Politico does a piece questioning if the Califonia Democratic Governor is setting up a 2024 Presidential run , or?
Just trying to become a Democratic national factor ?
Personally?
I think piece is trying to be have things both ways if he runs or doesn’t…..
Newsom ain’t just punching at Florida and DeSantis, the Republicans first alternate to Trump, for fun….
THE BUZZ: By diverting a negligible share of his re-election fund to Florida, Gov. Gavin Newsom secured more attention than any California spot will achieve.
Newsom’s cameo on Floridians’ July 4 Fox airwaves followed a simple political calculus. For the price of a fleeting TV buy that cost a fraction of his campaign warchest, the Democratic governor commanded national media coverage and stoked another round of feverish speculation about his presidential ambitions. In a way, the message was beside the point. The attention and the reaction drowned it out.
That message — Florida is spiraling in the wrong direction, come to California instead — is unlikely to persuade many conservative media consumers to pack moving trucks and depart Florida for the Golden State. Republicans in Florida and beyond laughed it off, noting in near-unison how Florida has added residents in recent years while California has bled population (costing the state a House seat).
But it fit perfectly into Newsom’s ongoing quest to stake out a national role as the leader of a state whose progressive agenda provides a concrete alternative to former President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a conservative Supreme Court or any other rightwing foil. Newsom has always thrived on assailing Republican leaders, trading constant blows with the Trump administration and going after Florida with particular relish. For both Newsom and counterpunching Republicans, it’s all-upside politics that pleases the base with minimal risk.
Recent Supreme Court decisions have upped the incentives. Landmark rulings on abortion, gun rights and the environment have deepened the cleavages between red and blue America. This November, Newsom is likely to be resoundingly elected for a third time (if you count the recall) to lead the largest Democratic state. And he is combatively highlighting the distinction. He announced he was signing gun restrictions on Friday with a tweeted video message directed not at his constituents but at his ideological foes: “To members of the United States Supreme Court, to right-wing Republicans all across this country: do you have no common decency?”
As for the inevitable “he’s running” declarations: we’ve covered before the reasons to believe Newsom’s insistence that he has “subzero interest” in seeking the White House in 2024. Principally that he’s no dummy. The governor and his team understand Newsom’s potential path is narrow given that it would mean running through fellow Californian and Vice President Kamala Harris (should President Joe Biden choose not to seek another term). But Newsom needn’t be seeking the presidency to see the benefits of some national profile-elevation. It’s what he’s always done. And with a likely cruise to a second term freeing him up politically, what’s the downside…
Note….
We’ll wait for the Biden/Newsom polls that are bound to come sooner or later …