Global Courant
BOISE, Idaho —
At a private fundraiser in the middle of Donald Trump’s America, California Governor Gavin Newsom was on a mission to help President Biden.
Heading out over the July 4 holiday weekend, Newsom told a group of about 50 Democrats who gathered Saturday in the backyard of a mansion overlooking the Boise foothills to make the “powerful case for why we should be passionate and should be excited about Biden’s re-election. .”
At a time when states like Idaho, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 4 to 1, Are enact laws to restrict abortion, gay rights and promote other culturally divisive pillars of the GOP agenda, Newsom said only one man could be trusted to turn the tide: Biden.
The 80-year-old president has used his years in office to aggressively fight for Democratic priorities, Newsom told them, including LGBTQ+ rights, arms control And clean energy, while rebuilding the US economy after COVID and uphold democracy.
“I’m really proud of this president, and I hope you are too,” Newsom told a crowd welcoming one of the party’s rising stars.
Saturday’s swing through Idaho not only energized Biden’s much-neglected base in such a conservative corner of the West. It helped build a future for Newsom.
Many of the Democrats who gathered to hear Newsom speak in Idaho and at a separate fundraising event earlier that day in Bend, Oregon, said they thought the 55-year-old liberal governor offered a glimpse into their party’s future, a bolder one. more charismatic and younger potential heir to Biden’s legacy in the post-Trump years.
“He looks like an incredible presidential candidate,” said Russ Buschert, an Idaho Democratic Party trustee.
Michele Anderson, a Bend real estate agent and former Bay Area resident, praised Newsom for using his “quite impactful” voice and willingness to take a stand on the most critical issues facing the nation. faced while opposing Republicans who made progress during the country’s recent history.
“I appreciate a lot what Joe Biden has done, but I think it’s time for that next generation of leaders as well,” Anderson said. “And I see Gavin Newsom being part of that.”
Newsom says he has no interest in the White House and is traveling across the country promoting his party and president before the 2024 election.
But his stumping for Biden makes Newsom fit nicely for other job prospects, said Rob Stutzman, a California Republican consultant. His public feud with Republicans fills a “void” in his party and sends a signal that he is a Democrat willing and unafraid to take on the GOP’s MAGA wing — a crusade that helps raise Newsom’s national profile. enlarge and build a database of supporters along the way.
“He puts in time and effort that no one else outside the White House seems to have,” Stutzman said. He’s acting like the waiting candidate.
“One day it may pay off.”
The visit to Idaho that kicked off Newsom’s second tour of red states the past few months have been all about enthusing Biden’s accomplishments and touting party achievements as he showered beleaguered local Democrats with some love, attention and a little campaign money from his Campaign for Democracy political action committee.
Newsom gave the Idaho Democratic Party a $10,000 check for the event, the maximum allowed; it’s a fraction of the more than $3 million he’s funneled to Biden and Democrats in Republican-led states like Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi over the past three months. This week he is meeting privately with Democrats in Montana during an annual Fourth of July family vacation, with a stop later in Utah.
The upheaval of Republican-led states gives Newsom a chance to remind local Democrats how critical they are in fighting back against what he described as a GOP-led “entitlement regression.”
“Do you think Trump, if he comes back to office, will not demand a third term? Give me a break,” Newsom said. “Do you think January 6 is the last we’re going to see… Give me a break.”
Newsom’s foray into the national political arena has evolved since last year, when he tore his party apart for not being aggressive enough in the face of Republican victories at the local, state and national levels, including on the US Supreme Court.
“I’m just trying to move from lamentation and criticism to action and accountability,” Newsom said in an interview with The Times in Boise. “Nobody wants to hear a critic. What are you going to do? And I had to answer the question ‘what am I going to do’.
“I’m trying to build something,” he said. “But I’m trying to complement the work that’s already being done.”
But Newsom is also dealing with any side effects from his campaigns in red states like Idaho, one of the top states Californians flee to, according to data analyzed by the impartial Public Policy Institute of California. During Newsom’s tenure as governor, California has seen a surge in homelessness and a worsening housing shortage and affordability crisis.
“California’s far-left governor came to Boise to raise money for Democrats in Idaho…and to export his litany of failed policies, including skyrocketing housing costs,” said Idaho Republican Party Chairman Dorothy Moon , in a statement. “People are fleeing California en masse because they do not want to live as serfs in Prince Gavin’s kingdom. I’m pretty sure his visit here to normal America violates some travel restriction in California.”
California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said the state’s struggle “should serve as a warning to the rest of the country.”
“As Newsom runs a shadow presidential campaign, it’s becoming increasingly clear that he wants to take his home state failures straight to the White House,” Millan Patterson said in a statement. “You don’t want what Gavin Newsom is selling.”
Newsom has dismissed those criticisms as tired Republican talking points and a distraction from the cultural issues underlying his journey.
“I’m not going to do a California stump speech, never in any of the red states I’ve been to,” he said, adding that his assignment is not a “Visit California” campaign. “That’s not what this is about. I talk about the Democratic Party and our values, and I think there’s a lot to brag about in that regard.”
Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant and co-founder of the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project, said Newsom’s brand appeals to Democrats across the country, including in swing states, who are looking for a leader “unashamed and unapologetic” about running a defense against Republicans.
While Democrats in recent decades have focused on the economy and shied away from the more divisive cultural issues of their day, Madrid said, Newsom’s focus on LGBTQ+ and transgender rights, on gun control and environmental issues speaks to his party’s white-collar workers, college-educated members. with certain Latino voters looking for a political home.
That could be a winning strategy in a deeply divided America in the midst of a culture war, Madrid said. While voters look for a champion on cultural issues, “Gavin Newsom is that champion.”
In any case, for now, Newsom shrugs off the presidential accolades and sticks to the script.
“I think that makes me humble,” he said. “But that’s not what I’m here for.”
