Since the horse races never end and this is what people care about most Gavin Newsom definitely has his eye on the prize.



Gavin Newsom’s future looks a lot brighter if Trump wins in 2020


The election of Gavin Newsom as California governor has pole-vaulted the former San Francisco mayor into one of the oddest political positions in the country.

“As one of the nation’s leading Democrats, Newsom will be bashing Donald Trump by day but praying for Trump’s re-election in 2020 at night — because if Trump doesn’t get re-elected, Newsom’s presidential aspirations will go up in smoke,” said Bill Whalen, a Republican strategist and research fellow at the Hoover Institution.

That may be the cynical way of looking at it — given the challenges Newsom will face steering the state, having a Democratic ally in the White House after 2020 would do him far more good than harm. Newsom will be better off if he gets results on California issues such as water delivery, oil drilling off the coast and greenhouse gas regulation than if he has to complain about how all his efforts were blocked in Washington.

It’s just that if a Democrat wins in 2020, the next opening for other aspiring Democratic candidates probably won’t come until 2028.


Newsom knows that 2020 is too soon for him to run. “He will, however, definitely be part of the national conversation,” said longtime friend and former media adviser Peter Ragone.


“He’s bold and he pushes the envelope, and now he is going to have the biggest role on the national stage this side of the presidency,” Ragone said.

Add in his Hollywood looks, his gift of gab, and his eye for seizing on cutting-edge issues like same-sex marriage and legalizing pot, and Newsom will command his share of attention leading up to 2020.

“He gets to occupy the ‘outsider’ role, which he does very well,” Ragone said, citing in particular Newsom’s 2004 decision to let gay and lesbian couples marry at San Francisco City Hall.

It was a role that outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown played as well. Brown regularly crossed swords with Trump on global warming, immigration and a host of other issues. He mounted three campaigns for president over the years, but at age 80 ran out of time for a fourth.

The question now is, how will time play for the 51-year-old Newsom?

If Trump stays in office until 2024, Newsom will have one term as governor under his belt — and plenty of national exposure — and be ready to run.

“But if a Democrat wins in 2020, it all goes on hold until 2028,” Whalen said.