Gavin Newsom Fills a Democratic Void

Greg Sargent: “Yes, it’s a bid for attention. Newsom, an ambitious politician who’s likely eyeing a White House run, knows a personal spat between two governors is irresistible to political reporters.”

“But he’s speaking into a real vacuum. Democratic voters crave signs that party leaders understand their frustration is bordering on panic: As they see it, the side making serious ideological gains is the opposition, whose chances of winning Congress don’t seem diminished by revelations about Trump’s GOP-enabled effort to destroy our political order, court decisions gutting long-settled rights, or mass-shooting nightmares that seem horrifyingly inevitable.”

“Newsom’s foray captures a sense that a generational turn among Democrats is needed for party leaders to communicate effectively about this pileup of perils.”