potential presidential candidates, so it is no surprise that Newsom is on that list.
However, we all know that President Biden has announced that he is running for reelection and reordered the Democrat primaries in order to favor his chances. Incumbents of either party running for reelection as president are rarely challenged in a primary. The last exception I can think of was when former California Governor Ronald Reagan challenged then President Gerald Ford in 1976. Reagan’s challenge failed as did Ford’s reelection bid in the general election.
Accordingly, the only official challenge to Joe Biden on the Democrat side is RFK, Jr, who has lots of name ID but is not a major Democratic figure. Gavin Newsom obviously is a big Democratic figure. So, Newsom is officially not running for president.
But…
He recently proposed a “28th amendment” to the constitution which would effectively amend the second amendment to put a bunch of restrictions on the purchase and ownership of guns. What business does a governor have proposing a federal amendment upon which he doesn’t even have a vote? He has been running ads in Florida and Texas about how much better California is under his leadership. He has been going mano-a-mano with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on any number of issues including immigration, abortion, the business climate, taxes and gender identity.
Sure sounds like good things to do if you plan to be running for president.
And then this week, he agreed to do an “interview” with Fox News’ Sean Hannity in the governor’s mansion in Sacramento. I watched it all. It was really not an interview but more of a debate as Hannity kept challenging him on issues and Newsom would fire right back with questions for Hannity.
My observations? Damn, Newsom is good.
I was on a fairly successful debate team in High School and prepped Arnold Schwarzenegger for both of his gubernatorial debates. So, figuring out who won a debate is not new to me. This one was not close. Newsom won.
Please understand, I do not like Newsom one bit and hate virtually everything he has done with and to my former home state of California. But as a political professional, I have to admire someone who practices the art as well as he does. On the border (on which Hannity spent too much time IMHO), he kept coming back to “comprehensive immigration reform.” That is like saying “make the economy better.” Everyone wants it but no one knows how you mean to do it. He “owned” (his word) the homeless problem in California. He defended the tax rates as “passed by the people” (true) and consistent with progressive principles of taxing the wealthy more. When faced with the declining population in California vs. the rising population in Florida, he cited a statistic that more Floridians moved to California last year than Californians moved to Florida. While not addressing the issue directly, it is a good argument. He took credit for the size of California’s economy and that it may soon pass that of Germany, although he did not highlight that that is mainly because the German economy is in recession. When asked about his famous “French Laundry” dinner during the lockdowns that he imposed on everyone else, he simply admitted that it was a terrible “mistake.”
I could go on. Biden, Pelosi, Obama and Schumer regularly lied in their speeches and pronouncements. I could not identify a single direct untruth in his hour with Hannity. He skillfully fouled off wild pitches and hit the fastballs for extra bases.
I believe that a better, smarter conservative, such as a Ben Shapiro, would easily win a debate with Newsom. Hannity made a number of unforced errors. But give credit to Newsom for going behind enemy lines for a fight, and then to win.
So, what I am getting at by telling you this? I have zero inside information, but I have to think maybe Gavin knows something that suggests to him that Biden is not going to still be in the race by January. Or maybe, he’s preparing in case a new candidate has to be chosen by the convention due to a Biden health or legal problem. Their convention isn’t until late August in Chicago. Hannity tried to get Newsom to say something bad about Biden and he wouldn’t do it. The only question he would not answer, was how many people were asking him to run. If I were a Democratic operative, I would much rather see the young, adept governor of California as my standard bearer than the decrepit current president. Newsom’s performance on Fox put that on display for all to see. The extremely hard-left San Francisco Chronicle said that Hannity “brought out the best in Newsom.”
Additionally, Newsom showed just how good he can be on a national stage. And he is good. As screwed up as California is and as his policies are, he managed to present them in the best possible light and to show some humility for those issues that “aren’t fixed yet.”
Newsom scares me. I think dominos may fall to where he becomes the Democratic nominee, which no one is talking about now. He is slick, smart, polished, young, vibrant and not incumbered by any actual principles of governing. He would be much, much harder to beat than Biden. As I say all this, the legislature in California is passing a bill that will make a parent who refuses to recognize or allow surgery for a minor child’s gender transition, guilty of a crime equivalent to physical abuse or starving the child. The state can take the child away from the parents, award custody to a “gender-affirming” parent and charge the parent(s) with a crime. I suspect Newsom, thinking of a primary, will sign it. That is the sort of policy that would be on the ballot with Newsom.
Beware. He truly is “the devil in disguise.”
I remain respectfully,
Congressman John Campbell
Drive Fast & Live Free