Newsom manages to win the recall.
This was his message 4:46
(CNN) —
Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis are figures not only of their parties' different futures, but also of the separate realities — blue and red — in which Americans live: two people with opposing viewpoints looking exactly the same. same set of facts and come to very different conclusions.
Both are governors, rising stars and future presidential candidates it is speculated, building ideological micro-models in their sunny capitals.
In ever-blue California, Newsom, the son of a state appeals judge, has reinvented himself from his early days as a flashy progressive hero around quieter legislative pushes.
Meanwhile, in red Florida, there's DeSantis, the son of a Nielsen box salesman, publicly attached less to his two Ivy League titles than to the reactionary, anti-elitist politics that has consumed the GOP.
Newsom now goes on the air with a message directed at DeSantis in Florida -- which he says will not be the first announcement of a presidential race for 2024, or even 2028 -- with the goal of trying to get Democrats to regain some sense of of collective identity that could allow them to defeat Trumpism in the long run.
At $105,000 on Fox News, Newsom's new ad, first provided to CNN and set to air July 4, is a combination of a classic campaign ad, a business investment pitch, and one of those California tourism full of celebrities saying how much better it is there, wrapped in the existential terror that is shaking progressives these days.
advertising
"It's Independence Day, so let's talk about what's going on in America," Newsom says in the ad, standing in the California sun, tieless, as "America the Beautiful" plays in the background.
"Freedom is under attack in your state."
Those last words flash across the screen in red, followed by a photo of DeSantis shaking hands with former President Donald Trump, and then another of Florida's governor as Newsom lists Florida laws to ban books and restrict voting, speech and speech. access to abortion.
"I urge everyone who lives in Florida to join the fight, or join us in California, where we still believe in freedom: free speech, free to choose, free to hate, and free to love," Newsom says. that the images advance from an aerial shot of the Santa Monica Pier to a rainbow flag waving in the hands of two women embracing.
"Don't let them take away your freedom."
The ad is paid for by Newsom's re-election campaign, though it's clearly not about racking up potential absentee voters who have retreated to the Sunshine State for what is expected to be an easy win for California's governor in November.
"He's running for president," Newsom told CNN last week.
"I care about people. I don't like people being treated less. I don't like people being told they're not worthy. I don't like people being used as political pawns. It's not just about him, but he's the poster child."
“We are as different,” Newsom said of the governors and their states, “like daylight and darkness.”
5 takeaways from Governor Gavin Newsom's California recall win
Over the course of a 20-minute telephone interview, Newsom called DeSantis a bully, a fraud, an authoritarian, a phony conservative, a betrayer of the Ronald Reagan legacy and, multiple times, "DeSantos."
"Everyone has pieces of the playbook," Newsom said, comparing DeSantis to other Republicans.
"He is writing it."
DeSantis declined an interview request, but those around him say he's happy to have this fight.
“Gavin Newsom could very well light up a stack of cash,” DeSantis campaign spokesman Dave Abrams said.
"Pass the popcorn for his desperate attempt to win back California refugees who fled the hell he created in his state to come to Florida."
The feud between the two governors has been building for months.
DeSantis has said California allowed a "coercive biomedical apparatus" to guide its approach to a strict lockdown over COVID-19, calling San Francisco, a city Newsom once ran, a "total disaster."
Newsom has said that DeSantis' approach to the pandemic would have killed an additional 40,000 Californians and that he "doesn't look to that particular governor for inspiration."
It is also a matter of style.
When it was discovered that Newsom had gone without a mask to a birthday party at an upscale Napa Valley restaurant in November 2020, he sheepishly apologized.
When DeSantis was seen without a mask at the Super Bowl months later, in February 2021, he said, "How the hell am I going to be able to drink a beer with one on?"
His campaign put the quote on a
koozie
and sold it online.
DeSantis on the rise
DeSantis's popularity with Republicans soared during the pandemic, when he defied medical experts and pushed Florida back to normal months before the rest of the country.
DeSantis welcomed comparisons between the
laissez-faire
approach of Florida and California, where leaders implemented mask mandates and lockdowns dictated by public health metrics such as case rates.
Look no further than how each state handled its House of Mouse.
Disney World, outside Orlando, reopened in July 2020, just as Florida became the epicenter of the country's deadly summer of Covid-19.
Disneyland, in Anaheim, California, cautiously welcomed visitors about 10 months later, in April 2021.
The stark differences in approach became symbols for both governors.
ANALYSIS |
Ron DeSantis Follows Trump's Playbook Before 2024
In a recent meeting with conservative political commentator Dave Rubin, DeSantis recalled a fundraising trip to California in June 2021 (he has received more donations from residents of the Golden State than any other state besides Florida, and most of them have been $100 or less).
He had made sure to tell staff that he would not adhere to any covid-19 restrictions while he was in the state and recalled an incident that he said showed how much it was resonating there.
“These two guys in masks are running towards me,” DeSantis said.
"I'm like, 'Oh, God. Here we go.' A guy stands right in front of me, takes off his mask, looks me right in the eye and says, 'I wish you were our governor.'"
If DeSantis versus Newsom ever goes beyond a cross-country shouting match and becomes a real campaign, Republicans in Florida believe they have the ultimate winning argument: Florida is a growth state and California's population is growing. on the decline, although there is a long way to go before the two come close;
Florida has more than 21 million people and California has about 40 million.
"We have a product that works in Florida," said Christian Ziegler, vice president of the Florida Republican Party.
"The number one way you can measure the success of states is the economy, job performance, and people moving into or out of states. And the state of Florida is winning that battle. They're losing people. People are fleeing California. And that's why a lot of them come to Florida."
But unlike Texas leaders, who delight every time a Silicon Valley company sets up shop in the lone star state, DeSantis has lately urged California CEOs to stay away from Florida for fear of a progressive wave. of tech workers offset the Republican sanctuary it's building.
When other Republican leaders in Florida publicly courted Elon Musk to move Twitter to the Sunshine State, DeSantis responded, saying, "They enjoy our lower taxes, but you know, what are they really providing?"
Newsom goes for more
For the Governor of California, this goes beyond a personal grudge match or political leaning as he pushes through legislation and lawsuits that veer away from the rightward bias of recent US Supreme Court decisions and embrace even more so the "Republic of California" on the state flag.
DeSantis isn't Newsom's only Republican target.
The California governor joined Trump's social media site simply to troll the former president and his supporters.
He repeatedly attacked Texas Governor Greg Abbott and tweeted a retort directed at Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who said last month he would feel comfortable defending the state's defunct sodomy law if the US Supreme Court overturns his law. 2003 decision to annul the statute.
“Incredible thing.
Not to mention during Pride month," Newsom wrote.
"Hey, corporate America: where are your values? Take on these hateful states and come to California."
ANALYSIS |
Trump sparks another GOP civil war, jeopardizing the party's midterm strategy
Newsom insists he did not criticize President Joe Biden or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when he says he is trying to goad his party into angrier and more active.
He called the hearings organized by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol a "master class," but said Democrats need to look beyond Trump and towards how Trumpism is evolving.
After spending much of the pandemic watching and reading right-wing media, Newsom said he has become increasingly alarmed at how much it is taking hold.
"My expression is one of frustration, seeing in many ways before the current climate and the current administration," Newsom said in the interview.
"The success of the right to define the terms of the debate, the success of the right to dominate the narrative...they are winning in ways that alarm me."
The announcement, he promised, will be the start of much more to come.
"Things have changed, the rules of engagement have to change," Newsom said.
"You have to take the fight to them."
CaliforniaFloridaGavin NewsomRon DeSantis
