4. ultimately, whoever leads the Dems out of this needs to take this same attitude and apply it to actual progressive policies and unequivocal support for trans rights no throwing up our hands at the Supreme Court and going "welp, guess we can't do anything"
Yeah I used to buy the arguments about needing the filibuster and courts and procedure and what not, no longer. And if getting rid of the filibuster causes Rs to ratfuck harder when they are in power so be it, it will make them more unpopular. I would rather that than only Ds be bound by procedure.
You know who else is really good, I think, more impressive bc red state gov: Beshear. idek if he's running, though, or if he has enough, uh, rizz
he’s going to the mat with trump because a raw power fight is a thing he understands. I’m appreciate him doing this but he can’t be the candidate for president.
*I appreciate*
If you apply Newsom’s tone and “no excuses” energy to a “tax the shit out of billionaires” platform, you have a formula to sweep elections, not just crawl over the finish line. Newsom is in bed with the crypto/AI oligarchs, so that’s not happening with him.
We need a Bernie sanders with newsom’s talent.
What we've needed for years is Barack Obama with Bernie's politics, and the closest we've got is Zohran Mamdani.
Zohran would be great, unfortunately he can't run for President. But at least he can demonstrate the playbook.
A native-born Zohran.
5. take a deep breath before freaking out too much about how he's locking up the primary in 2025 - right now he's getting the most attention because he's the governor of CA, and CA is the biggest Trump target he's termed out in 2026, well before the primary actually starts long way to go
At the end of the day his instinct to moderate plus the fact that he is always going to be seen as a California liberal will weaken him in any primary I think.
Yeah, it's the exact mistake Harris made - voters who don't pay close attention to politics (which is most swing voters) will just assume any politician from California is uber-liberal, so there's literally no point in running as a moderate when you're from that state
Which is frankly bizarre if you’re from CA. Almost none of our politicians are genuinely leftist in policy, because homeowners and landlords are just as powerful here as elsewhere. Dems have had a trifecta here for 30 years. Not exactly a communist paradise yet.
The most effective left leaning politician we’ve had was Earl Warren, a republican.
Y'all figure this out. I'll vote for anyone on the Dem ticket. I'm not interested in purity tests or single issues. We're in the fight for our country. Once we regain the White House, then we can argue about our differences in opinion.
I was living in San Francisco when Gavin Newsom was mayor and ordered city hall to issue same sex marriage licenses. It kicked off a serious and eventually successful effort that led to Obergefell. I'm not worried that the Dems will take away our rights. The Rs on the other hand ...
Look me in the eye and tell me this guy being President is more important than my civil rights. I fucking dare you.
I will never under any circumstances vote for a guy who makes a fucking photoshoot out of destroying the property of unhoused people. I will not vote for a guy who platforms fascists on his fucking podcast. Newsom can get in the Gulf of Mexico with the rest of the invertebrates.
this guy being president, provided he wins the nomination, is important for your civil rights
This guy chummed around with Nazis on his podcast and happily extolled how much he hated trans people on it. My civil rights are not safe with him, and for an example of what would happen if he became President, see the UK under Keir Starmer.
Fine. Will you vote for a Trump 3rd term? Because he will be on the ballot. Or will you hold your nose and vote for Newsom? There is no third choice.
If Trump tries to run a third term against the law, what makes you think there will be a normal election, man?
All we can do is keep fighting. Nothing is normal now. Just keep fighting, my friend. We can't allow ourselves to be divided.
You literally divided people in this thread by saying trans people were acceptable to shove aside for the sake of a candidate that isn't even guaranteed.
You have bigger problems at that point than my voting choice! But for the record, if you think throwing people under the bus is justified for that reason, you're a bigot.
he’s currently governor of the most progressive state in the country. You are stupid
Yeah as in he’ll use his authority to take em away
do none of you idiots know he’s governor of California
Cool. Meanwhile my rights and yours are given by the stroke of a pen.
The multiple years prior to the ticket even existing is the correct time to try to affect what goes onto the ticket, actually! "Vote blue no matter who" is for inside the ballot box.
