Is Newsom a viable alternative for Democrats?

 David Freddoso:

In addition to his hilarious Florida ads, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is now taking out advertisements in Texas.

So it should seem obvious what this guy is trying to do. Joe Biden is so massively unpopular the Democrats are preparing to drop him like a hot rock. So somebody needs to step up, and it probably is not going to be Kamala Harris, because she's even more unpopular than Biden.

How would the country react to a Newsom candidacy? I think the first test of that will be to look at how voters react to government COVID-19 restrictions when they vote in the midterm elections this November. There are two reasons for this. The first is that unless you actually live in California, you are probably most familiar with Newsom for flouting the very severe COVID restrictions that he himself imposed upon all Californians and their businesses.

Those restrictions that Newsom couldn't be bothered to follow were so severe that as of June, California was still about 100,000 jobs short of where it was in February 2020. Other states have already recovered — that includes not only a dozen Red states such as Utah, Idaho, and Texas but also Colorado and Nevada, which have both been under complete Democratic control since 2018. So what's California's excuse for being such a laggard? You sure can't blame the weather.

Newsom survived his scandal and beat a recall election going away last September, with 62% voting to keep him in office. But aside from questions about his personal character, I think the key to understanding Newsom's governorship is to look at the quiet foot-traffic election that's going on between his state and other states. According to Census estimates, California lost the net population equivalent of Cleveland to domestic out-migration just last year.

I think it's also important to offer some detail about exactly what is so insidious about California's high taxes. It's not just that the top marginal rate is over 12%, which is ridiculous and harmful to businesses. But the really nasty part of it all is that any single person making more than an adjusted $60,000 (or any married couple making more than $122,000) pays a higher marginal rate at 9.3% than millionaires pay in most other states. That rate makes Maryland and Massachusetts look like a good deal, But it's even worse when you consider the high cost of living in California. There are few places in that state where you're doing well if you're only making 100 grand. The people fleeing are the state's middle class. It only makes it worse that California's state government is waging an open war on independent contractors.

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I suspect there are many Republicans eager to run against Newsom in a nationwide race.  It is surprising that Californians still vote for him.  It is clear that those voting with a moving van are not going to cast votes for him.