Gavin Newsom labels Democratic brand ‘toxic’

Stephanie Finucane, Tribune News Service

There is no honour in kicking a man when he’s down — or a political party, for that matter. Yet that’s exactly what Gov. Gavin Newsom did on Friday when he appeared as a guest on Bill Maher’s “Real Time” talk show. Newsom branded the Democratic Party “toxic,” which seems like a weird way to go after the Democratic presidential nomination, if that’s what he’s after. (Maher tried to pin him down on his presidential aspirations, but Newsom would not take the bait.)

Remember, it was only six or so months ago that Newsom — then the leading political surrogate for former President Joe Biden — was enthusiastically drawing a stark contrast between the two parties. If the Democratic brand became toxic within that short time, sounds like he’s part of the problem. Still, Friday’s discussion might have been valuable if Newsom had shared some worthwhile tips on how to politically detox. He did not. He told Dems to, in effect, stop being uppity and grow up.

“We talk down to people. We talk past people...” he said. “We tend to be a little more judgmental than we should be... Democrats need to own up to that. They’ve got to mature.” There may be some truth in that, but someone who reeks of wealth, privilege and exorbitant dinners at the French Laundry is the last person who should be lecturing on humility. Leave that to the salt-of-the-earth types, like Tim Walz. Newsom’s definition of toxicity can perhaps best be summed up in a single word: unelectability. “We’re not winning right now. He (Trump) won by 2.3 million votes. We’ve lost the House and the Senate, and we’re in a panic,” Newsom told Maher.

So does that make the GOP — the winning party — nontoxic?

Before you answer, consider the following: We have a Republican Party in lockstep with a president who is actually threatening to serve a third term, apparently under the belief that he can loophole his way around the USConstitution. Who has actually contemplated using military force to bring Greenland under US control — never mind that the island is a Danish territory, and Denmark is our ally.

Who pardoned approximately 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters — including those who viciously attacked police officers — and now threatens Tesla vandals with prison in El Salvador. Who chooses to ignore court orders — or better yet, have judges removed from office. And who cancels life-saving medical aid and food shipments to impoverished nations, resulting in the deaths of who-knows-how-many children.

Yet Newsom says it’s Democrats who need to modify their behavior to appease the voting public, and as proof, he points to polls that show approval of the Democratic Party at record lows.

“We had a high water mark two weeks ago, and that was a CNN poll at 29% favorability,” he told Maher. “It’s dropped on an NBC poll down to 27%.”

That’s concerning, but doesn’t it follow that even Democrats are fed up with their own party right now, not because it’s going in the wrong direction, but because it’s going in no direction?

Democrats are looking for strong leadership, yet politicians don’t seem to have a clue as to how to provide it.

Take Newsom, for example. Instead of calling out the Trump administration, the governor is trying to play nice by inviting MAGA bros like Steve Bannon and Charlie Kirk on his much-maligned podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom.” He described it to Maher as “an opportunity to try to find common ground and not take cheap shots,” and defended himself from critics who have called him out for cozying up to right-wing zealots.

For the record, it isn’t the mere fact that Newsom has these guests on his show that draws criticism. Rather, it’s the tone of the podcasts that’s been drawing heat. On a New Yorker podcast, for example, Vanity Fair journalist Michael Calderone called out Newsom for letting Bannon repeatedly get away with saying that Trump won the 2020 election.

Another journalist on that same podcast, Vanity Fair Editor Claire Howorth, bristled after listening to Kirk use the term “Democrat Party.”

“The party is called the Democratic Party,” she said. “And when right wing figures call it the Democrat Party, that has come to signify a pejorative term for excessive progressivism.”

Nitpicking? Maybe, but you get the drift. Newsom is playing softball, and that can easily be interpreted as an attempt to legitimize an administration that has gone completely rogue. To be fair, it’s understandable that Newsom would not want to antagonize the president when California is dependent on federal aid, especially following the devastating Los Angeles wildfires.

But running down the Democratic brand only serves to further split and demoralize the party.