To me? Thanks for leading here. Other states should follow. But no. He should never be President. Lawd have mercy no!
Yeah, I don't think he's a shoe-in at all. It's why I wrote a whole thread about how the people preemptively "resigning" themselves to a Newsome candidacy and talking about how we need to not criticize him actually just want a slimy transphobe as the nominee: bsky.app/profile/docv...
Anyone going out of their way to signal they consider trans people an acceptable sacrifice, right now, is not doing so because they *have* to - they're doing it because they *want* to sacrifice trans people.
pritzker is better here, in many respects
Noted pre-primary winners who became their parties nominee: Rudy, Hillary (08), Jerry Brown, ¡Jeb!, Ronny D, Scott Walker, Bernard (20)
Also it’s literally three years until the election. Three years is eternity.
Newsom may be a fighter, but his weird habit of platforming kooks and doing weird right-wing stunts like this just leave me thinking he’s politically not at all what people nationally think. bsky.app/profile/moxi...
he's getting attention bc he's getting attention. at this point in any race the person with the most (any) name recognition wins a poll. that's mostly it.
and yes we're desperate for leadership but ffs people are going full Bonnie Tyler out here
I confess that "Total Eclipse of the Heart" came to mind before "I Need a Hero" so I was wondering did a sec what the Bonnie Tyler allusion was for 😂
I think his ego and his narcissism will get him long before. But the amount of focus on him is unnerving.
bsky.app/profile/mith... This is what I said earlier today
Pritzker for president
Yeah I mean remember the big guy talked about as the resistance leader to Trump at times was….Cuomo. And we saw how that ended. Plenty of time for things to change
yeah as much as i hate newsom if he redistricts CA to counter the bull shit in TX i have to give him one leg of a gold star, since abbott has the means to keep calling as many special sessions as it takes before TX state dems can't stay out of state anymore. nobody else has been that spiteful
A California governor, even one that supports trans rights, is a non-starter national candidate.
Ronald Reagan was a California governor. It’s all about how they communicate.
AND A REPUBLICAN FASCIST, what are we doing here? completely unserious answer, theres zero analogy apart from the fact that newsom and reagan have the same beliefs and values
That was kind of my point! Saying that the rest of the nation won’t vote for a California governor is ridiculous. Especially when both Newsom and Reagan communicate in a way that’s accessible and attractive to large numbers of people who don’t look carefully at their positions.
Agree. I used to like him when he was mayor of SF & his brand was legalizing same-sex marriage, but I’ve never seen him as a viable national candidate. He’s the embodiment of smarmy coastal elititism repubs love to hate, and he’s let progressives down on trans rights, homelessness, & other issues.
yeah talking about 2028 primaries right now is just absurd
1/This isn't about 2028 though---when Reagan was running amok in the 80s, Tip O'Neill was the voice of opposition (of course, he was speaker too)---the Dems had someone--flawed as he was--to rally around and be the voice of opposition. O'Neill stopped RR's effort to "reform" Social Security.
2/Right now, there's nobody in that role--Jefferies to me has been a disappointment and Schumer has been a creature of the Senate for too long. For Newsom or Pritzker to step up and rally that effort--even being governors with regional differences--is needed right now.
Preach. In 1991 people said that Democrats shouldn't bother showing up in 1992 because Bush the Elder's 91% approval rating meant that he had the reelection in the bag. Clinton was inaugurated in 1993 nevertheless.
It's a GREAT time to influence who shows up for 2026, and that looks *kind* of like "talking about 2028" because we want the same thing in both. Linked subjects, or something.
*Talking* about the primaries isn’t absurd. Placing bets is absurd.
genuinely when are we supposed to talk about them? If we talk about them during 'normal' primary season it becomes 'you have to rally behind the strongest option'. Can you give me a ballpark when I'm allowed to say I won't support a guy supporting my genocide?
like there are so many fucking levers we can hit BEFORE we even have a trolley problem here
Frankly, if we’re gonna talk about it now’s the time to “purity test”. That’s how we end up with decent candidates in the primary instead of bland corporate dems and asshole transphobes.
