Gavin Newsom is going low. Is this the future of Democratic campaigns?
@GavinNewsom is the personal, and very active, X account of the governor of California, a presumptive Democratic presidential candidate in 2028. And it has become quite spicy of late.
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For most of his six and a half years in office, Newsom's social media persona was what you might expect from any governor — serious, informative, self-promotional. But his public persona began to evolve earlier this year, in what many observers saw as an attempt to broaden his appeal nationally beyond the Democratic base.
For example, in February he launched a podcast in which he held rap sessions with MAGA influencers — such as conservative activist
But the common-ground approach took a back seat in June after President Trump federalized the National Guard and sent US Marines into Los Angeles to 'protect' immigration agents as they conducted aggressive immigration raids. The governor was understandably angered by the assault on his state and its people, and he was no longer willing to hide it. The gloves came off, replaced by a set of virtual brass knuckles. Among many other recent posts, Newsom has taunted Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as
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Newsom has apparently decided that the way to beat the White House trolls is to out-troll them.
'I think it's smart,' said Mike Madrid, a California-based Republican political strategist and a cofounder of the Lincoln Project, a political action committee formed by moderate conservatives dedicated to opposing Trump (though he's not involved with it now). He noted that the gutter is the current arena of American politics, and if you want to be a player, you have to get a little dirty, like it or not.
Besides, Democrats have been dying for a leader who will fight back effectively against the president's increasingly ugly rhetoric.
So far, Newsom's snarkiness appears to be paying off. A
Have other Democrats adopted the Newsom approach? 'Not yet,' Madrid said, 'but they will.' Oof. If this is the future of presidential campaigns, it's going to be a muddy few years.
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Steve Maviglio, a Democratic political consultant in Sacramento, says he's not a fan of Newsom's strategy. 'To me, it's the little dog barking at the big dog trying to get his attention,' Maviglio told me.
But what troubles both Maviglio and Madrid (and me) is that Newsom is considering going beyond warring with words and is flirting with the same sneaky tactics as his political opponents by subverting the mission of the state's independent redistricting process.
In response to the
Intentionally rigging districts, whether or not you convince voters to play along, is pretty stinky. Not only does this follow the same playbook Trump and his GOP allies have employed, but it could
But who knows? Maybe the only way to win the White House in the near future is to be as tricksy as the other guy. So far, no Democrat has figured out another method to effectively compete with MAGA.
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They go low, we go high? That's old school.
They go low, we go lower? Perhaps. Heaven help us.
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