As compared to what? Is he worse than Trump? I sincerely fucking doubt it.
That’s a ridiculously low bar, but it’s also an important distinction.
Do I want Gavin Newsom to be the Democrat nominee for 2028? Hell no! He’s revealed himself to be a shallow political opportunist and an ideological chameleon. And I think that party can do better.
But regardless, would he be an improvement over Trump? Hell yes!
Another question is: is he - a supposedly populist liberal from California - even electable on a national stage? I don’t think so. But then, we live in very ‘interesting’ times. So who knows.
The third question is: will we have a fair enough election in 2028 (or an election at all)? That remains to be seen.
See this I feel. These articles annoy me because it feels like the dem bad thing but yeah if your talking canidate heck I would love waltz. him being put on as vice president was the main thing that jazzed me a bit with harris. Honestly I did not want my own govenor to run because our state has been such a trump show in the past and its nice being on track for awhile but man we need something decent in the role. I really don’t know enough about newsom to say for sure but he certiainly does not have much going for him outside of using social media to combat trump which is good idea overall. Still unlike republicans I am going to be voting based on someone who I think can actually do a good job in the role rather than score some points.
These do annoy me. Of course Newsom is not the best candidate but they are distracting everyone from how much better that would be than the current shitshow
And I have to ask y’all, are we really going to an insists on an ideal candidate regardless whether they are electable?
I have no idea whether Newsom is but he has name recognition, presidential presence, and a successful “populist” strategy. He has successfully positioned himself as a leading foil of Trump. All that stuff that seem necessary for getting elected even if they have no part in whether they would do well for their constituents. …. And they’re building a train!
I do always wonder if this is just republicans trying to astroturf “both sides the same”.
I think there’s this assumption that the more centrist a dem is, the more electable they are and that may have been true decades ago. Now though? With how polarized the electorate is, people either vote for their party’s candidate or the couch. Trump got roughly the same number of votes in 2024 (77M) as 2020( 74M) maybe he changed some minds; but Harris got 7M fewer votes than biden (81->74). People stayed home. “Not trump” wasn’t enough to get excited about for enough folks, and that’s about all Newsom has to offer
I genuinely believe Bernie is more electable than Newsom. We should give voters some credit
I mean when it comes to primaries I do not vote on electability. I think that is how we get the democrats we have now. Come general though im not going to be supporting the republican by voting for them or not voting. Bernie was the supposed unelectable canidate and I voted for him but come the general I voted for clinton.
As compared to some of the other candidates that might have run if the Democratic Primary were an actual primary and not a coronation.
The last time Democrats ran an actual primary ws 2008, when a young, generational candidate beat out the (kinda boring) establishment choice. Democrats learned their lesson to never let something encouraging like that happen again!
Gavin’s gonna win the Primary, as his right as the Next One Up, and we’re all gonna vote for him, because as awful as he is, he is objectively better than whoever the MAGA party will run.
And this is the exact attitude why nothing will ever change in this country. You can’t keep voting in people hellbent on maintaining the hegemony capital has over everyone and expect anything to get better for you.
In the history of Democratic party, there was exactly one time where the candidate that the DNC chose, actually lost a popular vote. Exactly one.
It was in 2008, when a young, generational candidate actually lost the popular vote by 1% to the (kinda boring) establishment choice, but was chosen anyway.
It’s nice to have this simplistic worldview, when “they” control everything anyway so you don’t have to do anything and just complain when “they” don’t do what you want. It’s harder to confront the reality when “they” actually consist of all the people around you, and the only reason you don’t get what you want is because you don’t do shit.Nice try, but the popular vote doesn’t mean anything in primaries, because the elections are held over a period of time and many candidates drop out mid-way through, so we will never know how many Joe Biden or John Edwards voters would have voted for Obama over Clinton. Clinton did not win a majority of votes, after all.
Obama won a majority of pledged delegates, even before taking the undemocratic Super Delegates into account, and it’s delegates that count.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries
Democrats don’t need to mess with the counting of votes to “fix” primaries. They do it the old fashioned way, by manipulating the primary calendar to make certain candidates inevitable.
Popular vote reflects how people who actually vote think. Candidates aren’t appearing out of thin air, they’re nominated as the result of political campaigns.
