Opinion | ‘The Libbiest Lib Who Ever Libbed’

Tell me what you think about Gavin Newsom. I think Newsom has the Hillary Clinton problem, which is that Hillary Clinton was perceived — outside the Democratic Party and Democratic coalition — as the ultimate lib, the libbiest lib who ever lived, and was never actually that much of a lib. And also had a record that was fairly centrist, particularly as a U.S. senator. And that’s the worst uncanny valley for a Democratic politician to be in, where the base doesn’t trust you because you don’t have a kind of organic relationship with the left parts of the party. And then the swing voter just thinks, “That’s a lib.” You want the inverse. You want the person that has authentic relationships with the left parts of the party and the grass roots and also communicates broadly and is viewed as a not particularly partisan or liberal figure — Barack Obama being a good example of that. And I just think right now — and this could change — Newsom has the opposite set of factors. He has made very clear attempts to show that he’s bipartisan, centrist, independent. There’s some stuff he’s done around the billionaire tax and policy around trans folks that have been actual, substantive things he’s done, but —— Moves to the center. Yeah, or to the right, some people would say. But I haven’t seen evidence that that comes through. I just think there’s a reputational thing that’s very problem — also, partly, if you’re just, like, the governor of California, it’s a tough place to get the next Democratic nominee from.