Corporate/establishment Dems hate it when public wants a principled stance. So they dismiss it as a "purity test" when really it's just people trying to figure out what a candidate truly believes in.
I think it's important to rank purity tests by urgency and filter in order. I think the top one needs to be "willing to fight hard and loudly". Once you apply that there's only like a half dozen politicians left in the pool. That needs to change before we can jettison Governor Goodhair outright.
We haven't even gotten to the midterms or the primary and they are already telling us to sit down and shut-up over a guy that was just nodding along to Charlie Kirk on his podcast a few months ago.
We are AT WAR. Now is absolutely NOT the time for purity tests.
So what 'right' our you willing to give up if we are purity testing?
Anyone who looks at this picture and say, "Yup, that's my guy!" is irretrievably broken, and should be shouted down at every opportunity. "Purity tests" is just weasel words for liberal dipshits who want to avoid being accountable.
Why do you love to lose
how's the war going
You know what though you're right, it's not time for a purity test. It's time for the Dems to Have Some Fucking Standards and the fact that you people think that counts as a "purity test" is fucking shameful.
What you're calling a purity test I call you announcing that your only principle is saving your own skin. Fear is no excuse to panic our way into sub-optimal resistance. We have years to find a good candidate, a strong candidate that will actually fight for us, all of us. Newsom isn't that guy.
I know you're flailing, you're panicked, you're watching the only world we've ever known be plunged into uncertainty and chaos of a nakedly fascist police state. But if you panic now, you're only going to die tired & alone. Stop. Take a breath. It's ok if we critique Newsom. In fact it's beneficial
We have time to do so & more importantly we have a responsibility as adults capable of reason to resist in the most effective manner possible. And that requires forethought in who we support. Panic will get more than just you dead.
I’m not a purity test. I’m a human being who deserves the same rights as everyone else.
Shut The Fuck Up Your "purity tests" are PEOPLE.
3 years ahead of time is not the time? Nice try DNC. We know it's you when you say purity test
lol, joe biden told trump "welcome home" 7 months ago. some war, lol
I personally don't do purity tests, so I'll vote for Newsom if he's the Dem in the General Election. I absolutely will NOT vote for him in the Primary though, and I hope and pray that someone else gets the nomination.
"antagonize large parts of the base in futile appeals to an imaginary center" is how Democratic Presidential candidates lose. if you actually care about winning the "moderate compromise" candidate should be the last thing you're willing to accept.
It absolutely is when we’re talking about a primary 3 years from now. We can support Newsom’s actions *now*, while he’s acting in his capacity as governor. And there, I do mostly approve of him. But he fails my goals for a presidential candidate, do he has 3 years to change my mind or I keep looking
There you go.. he has three years to change your mind. I think k he will.
Imagine having faith in Gavin Newsom. 😂😂😂
They love their heroes, don't they?
They love any right winger who says mean things about Trump in front of a camera.
Yet they don't believe they're right wingers heh.. The Overton window in the USA is so shifted to the right that they actually believe Democrats are on the left!
The democrats have 3 years to find someone better Newsom will never change my mind he's a walking bucket of turds
Also, I’d far rather consider his actions in the context of his current job. Only so many will or even want to be president, but there’s 50 or so other governors (depending on how you count the territory governors), all of whom can follow his lead as governor fighting back against Trump.
I agree with you. But who is actually following his lead? Let’s see.. what I’m pissed off is these hardliners writing him off because .. whatever.. When he’s clearly one of the best governors out there and the only true opposition leader. Is he perfect? Hell no. But that’s not the point now.
The purity test vibes in the comments should scare all of you. Please understand, one of the primary ingredients in the rise of MAGA was progressive purity demands. Every GOP candidate thanks you for continuing this self-immolation, where you get moral victories and they get power.
So is it homeless people you hate and want to die, trans people, or both? You cannot think Newsom is a good candidate without violently hating one or both of those groups. Which is it for you?
Can you link me to a reliable source that shows how Newsome's policies have resulted in the death of anyone? Thanks.
