I think we should applaud him for using the levers of power he has to try to fight for the party in this moment. And, personally, I do feel less inclined to fling shit at him while he's a standout for trying to do something useful, in the absence of an active, plausible primary challenge to him by someone better.
OTOH, I'd never tell anyone to withhold criticism. That's been a tool of the center to suppress the left for a long time now and it's counter-productive to finding candidates and platforms people actually want to vote for. Trusting that the establishment are the rationale adults in the room making pragmatic, best decisions and telling your base to shut up and expect nothing and that they're making us lose by asking for better is a great way to depress voter turnout. Hopefully at this point the credibility of the rational centrist crowd is well and truly shattered.
Any and all of Newsom sucking, him doing something good, him being one of the better options on the table, and that we should be looking for better options to replace him with can be true. I certainly hope not to be voting for him in the 2028 primary, because that would say depressing things about the field of candidates.
Yeah, the Newsom thing is a bit complex. I’ve been observing the guy for decades, since he was mayor of San Francisco. Based on that body of work, I’m convinced that he’s an utterly amoral, power-driven creature of politics. He’d sell out his own mother if he thought it was politically expedient. He sold out the homeless and trans folks, and he’d sell out you or me if he thought it would get him any benefit whatsoever. He sucks for many reasons, and his past marriage to Guilfoyle, while very funny, is at the bottom of the list.
That being said, I’m glad that he’s decided that it’s to his political benefit to take on Trump as aggressively as he has. We need every bit of pushback we can get, and I’ll gladly accept it from him.
But I’m under no illusions that he’s doing it to preserve democracy, or in the interests of the people, or anything like that. If he subsequently calculates that appeasing or aligning with Trump is in his political interest, I expect him to flip instantly.
Meanwhile, he’s not the only Democratic governor to take forceful action against Trump and his minions. J.B. Pritzker has been fighting the good fight for quite a while now, and AFAIK doesn’t have nearly the baggage of Newsom. Wes Moore has pushed back hard against Trump’s threats to deploy the National Guard in Maryland. Many others (e.g. Tim Walz) are speaking forcefully against Trump, and still others are initiating or joining litigation against the regime. So it’s not like Newsom is the only one fighting or our only hope.
Assuming there’s anything like a normal election in 2028, I’d very much hope that Newsom isn’t the Democratic nominee. But if he is, I’d still support and vote for the guy, because he’s not Trump.
https://apple.news/AQUn12kLfSUawYdoU2ML32A
