As a Californian, can someone tell me why Gavin Newsom seems to have the heart of every MSNBC Boomer I know? Even on his best days -- and he's had some good ones! -- I can, at best, muster up an eye roll, a heavy sigh, and a "FINE." But they talk of him as some bold champion of progressivism!
I guess he kind of looks like the kind of guy who would be president in
--an Aaron Sorkin production
--a movie where POTUS says, like, "I don't care what the Constitution says. I know what's right!" before making dogs legal
--the 1996 film Independence Day
That's the thing! We've kinda decided Gavin Newsom looks presidential, despite the fact that, if you look at our history of presidents, he doesn't really look like anybody who's ever been president other than Andrew Jackson. And that didn't end well.
On the plus side, someone would write a cult musical about him in 150 years. It would only run for less than 100 performances, but the 2174 version of me would see one of those performances and form a lifelong obsession.
And there's your answer.
Honestly, Newsome is solidly in my "Yeah, fine, I'll vote for him in a general" but the dude has always felt sketchy to me in ways that do not make me want to support him in s primary.
my vibe of gavin newsome is that he is some weird, semi-intentional combination of christian bale's portrayal of patrick bateman in "american psycho," joel osteen, michael avenatti, and bill pullman's portrayal of the president in "independence day." thirstiest potential candidate, by a mile.
"He's white, he's photogenic, and he was once mayor of San Francisco, which means he's like Bernie, but not older than dinosaur Geritol, and won't be called a Commie by Fox News."
From the people who have appeased Republicans for forty years.
After the chaos of Rob Ford, Toronto elected a mayor who was just as bad, a complete black hole, but I'm convinced he managed to hold the position handily for almost a decade because he had the hair of a mayor. (He might still have been mayor now if he hadn't resigned over an affair with a staffer.)
Honestly, I think it’s partly because he does a shit ton of TV. If you’re a Resistance Dem who watches a lot of cable news, he’s like a favorite character from your shows, and they’ve seen him do a lot of articulate dunking on people they hate
I also think he has a bit of the John Kerry factor, where people look at him and think “Oh this is the kind of guy who OTHER people like to vote for!” But that’s just more of a guess
Wow. This actually explains a lot. I never watch cable and I was always puzzled by just how much you hear about that guy. “Why is he a national figure?” I wondered…
