Is Gov. Gavin Newsom the Democrat's best hope for the White House in 2024?

Is California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) the new hope for Democratic presidential politics in 2024?

If you're thinking, "Hobbs, why are you disrespecting our sitting Democratic President, Joe Biden," please know that I mean no disrespect at all. In fact, since Inauguration Day in 2021, I have used this blog (and my social media platforms) to praise the Biden administration for its work in facilitating the:

1. $ 1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure measure.

2. $1.9 trillion dollar Covid relief measure.

3. Confirmation of nearly 50 federal judges, including the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court,  Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson.

4. Billions earmarked to support HBCU's

While those successes are noteworthy, the Biden administration's setbacks have been equally noteworthy, including:

1. No fulfillment of his campaign promise to protect Black voting rights.

2. No fulfillment of his campaign promise to attack police brutality and the unequal dispensation of justice in communities of color. 

3. No fulfillment of his campaign promise to eradicate student loan debt.

4. Weak executive branch response to the reversal of Roe vs. Wade, one that was leaked six full weeks before the deed was done.

To be fair, I realize that the even split in the Senate among Democrats and Republicans, particularly when two Democratic Senators, Joe Manchin (W.V.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Az) straddle the fence as "Republican-lites," has made efforts on the four above-mentioned setbacks difficult.

Still, Historian Hobbs is here to remind that perception often trumps reality, and when past Democratic presidents were faced with congressional gridlock or Supreme Court setbacks, like Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, that both used executive orders and aggressive tactics with their legislative branch counterparts to gain concessions and push their “New Deal” and “Great Society” agendas forward.

President Joe Biden, flanked by two history makers, Vice President Kamala Harris and Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson, the first two Black women to hold those positions.

Conversely, President Biden has been hesitant to use that pen of his to punch back at Republicans on their systematic attacks on civil rights, and the order that he issued just today on abortion is weak in that he could (and should) have authorized abortion providers to pitch camp on federal properties in the red and purple states that have already banned abortion following the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe late last month. 

Even worse was news leaked this week that the president was prepared to nominate an anti-abortion candidate to a federal judgeship in Kentucky to appease Republican Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell; such appeasment only increases skepticism that Mr. Biden has lost his political instincts and timing late in his career. 

For the above reasons, when California Gov. Gavin Newom, 54, aired a new ad in my home state of Florida—on Fox News—on the 4th of July, one that punched back against conservatives in aggressive tones—on their favorite channel—I could not help but surmise that perhaps, just maybe, Newsom is the best Democratic bet to take on Florida Gov. Ron Desantis (or former President Donald Trump) in 2024?

The ad's words included:

"It’s Independence Day, so let’s talk about what’s going on in America. Freedom, it’s under attack in your state. Republican leaders, they’re banning books, making it harder to vote, restricting speech in classrooms, even criminalizing women and doctors. I urge all of you living in Florida to join the fight, or join us in California, where we still believe in freedom — freedom of speech, freedom to choose, freedom from hate and the freedom to love." 

Simple words...simple ideals...simple truths!

While conservative Republicans seem to have the advantage at this time in Florida, a purple state that is leaning red, and definitely have the advantage in tried and true red states across the Union, there may have been some miscalculation on their parts in that many white women voters, the same ones that, for various reasons, supported Donald Trump in 2016 over Hillary Clinton (only to be turned off by Trump's toddler antics and vote for Joe Biden in 2020), are fed up about the Roe reversal, mobilizing, and ready to let their voices be heard in this year's mid-term elections—and beyond. Such is why Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is finding his race against Democrat Beto O'Rourke tightening to nearly a dead heat since the Dobbs decision, and why progressive Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is polling well against former Florida Governor Charlie Crist in their primary fight to take on incumbent Gov. Ron Desantis.

Now, Gov. Newsom's ad drop in Florida was not by random lot; Desantis is considered a "rising star" among Republicans nationwide because of his strong stances against abortion, his attacks on the teaching of real history and civics in Florida's classrooms, his anti-immigration stances, his push to radically reorganize how the state's public universities operate by stifling free speech and research, and his strong anti-LGBTQ stances. 

Further, while Donald Trump remains popular among many potential Republican primary voters, that popularity has taken a deep hit due to his continuing insistence that the 2020 election was stolen from him, his refusal to "play nice in the sandbox" with opponents in both parties, and the Congressional hearings into the January 6th riots that have featured his own former employees describing just how unhinged he was on that date and how he fought, literally, with Secret Service officers who refused to let him physically lead the armed attack on the Capitol.

While I remain skeptical that Donald Trump, 76, will actually run again, it is becoming clear that Ron Desantis will and that he offers the same political stances as Trump—and the same angry rhetoric as Trump—albeit in a far younger and more articulate package.

Desantis, (l), Trump’s heir apparent?

It is also becoming clear to me that Joe Biden may not be up to the task in 2024 and that his Vice President, Kamala Harris, has not been sufficiently in the spotlight to overcome all of the difficulties she faced that caused her to drop out of the Democratic primary in 2020. 

Thus, my piqued interest in Gov. Gavin Newsom and my support for his aggressive push against Ron Desantis. Indeed, the Hobbservation Point will be watching his efforts with great interest this election season—and the next.