By Jeffrey A. Rendall
California Democrat Gavin Newsom’s got too many disqualifying flaws going into 2028
“You will not be emperor.”
The understated, softly articulated words fell flat on the floor as the intended recipient of the news, the young next-in-line to the Roman Empire, Commodus, desperately tried masking his shock and fury at being denied (by his father, Emperor Marcus Aurelius) his hereditary birthright and chance to rule over the world’s most powerful political office in ancient times.
The scene occurs early in the epic action/revenge thriller Gladiator, and sets the table for Commodus to not only assassinate his father because of the older man’s decision to thwart him, but also to establish the evil and ruthless 20-something as a throne-hungry megalomaniac who would stop at nothing to rule/dictate to the People to satisfy his greedy power longings.
This almost describes a contemporary Democrat, doesn’t it?
Any number of Democrats have exhibited similar types of ambition and thirst for official authority that could only be quenched by running for the party’s presidential nomination, a designated title that is well over two years in the future.
Lots can happen between now and then. But one pushy Democrat pol who looked to be a contender for the nomination has been busy all-but eliminating himself from consideration lately.
In an article titled, “Gavin Newsom will not be the Democratic nominee in 2028”, the usually prescient Joe Concha wrote at the Washington Examiner recently:
“Current polls show Newsom’s media blitz is having a negative impact. A recent Harvard-Harris survey shows Kamala Harris with a 15-point lead over Newsom, with the governor down 6 points since his media blitz began one month prior.
“The same poll also shows Harris holding a 45-point lead among black voters, which does not bode well for Newsom in South Carolina, which has a higher concentration of black voters than almost every other state in the country. In 2024, the party moved South Carolina to the front of the line in being the first primary state to cast ballots. Add it all up, and Newsom is already fading backward as more voters get to know him.
“Ironically, it’s the same problem Harris had: The more voters got to know her, the more they didn’t want to know more. Newsom will not be a 2028 presidential nominee. Mark it down. People can spot a phony a mile away. That’s Newsom: a guy who clearly will say or do anything to be president.”
Well, to be fair, I’ve argued that most Democrats will say or do anything to win elections, not just hopeless buffoon Gavin. Inhabitants of Virginia, for example, quickly are discovering that our new Democrat governor said lots of things during last year’s campaign to get elected and rode the media’s “moderate” cover-up lies to a comfortable victory to be Glenn Youngkin’s successor.
Spanberger presented herself as middle-of-the-road to the unsuspecting voters, but has governed thus far as the wacko leftist kook-in-moderate’s clothing that she’s always been.
Spanberger and Newsom could be ideological twins in that regard. They both have the very anti-DEI pasty white outer exterior but their inner cores are nothing more than a razor thin veneer of leftism and modern-day Democrat party phony fluff intended to fool people into thinking they’re for anything but themselves.
Spanberger has gone overboard in her quest to curtail gun rights in the Commonwealth of Virginia (among other things). Talk about the Founding Fathers rolling over in their graves in this place. Wasn’t the American Revolution fought in large part because King George III didn’t respect self-governance and self-protection rights?
Unhappily for him, Gavin Newsome shares much of Abigail Spanberger’s unbecoming outlook towards governing. Speaking from experience, Newsom has taken one of the country’s most impressive and promising states and turned it into a morass of big government-inspired problems. His hypocritical and dictatorial behavior during the COVID lockdowns made headlines, but what about all the other decisions that have hurt California besides that?
Don’t forget Newsom faced a recall election not too long ago. The squawkers in the drooling national establishment media neglect to ask him about the not-so-distant past, too. Reputations apparently get pushed to the side quickly when you’ve got slicked back hair and a talent for bull-crap rivaling Bubba Bill Clinton’s and “The One”, Barack Obama’s.
But Concha is most likely right in stating that Newsom will not be the Democrat nominee in 2028. The Democrat party’s path is leading away from anointing more white dudes with the types of trust and power to represent the myriads of self-gratifying voter blocs that Democrats feign to represent these days.
Can you imagine the same longtime union members who defected to Donald Trump in three successive elections finding their way back into the Democrat fold because of a snake oil salesman like Gavin Newsom?
Would-be Emperor Commodus would’ve had a better chance to rule for a thousand years (with his progeny like the character in Gladiator predicted) rather than Newsom presiding over the nation.
Delving more specifically, as Concha observed in his piece, Newsom won’t be the nominee simply because black Democrats look upon him with suspicion, and a Democrat hopeful won’t prevail in the Democrat party these days without the all-in from Democrat ballot-casters. Yes, South Carolina has been moved to the front to ensure Senile Joe Biden wouldn’t be challenged from the Bernie Sanders kook-fringe, and the new Democrat calendar will prevent a Newsom-like character from sneaking through in the near future, too.
Further, mid-80’s-aged Democrat establishment dinosaur James Clyburn just announced his intention to run for reelection in his South Carolina district, so it’s virtually assured that the party fixer will have an oversized share of say-so for the early part of the 2028 Democrat nominating cycle.
Do you think this doesn’t scare Newsom and someone like gayer-than-gay flake Pete Buttigieg to death?
Just like with Iowa in the old days, a defeat in the first voting state doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t go on to win a party nomination, but a bad loss in South Carolina could be devastating. Democrats didn’t like Iowa and New Hampshire going first because they said those states weren’t “representative” of the typical Democrat voter, but doesn’t South Carolina merit a similar level of scrutiny?
South Carolina is chock full of black Democrats, but the state itself is blood red in orientation. Put it this way, I doubt Republican candidates worry about whether the Palmetto State is winnable in the general election.
Democrats have it differently. Historically speaking, black Democrats have preferred party establishment candidates – like Senile Joe Biden – and likely will do so again in 2028, where cackling Kamala Harris has the early jump on corralling the party elites’ favor.
The fact Kamala uses “she” and “her” as her gender pronouns only cements her as a candidate who is acceptable to black women, the most loyal and reliable Democrat voting constituency of all. Do you really think black women would abandon one of their own kind to go for a greasy-coiffured white guy like Gavin Newsom?
The identity-politics element makes the Democrat race thought-provoking, particularly because the revelation exposes the weaknesses of candidates like Newsom and Buttigieg, but also sheds light on the chances – or lack thereof — for someone like Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro as well. Would the party’s growing contingent of Muslims accept Shapiro and his Jewish religion?
Are Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar onboard? Or Minnesota AG Keith Ellison? These pols are representative of the next wave of “new” Democrats who aren’t going to be as willing to defer to the old establishment’s next-in-line presidential nominees like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.
This isn’t to say there will never be another establishment-type Democrat presidential nominee, but he or she will face a much harder road if the party’s main voter blocs aren’t sold beforehand. If given a choice, black Democrat women will choose one of their own over a pretender like Gavin Newsom. Even Alexandria Ocasio Cortez would have a better chance to best the others.
Republicans have no such limitations, but GOPers, thanks to Donald Trump, already have a couple solid potential heirs to the party leadership post. Trump is grooming J.D. Vance for the job, and the young vice president appears up to the assignment.
Gavin, “You will not be the 2028 nominee.” It’s something a number of Democrats could legitimately hear. Whether the aspiring liberal party heads listen is another matter. Lots of money will be spent trying to weed out the political lightweights from the rest. It will be fun to watch.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .