With President Joe Biden’s abysmal debate performance last week, many Democrats are hoping someone other than Biden can be the Democratic candidate for president in November.
Among the most frequently suggested is none other than California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has clearly made an effort to establish himself as a national leader of the Democratic Party.
From his unusual debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last year to purchasing ads in Republican-led states to his frequent positioning as a public surrogate for the Biden campaign, that Newsom has an eye on the White House has been evident for some time.
As the New York Times recently put it in a piece identifying Newsom as a potential replacement for Biden, “He is an accomplished campaigner from a big state who has used his platform in Sacramento — and appearances on national television — to make the case against Mr. Trump and for the Democratic Party.”
Indeed, for all of his faults, Newsom has proven politically successful in California. He rose up the political ranks with ease, from mayor of San Francisco to lieutenant governor to governor. He has successfully rebuffed a recall attempt and has steered a number of ballot measures to victory.
But does that mean Newsom actually has what it takes to run for president of the United States? In a word, no.
It is true that Newsom has been politically successful. But he’s been politically successful in a one-party state where he’s rarely been seriously challenged by either significant political coalitions or the press.
The results of his leadership speak for themselves.
On his watch, the state of California has thrown around billions of dollars on homelessness, with minimal attention to cost-effectiveness, only to yield surging homelessness populations. The result has been immense suffering on the streets of the once great state of California for the whole world to see.
On his watch, the state of California has spent record numbers of dollars on K-12 education, with most students failing to meet the state’s own standards on grade-appropriate reading, mathematics or science skills.
On his watch, violent crime, motor vehicle thefts and shoplifting have surged across the state. Only when he began to feel some political heat did he begin to gesture toward doing something about it. Unfortunately, Californians have since had to get used to seeing more and more items at the store locked up while criminals go free.
Finally facing a difficult budget cycle, Californians have seen Newsom play shell games with the budget in a way that seems almost designed to put off any hard decisions as long as there’s a possibility he might have a shot at replacing Biden on the presidential ticket.
Newsom, of course, isn’t without his scandals. From dining with lobbyists at the French Laundry during the COVID pandemic to cutting crooked deals with the state prison guard union to the legal corruption of corporations “donating” massive amounts of money to a nonprofit founded by his wife.
Newsom might have the look of a president-in-the-making, but his record is one of incompetence and opportunism, not leadership. He has been a failure as governor of California and it is a sad reflection of the state of national politics that anyone would seriously entertain the idea of a Newsom presidential campaign.