You can’t shift the blame for candidates to ambiguous “them” if you didn’t get your ass to try to affect it in any way. The delegates represent pretty nicely the opinion of people who actually vote in Primaries, with almost perfect track record. They don’t represent your opinion because you don’t vote therefore don’t have an opinion. So you don’t get to complain about what party that you’re not in is doing. Want it to change? Use the ways to change it. Those ways aren’t hidden from you, aren’t secret, aren’t gatekeeped by a shadow cabal, you just need to do politics about it. People who get their candidates elected do that.
The best pushback for this message is to post the entire interview between Newsom and Ben Shapiro and then tell me again who cares about people.
So more of that lesser evil bullshit that’s given us trump and helped shift the entire DNC to the right?
Settling for any centrist with a pulse is how we got Trump.
Exactly. I don’t think anyone is putting him on a pedestal, he’s just better than a lot of alternatives. I’m not saying that’s a reason to vote for him, but he’s miles better than literally in the current administration.
No, I disagree.
Trump is creating a chaotic shitstorm, but it’s almost entirely performance and theater and mindless destruction, all focused around him and his personality.
If you get someone in there with the same agendas and intentions, but who is cunning enough to mask it under populism and pretending to care about people while signing into law bills that will allow capital to have unrestricted access to our lives, allow them to take part in our politics even more and in the open, packing the courts with corporate aligned-judges… well Liberal america will be HAPPY with this, they just don’t want to see all the violence in the street, they want stability and the image of peace, which will let someone like Newsom soak up all the adoration for “making America normal again” while signing away all of our futures in a much less openly opposable way.
Trump caused the wound, but someone like Newsom will rub the sewage into it.
he will repeal 20% of Trump’s orders and people will celebrate it. He will restore a fraction of what Trump has undone and people will celebrate his name and see him as a hero just because we’ve become accustomed to total chaos. It almost looks carefully planned. Hmmn.
There’s an argument that most of the stuff done in trumps name would be “ok” if he did it legally and that’s what people wanted. It’s the abuse of authority, the personal enrichment, violating the constitution, holding people above the law, enforcing personal feelings, violating checks and balances that are the critical issues.
I wouldn’t want to live in such a society but it would at least be “legitimate”
You never learn.
Newsom says he’s eager to pitch a big tent for the Democratic Party, declaring that he welcomes the likes of former US senator Joe Manchin as well as New York’s socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani in the fold. “I want it to be the Manchin to Mamdani party,” Newsom said in November.
Newsom can fuck right the hell off. Manchin represents everything that is wrong with the Democratic party and so, apparently, does Newsom.
declaring that he welcomes the likes of former US senator Joe Manchin
Turn our backs and give them extra knives, huh gav?
Fuck newsom
I hate to admit this, but I used to listen to the Adam Corolla podcast years ago, and he had Newsom on as a guest when he was lieutenant governor of California. At the time, he claimed that the biggest issue facing Californians was being unbanked. Like payday loan companies were the worst threat.
Newsom was Lt. Governor of CA from 2011-2019. I am not Californian, and I don’t know what they’re dealing with outside of the seemingly-constant wildfires, and those seem pretty fucking bad, and I’m sure there are some other pretty terrible things Californians have to deal with, too.
That said, payday loan companies deserve to get spit-roasted by the Devil and the Devil’s angriest pet donkey in the deepest bowels of Hell.
As a Californian, the state is absolutely huge and I have never been affected by any of the wildfires and frankly I doubt more than 1% of the population has even been affected directly by the fires. It’s a completely overblown issue. Does it suck? Yes. Does the media make it seem the entire state is on fire 24/7? Yeah. Don’t believe the media.
The real issues Californians face are:
- Housing/Zoning/NIMBYs
- Public transportation
- ISP services(or lack thereof)
- Huge population(traffic, cars, etc), of course some areas are worse than others
We do have pretty cheap groceries as long as you don’t shop at Target or Pavilions. Costco, WinCo, Aldi’s, etc. all have great pricing compared to other posts I see from around the country. Same goes for gas. Costco is around $3.50-$4.00 a gallon(for 87) for the past couple years. But the Chevron or Shell down the street is $4.50-$5 a gallon.
Taxes are also overblown. Everyone looks at our marginal rates and go “so high!” but never calculate what their effective rate is, which is usually much lower.
And then people love to bring up “the homeless” like there’s a camp on every street corner. Like yeah, maybe in LA. But for my city I have only seen the occasional pan handler on the freeway off ramps, which I doubt are even homeless since I’ve seen at least one leave their corner and go to their SUV in the nearby parking lot and drive away at the end of the day, like it’s a job for them.
We have our issues, the state is far from perfect, but I’d rather be here in Cali than any other state at this point.
A few years back the Boston globe did an expose on panhandlers and yeah, there are scammers and you need to recognize them but most people in need are truly people in need.
My take on it was that aggressive panhandlers in prime locations (major tourist spots, intersections with chronic backups) are most likely scammers. People sitting quietly looking defeated are in need. The hard part is deciding whether/how to help all those in between, but it’s good to remember that most people who look homeless are homeless
Then there’s that weird guy who approached to talk about his knife, probably to try to steal my dog while technically not threatening - I so regret not calling police
Oh for sure, I try to keep cash on me for the ones I know truly are homeless. Sometimes I need to do late night grocery runs and the dude hanging out in front of a grocery store at 10pm isn’t a scammer. If I don’t have cash I usually offer to buy something, usually grocery stores have those pre-made sandwiches.
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While you do that AIPAC is ensuring that your 2028 option will be Newsom and Rahm Emanuel or someone else they hand pick. That way they win no matter what happens and Americans remain pay pigs for genocide.
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The fascists are winning because they aren’t normal establishment politicians, at least to the uninformed. They are “different” and that is what people want, anything other than the status quo. It’s how fascists have always gained power. They exist, because otherwise there is functionally a vacuum, a government that ignores people’s demands for help.
You don’t hold back fascism. And you certainly don’t hold it back with ineffective “centrism”. You push it back with a greater opposing force. You push it down to the ground. Then you stomp its face in until it is no longer breathing. You pounce on it when it is at its weakest. You kill it. You excise it like the cancer it is. You eliminate it quickly, decisively, permanently. Or you die. Simple as that, man.
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Hey, buddy? Shut the fuck up.
The US is in the mess because of worthless people like you who get angry at anyone who hopes for more. People say “hey can we not do better than complete garbage?” and you feel the need to tell them that they’re wrong. Gavin Newsom will not dig you out of the hole you’re in, nor will any other center-right corporate stooge.
I say this with my whole heart: I hate you.
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It’s always the progressives who need to rally behind the centrist, isn’t it? Never the other way around because you’re just a coward.
How about you grow even an inch of a spine and rally behind someone who wants to make real change? How about you stop spending you life on this planet being nothing more than a barrier? Get it together.
I really don’t give a damn whether you hate me or not, your opinion is worthless. You don’t know the first fucking thing about togetherness, just empty platitudes that make you comfortable so you don’t need to actually face anything difficult.
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You literally said that progressives need to make real change by rallying behind unideal candidates who may be a little amoral. And you think it’s my fault for in-fighting because I want to focus on the more ideal and more moral options? Fucking please.
I can’t tell if I’m more insulted that you’re lying to my face or that you would actually think I’d believe you. God, you truly are a pathetic little weasel, aren’t you?
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It’s not infighting when one side supports Diet Republicans and the other side wants ICE to be abolished.
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With your own words. Newsom is a Republican from 2016.
The working class rallying behind less than we deserve is how we got Trump. He didn’t emerge from nowhere. He’s a product of multiple presidents, Dems & GOP, who did not serve the American people. He easily fooled those who believed he’d do more because we’re all so conditioned to expect nothing. We need to do better than just picking the lesser of two evils every 4 years. We need to rally together, yes, but behind higher standards - not behind more politicians who are deeply lacking. Class consciousness and collective action is the only way to do this.
You’re part of the problem.
We don’t need to “baby-steps” this, and to think otherwise is to out yourself as a fool.
Republicans didn’t “baby-step” going to Trump. They saw Obama as the antichrist and instead of pussyfooting around trying to play both sides, they went all in on their most radical candidate 3 times. It’s working for them specifically because smart people like you keep sucking neoliberal dick.
Stop being a punk. Start fighting back.
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Yeah, you’re still part of the problem.
