Is it just me? (It... is, isn't it?)
This shouldn't take long. To read nor to disagree with.
So, by now, if you're reading this tertiary approach to the topic, you may have already learned of recent views expressed by Adam Carolla regarding Gavin Newsom, as well as regarding living in California in general.
I'll be honest, while I have somewhat less of a personal reaction to Adam Carolla, other than he's made me laugh sometimes.. I honestly am kind of conflicted about Gavin Newsom. His debate against DeSantis was a satisfyingly brutal takedown.. one which I believed really helped turn the tide on reducing the toxic opposition, thus for which I was undeniably grateful.. but.. aside from deploying him as a powerful resource in certain Pro-Democracy contexts, thus perhaps a political player not to be dispensed with.. I have, I'll admit, similarly gotten strong narcissistic cues from him.. and.. some of the moves he's made against working class in this state, especially during the strikes.. moves which, no doubt, benefited the studios to which he seems beholden, were pretty revealing moves. (Not a shocker to me since they have a lot of political influence in California, thus nor is finding that some politicians might be duly swayed at the expense of some of his or her constituents to be surprising).
It's clear he's ambitious. Ambition can be great in one's career. But to me, ambition & savvy for one's own political gain, doesn't necessarily always translate to genuine virtuous passion for the people. And he has this way of making moves like this which smack of not quite being.. for the people.. then seemingly & cynically going for a virtue signal move immediately after, almost as if to grab a headline right afterwards to distract from & obscure the previous one that really sucked & fundamentally worked against the people.. while maybe not so much against his personal political gain.
I worry that after this nightmare with Trump in our lives, we as a population will be like that person who just got out of an abusive relationship, then thinks they're getting into another one with someone who looks & seems so much different.. only to learn they're just a better looking, more polished variant of the previous one. Maybe not even as bad. But kind of not great.
I don't want to give up shrewdness in evaluating a candidate from this point forward, just because they're a Democrat. Especially when noticing red flags, ones which may have us being vulnerable to choosing to look the other way out of desperation for being afraid of another Trump/maga/Republican.
Just my honest impressions here.
As an alternative potential political candidate who I've, within my own likely obscure opinion, thought for awhile would make for a true salt-of-the-earth powerhouse:
if AWU's Shawn Fain were ever to make his foray into general politics from those of union leadership.. imho, what a compelling running mate he'd make for a Kamala Harris presidential ticket.
But, yeah.. I'll be somewhat worried if Gavin throws his hat in. After our collective trauma from maga Republicans, he's uncannily the perfect lure of slickness, looks, and yes savvy intelligence, for us to fall prey to overlooking red flags, leading to later a regret/potential presidency which Republicans are 4 years later roundly able to criticize due to its disillusioning administrative impact, Republicans thus have the leverage in the public eye after an unexpectedly regretted Newsom presidency, for them to retake the White House post the theoretical Newsom 1st term. And then, things really get bad. Again.
I know this may not be a popular opinion amongst my fellow liberal compatriots. I know I'm not above being wrong. It's just in this type of assessment of human behavior, I've experienced being wrong for doubting my instincts significantly more often than I have for trusting them. And often they include assessing popular reaction to the person in question. So respect to others that may have strong feelings against my instincts. Nevertheless, I've been more committed to trusting mine in my later years. But I'm not above having my mind changed. Though my instincts towards this situation would duly have to change along with my mind, so to speak. And thus far, this is simply where they've remained & have been for a little while regarding Newsom.
I've further noted fallout from items on his non-political resume, so to speak, that have added to my sense of given pause regarding the effect he seems to bring to circumstances, including how he usually starts off so reasonably & understandably appealing to others.
One person, upon hearing my impression of Governor Newsom, made the point... that Gavin Newsom is better than Trump.
I definitely agree with that. I consider that a separate point. Not wrong. Just not the one I'm making, that's not really counter to it. Mine is more of a democratic primary "who do we pick out of all the other Democrats that may run" context. But yes, by far, he is not the same category as concerns I have about Donald Trump in any sense whatsoever. Just its own separate conversation, what I submit is crucial food-for-thought to start digesting now, for when we're later choosing the next Democrat to run for president in our primaries. And our mind is already starting to get hooked into an unquestioned would-be presumption of Gavin Newsom's eventual unquestioned inevitability of his being the Democratic presidential candidate behind which we build up for a beginning campaign, one favored more than any others whom we would in the beginning of such a campaign. And also, as mentioned before, I am open to my mind being changed about him. But these things have a way of getting seeded years in advance before everyone really realizes... a bad seed... eventually rooting itself into taking on too much of a life of its own in the minds of the American public to stop the train years later when it becomes really... *really* crucial... to not have to stop the train during the period when it can no longer be very effectively stopped. It's in part also about never giving the Republicans any catastrophic Democratic misstep for them to capitalize on that enables us into another one-term presidency, as opposed to a two-term presidency with someone that we all can feel will be much more beyond reproach... than someone we might have otherwise had the savvy ahead of time to avoid giving Republicans that kind of "in" years later. One of the often discussed and conceded powerful aspects to the Republican party's successful strategies, such as their taking over the Supreme Court, Congress, etc... is that they lay the groundwork... *years*... sometimes *decades* in advance. They play long form chess.. then... 15 years later spring a checkmate on us. Boom.
Here we are now with the Supreme Court that McCarthy was so adamant about focusing on stacking, above any other branch of government. "Why?" many people may have asked and/or wondered then. Why wasn't he focused more on even the presidency being a lock? But instead more so on the Supreme Court? Here we are several years later with our revealed answer staring us right in the face: 50 years of precedent eradicated in Roe v Wade. And everything else that's coming down the pike. Republican McCarthy played the long game. And we are struggling to make sure that this blindsiding effect doesn't throw our country into the irretrievable chasm of governmental abyss. We need to play the long game. And we need to be extremely... extremely shrewd about who we start developing a foundation for a presidential run... now. And we need to start reevaluating our leanings and favoritisms that are already forming right now, and nip any bad ones in the bud... now. We cannot let the Republicans capitalize on a misstep that we make by being swept away with a charisma of someone who would leave us open to being critically obliterated two terms from now. Project 2025 is... *always*... waiting.
And has been for literally decades.
I'll be standing attentively by watching to see how events carry forward from here regarding Gavin Newsom, hopefully, my not even having the chance to see if my instincts were right... or if I do have the chance... hoping that they're wrong.
Nobody's perfect, after all. And if Gavin Newsom continues to rise in the ranks, as high as the office of presidency one day, and ends up being the best thing to happen to America in defiance of any of my concerns and instincts... and not a disappointing blindside to a Democratic party that would elect him, regrettably leading to the perfect moment for Republicans to swoop in, collect off of the spoils of disillusionment, and be perfectly positioned to reinitiate the transition into Project 2025... then I'll be happy to be wrong and subsequently experience why we ended up being so fortunate to call him our president.
And I'll definitely owe him an apology for having written this.
(Truth be told... I'll be at peace even if he wouldn't accept said apology. And wouldn't be shocked, much less, offended were he not to even know why I'd owe him one. No worries. Right or wrong, apology warranted, accepted, or not... all good. As long as the country is, too.)
Latest move from Gavin Newsom continuing this article's theme:
