Gavin Newsom’s likely presidential bid is built on broken promises |
Gavin Newsom has stumbled upon the perfect slogan for his likely upcoming presidential campaign: “Strong and Wrong.” In a recent interview, California’s governor said Americans prefer crude politicians like Donald Trump over leaders who cling to niceties and norms.
“Given the choice … the American people always support strong and wrong versus weak and right,” he said.
This explains why Newsom now spends his days mimicking Trump – lobbing crude insults and mockery on social media. The governor – who has confirmed he’s mulling a 2028 run – plans to defeat Trumpism by imitating Trump. His amusing copycat antics have generated media attention, boosted his poll numbers and earned him the label of Democratic “frontrunner”. But the termed-out governor has a reality check in the mail, since his presidential ambitions will soon bring scrutiny of his record. Unfortunately for Newsom, his eight-year tenure as governor offers a buffet of failed hopes and broken promises. The politician who recently blasted world leaders’ responses to Trump as “pathetic” has a talent for talking big but falling short.
Newsom ran for governor in 2018 as an unabashed progressive, bristling with liberal righteousness, under a campaign slogan of “courage for a change”. This seemed like a jab at his predecessor, Governor Jerry Brown, the elder statesman who focused on stabilizing California’s budget after years of massive deficits.
To prove his grit – and to win support from the powerful California nurses’ union – Newsom said he would seek to create a single-payer public healthcare system in the state. When a critic assailed this as a “pipe dream”, Newsom chided their lack of vision.
“I’m tired of politicians saying they support single-payer but that it’s too soon, too expensive or someone else’s problem,” he said.
Then, as governor, he dumped his signature campaign pledge, opting for lesser reforms.
“This is a flip-flop,” said one union........