This is the exact rhetoric that got us into this mess. It’s what won Hillary the nomination and handed the presidency to Donald Trump.
Until people like you learn from your mistakes instead of repeating them, the republican party won’t be going away because there will always been an argument that the democrats don’t actually care about the working class.
Unfortunately, I expect you to respond as long as I do, so I will have to give you the last word.
Don’t take my lack of a response as accepting that you’re correct. You’re most likely going to peddle some “baby-steps,” moderate bullshit while saying that’s not what you’re doing or that it’s the best path forward even though it hasn’t been working.
Goodbye.
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I saw him speak at Davos a while ago and I thought he was a big phony guy with very little acting skills but who is constantly acting. Another cult of personality instead of any real depth of thought.
What, this guy? Surely not.
I personally think Mark Kelly will be running and I just might choose him.
He’s the better choice strategically.
Gavin Newsom has a greater chance of losing to Vance and almost any other democratic candidate.
Libs need to stop falling for the ‘leftists want trump to win, see look they wont commit to voting for the Democrats’ shtick. They just want to discredit the part of the base that’s trying to actually save the party.
Mamdani handed the DNC a win and they fought him the whole way anyhow. Centrists as always act like there’s no alternative between centrism and conservatism even though it’s only and specifically because they systematically attack anyone who actually tries to make things truly better.
It’s no act.
They will believe and perpetuate any rhetoric that will stop them, or people richer than them, from paying taxes.
Time for the Tankies to form up the circular firing squad
(With enough Putin bots to give it legs)
It’s not just tankies, everyone hates Gavin Newsom, he sucks, if he is picked as a nominee it’s further proof the democratic establishment hates their base and is throwing the election again. Bluesky is very liberal and not tankie basically at all and even the comments there are nearly entirely shitting on him for his terrible positions and unlikability. https://bsky.app/profile/thetnholler.bsky.social/post/3metxjlxwec2d
Putin bots made Newsom a terrible piece of shit?
Putin bots are the ones who made Newsom do bad things? Or are they the ones who did the journalism? Or are they they ones who can have a memory beyond 2 weeks?
They are the ones finding reasons for people not to vote for democrats
So we should support someone who invites fascists to his platform? Or someone who praises Ronald Reagan? Or someone who ignores COVID policies for himself?
The only people Newsom appeals to are neo-liberals ashamed that Trump won’t keep up appearances and isn’t keeping his criminal imperialism masked in the liberal pageantry that we’ve done for decades or centuries in the US.
He is courting the right, he made a day to celebrate Ronald Fucking Reagan, jesus christ how loud of a dog-whistle do you all need.
Tankies are just roleplay kids, they hate everyone who isn’t roleplaying also. Newsom is an actual threat to democracy wrapped in a too-wide smile and promises of a “return to normal.” He would be more dangerous than Trump and he would do his damage behind a facade of national cooperation and stability while empowering the lunatics like Thiel and Musk.
Yea he’s a fascist. That’s why he platforms Nazi’s and Zionists on his podcast and magically lets them persuade him that they are right. It’s also why he vetoes everything that helps the working class. It’s also why he let PG&E get away with murdering 800 Californians and he allows them to raise our rates 6 times a year while they continue to make record shareholder profits. It’s also why why he is fighting the one time 5% billionaire tax proposed by the California legislature as hard as he can. We need an FDR Newsom is an Israeli asset and a closeted republican who’s Gen z handlers make funny tweets.
Best way I’ve heard to describe him is, “at least he’s lawful evil”
Legitimate question, you are asked to vote for either Gavin Newsom or Donald Trump. Who do you vote for or do you abstain?
I’ve said it before many times on here… I will never vote for Newsom. So I will vote third party or not at all for POTUS. I will vote for the rest of the voting options though.
If you cannot choose between Newsom and Trump, you aren’t mentally or emotionally mature enough to vote.
Your right to vote in the United States.
You can vote for:
A Democrat, A Republican, A third-party candidate, An independent candidate, Or you can choose not to vote at all.
You are free to vote for any candidate listed on the ballot.
Idk, I think he’s pretty terrible.
Whaaaaaaat? A politician behaving like a political animal? The shock! The scandal!
It’s cool. The top two candidates for governor in California are both MAGA Republicans. You’re gonna get your wish.
