XPost: alt.fan.states.south-carolina, alt.politics.republicans, sac.politics XPost: alt.politics.liberalism, alt.politics.elections

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/10/gavin-newsom-confronts-his- california-problem-00446212?dicbo=v2-Ur63l9j&obInternalId=71118&obnews=1

LAURENS, South Carolina — Gavin Newsom packed church pews and community
centers and cafes as he sprinted across this early primary state, the
whooping crowds a sign of the opening the California governor may have in
the Democratic presidential contest here.

But for all the fanfare, Newsom’s visit laid bare, too, the early
indications of what could become a drag on his likely campaign — a sense
among some Democrats in South Carolina that California’s liberal
reputation may hobble him.

“He’s a very articulate person, and clearly he’s charismatic,” said Jim
Hodges, the most recent Democratic governor of South Carolina, a heavily- Republican state. “The larger concerns that he has to allay are related to California, and the feeling many have that California is not
representative of the rest of the country in terms of its politics. He’s
got to overcome that.”

If Kamala Harris, another Californian, was chiefly saddled in her 2024
campaign by her association with Joe Biden, Newsom’s difficulties appeared
this week to be centered more in geography — and in California’s longtime
place as a punchline for conservatives in the culture wars.

“He would need to be more moderate here,” said John Drew, a 48-year-old
real estate professional who saw Newsom speak in the small town of Mullins
in northeastern South Carolina. “Progressive ain’t gonna work here.”

Newsom on Wednesday rebuffed concerns about his state’s — and his —
reputation, while portraying himself as a pragmatist. He told POLITICO in
an interview he’s “happy to pick up the phone” if Trump calls, and he told reporters later there’s “100 percent” still room to work with the
president on bipartisan issues despite their recent skirmishes.

“I have positions that are very consistent with my party, and I’ve been on
the opposite side of my party on a lot of issues,” he said. “You know,
when I was mayor of San Francisco — my politics hasn’t changed — I was considered the conservative mayor.”

In his appeal to Democrats, Newsom cast California in terms designed to resonate with an electorate out of power in Washington and, in this heavily-Republican state, in South Carolina. California, he said, is the
“most un-Trump state in America,” the polar opposite of a Trump
administration he accused of leaving rural voters out to dry on disaster
relief and health care access.

Newsom said he “felt the same sentiment” at every stop: rural voters were afraid and anxious of Trump’s agenda, but clamoring for a path forward.

“We’ve got to be more aggressive. We’ve got to get back on our toes, not
our heels,” Newsom said during a stop in the small town of Seneca, not far
from the Georgia border. “The Democratic Party for too long has been on
the receiving end.”

To some Democrats watching, Newsom’s brawl with Trump over protests in Los Angeles — particularly his “come and get me, tough guy” response to Trump border czar Tom Homan’s suggestion in June that Newsom should be arrested
— reinforced his image as an unflinching leader.

“We need about 10 Gavin Newsoms right now,” Kelly Gallagher-Kiley, a 59- year-old social worker, said after Newsom’s speech on Wednesday at a
Baptist church in Laurens.

A handful of supporters asked Newsom to run for president as they greeted
him. Jeff Steele, a 63-year-old who moved from California to South
Carolina eight years ago, lauded him for “fiercely resisting” Trump while waiting for the governor to arrive in Seneca early Wednesday.

“I’m looking forward to voting for you in ’28,” he told Newsom while
posing for a photo with the governor.

But then there was the woman named Danielle, who declined to give her last name, who told Newsom as she moved through the photo line, “Please don’t
tweet or Truth Social your policies. No temper-tantrums.”

Newsom — though he’s hardly alone in his party — has vulnerabilities that
go beyond California, and tucked into his stump speeches were careful
defenses against weaknesses that could open him to attacks in 2028.

In Cheraw this week, Newsom brought up his last South Carolina visit, when
he passionately stumped for Biden’s 2024 campaign. Biden would later drop
out after a disastrous debate in Atlanta that led to still-ongoing recriminations within the party about the former president’s cognitive condition. Newsom, on the night of Biden’s debate, was tasked with putting
a positive spin on his collapse.

“Not so easy to be a chief surrogate the night of the debate,” Newsom said Tuesday. “You think you have a tough job? I say this with love in my
heart.”

It’s a difficult line to walk in South Carolina. Defending Biden links
Newsom to a now-toxic political brand. Potential presidential contenders
are facing questions about what they knew about Biden’s mental acuity —
and whether party leaders should have called on him earlier to abandon his presidential run.

But this is also where Democrats resurrected Biden’s campaign in 2020.
That was in large part due to an endorsement of Biden that year from Rep.
Jim Clyburn, who appeared with Newsom at an event this week. Clyburn said
of the California governor, “I feel good about his chances.”

As in 2020, many Democrats will look to him for guidance in 2028.

“Gavin and all of them have to put in the work here in South Carolina, so
that Clyburn or somebody else can say that same thing about them,” said
former Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison, also a former
chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party. “He has to make the case.”


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November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.

Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

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