Governor Gavin Newsom of California is the anti-heroic egomaniac who might just revive the Democratic Party.
Newsom does not seem to tolerate the facade of good-faith politics as well as many Democrats do. For a long time, Democrats have adhered to the “when they go low, we go high” ideology coined by former First Lady Michelle Obama in 2016. Not Newsom, though. When they go low, Newsom says “race you to the bottom.” Just as Trump slashes through red tape and disregards niceties, Newsom too is ready to play dirty.
The Democratic Party has been struggling with direction since former President Barack Obama left office in 2016. A party once hailed for uplifting the working class has lost touch with the average American, claiming to represent their interest while simultaneously catering their campaigns to wealthy, educated voters. This chaos became personified in the 2020 Democratic primaries. Anyone who was anyone tossed their hat in the ring to be the next president. Over 25 major candidates declared their candidacies, and former President Joe Biden came out on top.
For many, Biden was the safe pick in a time when Americans craved safety. Biden carried the country through to 2024, but his weaknesses were clear: he was a familiar face, but he could not be the future of the Democratic Party.
Now, the Democratic Party is at a crossroads again. With the uncertainty of a new pandemic behind us and increasing concern over President Donald Trump’s health, political old-timers are less appealing going into the 2028 general elections. Despite an effortful campaign from former Vice President Kamala Harris, she failed to prove how her approach would be different from Biden’s mild manner.
At 57-years-old, Newsom is an infant relative to Trump or Biden and is the cowboy of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). In the wild west of politics, he will achieve some Democratic Party objectives, but runs the risk of causing damage in the process or going rogue completely.
In August, the Texas Legislature passed a plan to redraw the state’s congressional map that could help Republicans win five more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Trump pushed for the redistricting in July, and the move faced widespread criticism from Democratic politicians. Where many politicians would have rolled over and accepted the uphill battle in the midterm elections, Newsom signed a plan to redistrict California to help win Democrats five more seats in Congress.
The state leaders both erred in redistricting. Texas’ push to redraw maps to placate the president’s wishes does not serve the people, nor does a retaliatory map from California. Both depart from the custom of redistricting following the census at the top of each decade.
However, if there is one overarching theme from the Trump Administration, it is departure from custom. Under Trump, there is seemingly constant action that tests the Constitution, from deploying the National Guard in D.C. just weeks ago to the infamous “Muslim ban” of 2017. If Trump wants to pass policy, he seems ready to force an executive order and worry about the legal consequences later.
In his retaliation, Newsom showed that he is ready to wield his full executive power, even at the cost of convention. This move was condemnable but somewhat satisfying; it feels like finally Trumployalists might get a taste of their own medicine.
Like many battles Trump has fought, his ongoing skirmish with Newsom is also well-documented online.
In the last few weeks, Newsom’s social media team has adopted Trump’s online persona, presumably to mock Trump while also publicizing the work Newsom has done in office. The governor posts on X in Trump’s style of perplexing capitalization and sporadic punctuation.
It is clear that these schoolyard taunts have bruised Trump’s ego; he revived Newsom’s disparaging nickname —“Newscum” — and suggested that the governor should be arrested. In this epic and immature game of political chicken, Newsom challenged Trump to arrest him.
Newsom’s imitation of the president has gone as far as selling licensed merchandise inspired by products available to purchase on Trump’s website. What started out as inflammatory social media posts has turned into a satirical product line to support the Newsom campaign including a t-shirt depicting Newsom as “the chosen one” touched by an angelic Hulk Hogan.
Past campaigns have shown that adhering to political convention is not an effective tool at thwarting Trump and his cronies.
Newsom has taken on the massive challenge of out-playing Trump at his own game, and though deplorable, he could be crazy enough to win.