Telepeer

Mind your own state, Governor Gavin Newsom

April 12, 2023

In an interview with former White House spokesperson and now MSNBC host Jen Psaki, Gov. Gavin Newsom offered some political advice to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“I’d tell him to pack up and wait a few years,” he said. “And actually do some of the hard work, which actually includes governing, not identity and culture wars.”

Newsom could well have been talking about himself.

The governor offered those remarks while on a multi-state tour funded by his newly formed political action committee to fight “rising authoritarianism” — or to raise his national profile for a future presidential campaign — depending on one’s naivete.

To be sure, both Gov. Newsom and Gov. DeSantis have a knack for grabbing national headlines over big culture war fights.

DeSantis has sparred with Disney for opposing a Florida law restricting discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity to young children. DeSantis has also signed legislation banning transgender athletes from participating in sports intended for biological women and girls.

Newsom, for his part, has purchased billboards in Republican states advertising California as a sanctuary for women seeking abortion in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling giving states the authority to restrict or permit abortion. Newsom has signed legislation offering “sanctuary” protections for transgender minors seeking medical procedures in California from other states.

Reasonable people can differ on the appropriate policy approaches to hot button culture war issues. But the reality is that both Newsom and DeSantis have participated in the culture war, scoring plenty of political points for their efforts.

Newsom, obviously, has been eager to establish himself as a national Democratic figure and possible successor to President Joe Biden.

About this time last year, Newsom began unloading on the national Democratic Party after the leak of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, saying, “Where the hell is my party? Where’s the Democratic Party? … Why aren’t we calling this out? This is a concerted, coordinated effort. And, yes, [Republicans are] winning.”

Indeed, Newsom spent much of last year trying to grab the national spotlight by needling his own part, prompting some warnings from loyalists to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. “I like what Newsom is doing, but I don’t want him to be Icarus, and sometimes he gets too close to the sun,” one Harris loyalist told Politico last year.

Newsom obviously hasn’t let up the perpetual campaigning.

Meanwhile, the big issues facing California when he was first elected lieutenant governor, of all things, still persist. From high housing costs and homelessness to high rates of poverty and poorly performing K-12 schools, California has no shortage of serious problems that demand serious focus from the governor.

Longtime political observers are no doubt mindful of Newsom’s historical tendency to boldly promise major results, only to get bored and move on to the next issue. In 2008, then-Mayor Newsom pledged to end chronic homelessness in San Francisco. We all know how that went.

Four years ago, as governor, he called for a “Marshall Plan for affordable housing” and said it was time to “get real” about the high-speed rail project. Four years later, the housing crisis is as challenging as ever and the bullet train has only ballooned in costs and been delayed further.

So, before Newsom tries to lecture the rest of the country, he should mind his own store.

Orange County Register

News Details

Mind your own state, Governor Gavin Newsom

News

CONTACT INFO

QUICK LINKS

SERVICES

CURRENT NEWS