Gavin Newsom's Telling You He's Not Running

We can talk about 2028 later.

The mainstream media seem fundamentally bored with the prospect of a Joe Biden/Kamala Harris 2024 Democratic ticket. That’s a bummer for them, as that’s the ticket and it’s not changing. Robert F. Kennedy has a better shot at winning the Republican nomination, and there’s very little Marianne Williamson momentum.

Yes, President Biden is 80 years old, as I’m legally required to mention, but he’s running. There’s nothing we can do about it but make sure he wins re-election because the alternative is literally the end of democracy — and not just for Black people. A lot of white folks (women, LGBTQ, teachers) would join us at the back of the Trump bus.

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On CNN this week, David Axelrod, the Andrew Ridgeley of Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, drooled over California Gov. Gavin Newsom and suggested that the 55-year-old’s unrelenting hotness only reminds voters that Biden is old, withered, and grotesque.

“Yeah, I mean, I’m sure the White House is very gratified for some of the things that he’s saying,” Axelrod said. “I don’t know that they’d be as enthusiastic about his ubiquitous presence on the air. It’s sort of like, just at the time when Democrats are concerned about their aging, you know, spouse, here comes young neighbor. Young, strapping potential partner.”

Where the hell is he going with this? I don’t wanna fuck the president. I want to stop Stephen Miller from returning to the White House. Let’s keep our eyes on the ball here.

There’s also no evidence supporting the idea that Biden is so vain he wants every Democrat younger than he is — an admittedly substantial list — locked away in a Grimms’ fairy tale tower.

Axelrod’s comments were weird because when CNN’s Dana Bash interviewed Newsom last week, he pretty much acted like Joe Biden’s hype man. He mocked Republicans’ sham impeachment efforts, and he unequivocally stated that he wasn’t planning a 2024 presidential run.

“The answer is no,” Newsom said. “No ambiguity.”

When Bash accused Newsom of “downplaying” concerns about Biden’s age, which CNN confirms is “old,” Newsom dropped some Shakespeare-sonnet-level poetry on her.

“I remember Bobby Kennedy said it best: ‘What the world needs are the qualities of youth, not a time of life, but a state of mind, a quality of imagination.’ I couldn’t imagine three years ago that this president could accomplish so much in such a short period of time …. I want a seasoned pro who can get things done. I’m a little old fashioned. I want a guy who can produce results.”

Newsom also said that Harris “absolutely” should remain on the 2024 presidential ticket.

“I think this administration in the last two and a half years has been one of the most outstanding administrations in the last few decades, and she’s a member of that administration. She gets to lay and claim credit to a lot of that success.”

This is actually more compelling than “Biden is stuck with Harris, so what can we do?” or “If you even talk about replacing Harris, you’re racist.” He directly links Harris to the Biden administration’s considerable accomplishments and makes the practical argument that she’s the best standard bearer for those accomplishments in the event Biden, who the media informs us is very old, can’t run for some reason.

Newsom hammered these points further during an interview Tuesday with Chris Cuomo, who apparently has a job again:

On the basis of being able to lay claim to the success and the record of the Biden administration. You can’t claim that, I can’t claim that. The Biden-Harris administration. She gets to talk about the 13.5 million jobs. She gets to talk about $1.7 trillion reduction of the deficit and a trillion dollars as part of the debt deal. She gets to talk about the success of the Infrastructure Act and the CHIPS and Science Act. She gets to talk about the bipartisan dealmaking of this administration because she’s a member of the administration.

Cuomo asked Newsom directly if he thought “Biden is the best the Democrats can do” and Newsom made it clear that he’s not the party’s back door man.

“I have deep respect, reverence for Joe Biden as a person, his character, his decency, and his capacity to do great things,” he said. “That’s why. I’m not worthy of that conversation. This guy deserves it and we, as members of the party, deserve to have his back.”

Democrats can often struggle to stay on message, but they should all take a lesson here from Newsom: It’s Biden/Harris in 2024.

[Mediaite]

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