California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday said heās still āstunnedā by the eight senators who voted with Republicans to reopen the government, a deal his office previously called a āsurrender.ā
After holding a rally in Houston last week to tout Californiaās redistricting measureās victory and criticize Texas Republicansā own move to redrew district maps, Newsom attended the COP30 UN Climate Conference in BelĆ©m, Brazil. There, he told The Associated Press that at his ācore, Iām stunned.ā
āIām not coming in to punch anybody in the face, but Iām not pleased that, in the face of this invasive species that is Donald Trump, whoās completely changed the rules of the game, that weāre still playing by the old rules of the game,ā the West Coast Democrat said.
Yeah, thatās how I see him too. Assuming we even have elections by then, heās gonna keep up this charade through a 2028 primary bid where all real establishment challengers magically drop out, immediately switch to more centrist rhetoric for the general and claim to the left that heās just playing ball, and then proceed to have zero progressive accomplishments in office if he gets there.
(Un)fortunately, thatās not gonna happen. Even if American democracy survives the midterms, itās not gonna survive an establishment Dem in the general.