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Let's get into it:
Gavin Newsom was fishing with Jake Tapper when he revealed that he would not run for president if his fellow Californian and high-profile Democrat Kamala Harris were to officially toss her hat into the ring. The two were standing in a river, sunglasses and ball caps on, casting lines when they began talking about the sheer number of Democrats who appear to be gearing up to seek the Democrat Party's 2028 nomination for president.
"It's a lot of Democrats," Tapper said, sending his line out into the water.
"31 flavors," Newsom said, referencing the old Baskin-Robbins motto.
"You're not even the only Californian," Tapper said.
"No, right."
"You got Ro Khanna," Tapper said, "Kamala."
"I don't know if she runs, but we'll see," Newsom said.
"I know she's called around," Tapper said.
"I wouldn't run if she ran," he said.
"If she runs you will not?" Tapper asked, astonished.
"Of course not," he said, "why would I? I wouldn't do that to her, I wouldn't do that to you, I wouldn't waste everyone's time. Who needs that?"
"What do you mean?" Tapper asked, "that doesn't even make sense to me."
"No, I wouldn't," Newsom said. "First of all, electorally, it's a gift from God to everybody else. They can enjoy the hell out of it, mutually assured destruction, it serves no greater good."
"I mean, you do whatever you want," Tapper said, "I don't care, but counter argument would be like, she had a shot, and you've never run, and she's run twice."
"Yeah," Newsom said, "and that'd be the approach to the campaign you'd make, pretty good one actually." Newsom seemed to be thinking it through, realizing that he could make a case to be the one between them who gets a shot at the golden ring. "That's objectively true. I just, I know what that means. I know her base of supporters, I know her friends. The Venn diagram on that is just pure crossover. I wouldn't do that to—I wouldn't do that."
And this is how our alleged betters make the decisions for us before presenting us with a much smaller span of options from which we can choose and believe we're acting on our own volition. The powers that be among the Democrats will decide who gets to run and then, when they do run, those same powers will decide who to back, who to push, who to tank, just like they did with Bernie Sanders back when he sought the ticket against Hillary Clinton.
I'm no fan of Kamala or Newsom, I think they're both pretty trash candidates, to be sure. But Tapper does have a point. The American people have roundly rejected Kamala to lead us twice now, and I've no doubt that a third failure will be in her future should she choose to pursue it. In 2020, when she set out on the primary trail, she got just 3% of the vote.
The only reason she was selected to be Joe Biden's running mate is that he was under pressure and promised to bring a black woman on the ticket. Is she qualified? On paper, sure, she's got the bona fides, and she's come up through the Democrat ranks. But listening to her try to answer questions, or form a policy proposal, or even just speak off the cuff reveals that she is essentially a negative intellect who had got by on looks, charm, liberal attitudes, and connections.
Newsom is a snake. He was miserable during COVID when it came to "rules for thee and not for me," he celebrated at French Laundry unmasked while dragging lone surfers in off the waves over violating lockdown orders. He closed California public schools while making sure his kids could still attend their private school. And he threw Charlie Kirk under the bus after the man was killed. When he was alive, he hosted Kirk on his podcast, telling him his son was a fan and then, once Charlie had been slain by an assassin's bullet, walked that back.
Whichever of them ends up running, I hope my fellow Americans are wise enough to see through their lies and obfuscations.
Libby