THANK YOU. Two days after I posted this and I still get hateful ‘but he had Bannon on a podcast so he’s a fascist so we’re better off with a third trump term’ bullshit. The demobots are going to be the death of us. UGHH.
It is important to continue to call out the purity testers. They have misunderstood their assignment: their job is to move the Overton Window leftward, not to assign mainstream policy. The right has long understood this, which is why they are in power with a genuine fascist in the White House.
Shut da fuck up
Your “.. whatever ..” is the basic human right to exist in a Trans body. It’s also bodily autonomy. Careful what you “whatever,” it always comes down to human rights.
Yeah because he’s an active threat to some of us and there’s a large likelihood that if we follow him on his current trajectory, I, personally, will wind up dead or impoverished. Crazy for me to think that’s a deal breaker, I know! That’s what hardliners are considering. Our, personal, deaths.
Who are you talking about? I’m a little lost in your post..
Answering this separately, but I mean LGBTQ people specifically. Compromising on trans rights, including specifically their right to exist in public, will have impacts on my LGBTQ rights. We can already see that happening. I’m also concerned about homeless, but solutions aren’t as simple there.
He’s pretty well constrained as a CA governor, so I’m not ACTIVELY worried, but in the White House? After this disaster’s lead. No thank you.
What disaster’s lead.. anyway, gotta go. Bye for now.
"one of the best governors" ? He's a right wing piece of shit that wants to jail houseless people for their free labor he's a slaver
I like what he’s doing against Trump right now. There is no way in hell he gets my vote in the primary. He is in no way, shape or form “one of the best governors out there” except with respect to his current opposition to Trump.
"because .. whatever.." here being his stance on the human rights of people like me
One thing to keep in mind is that a democratic congress could protect LGBTQ rights and the new prez, whoever it is, will live with it because he/she/they aren’t a dictator. But we need to get there first and now it should be all hands on deck.
Using his platform to troll the president is not the same thing as being a good governor. He pretended to be progressive on popular issues to get elected and threw it away to appear “moderate” as he focused on the presidency. He sacrificed the homeless and trans people to appease conservatives
He vetoed a bill for single payer healthcare (an issue he ran on!) and then brags about California having the 4th largest economy. He handed the same tech CEOs destroying our planet and Democracy phones with his direct number. He platformed fascists on his podcast.
yuuup. Californians been complaining about his self-serving two-faced ass for years. He is a slimy politician to the core. He will do the right thing so long as it has his numbers surging, then he will take an antithetical path for the next popularity bump.
I saw how he treated houseless people, I saw who he runs with in his podcast, I saw how he treats trans people There's no changing my mind I'd rather drag him behind my car than vote for him
ah yes the infamous "purity test" argument always put forth by someone angry that other people have principles they'll never possess
I'm purity testing you out of the Democratic Party for 2028. Sorry, you're not allowed in the club anymore.
We’ve got almost three years to find a candidate who isn’t best friends with Steve Bannon and Charlie Kirk, doesn’t support segregation, and doesn’t torment homeless people for fun. But I guess you want all that stuff, makes me wonder why you dislike Trump so much.
It’s not mutually exclusive. We can support Newsom’s efforts to fight fire we fire. We can also hold him accountable for the bad things he does.
When exactly, pray tell, WILL be "the time" to keep someone who's an absolute piece of shit from becoming the nominee? Is there ever a time now when it's permissible to criticize candidates, or does the one whose "turn" it is get pre-anointed three years ahead of time?
If we get into the civil war MAGA wants that question will become utterly academic.
So that’s your big plan? Wait for a civil war to break out?
No, I’m saying that if we dismiss that possibility an awful lot of people are gonna wake up five minutes too late into a situation where politics as usual will be irrelevant. That happened 150 years ago, too.
I’m having flashbacks to 2020. “Get Biden elected and then you can push him left” became “let us enjoy this, you can push him left in January” became “leave him alone, it’s only been a few months” became “now is not the time because midterms” became “get him reelected, then you can push him left.”
You don't have my back. Duly noted. Just don't expect me to have yours either.
We are AT WAR and we CANNOT trust anyone who is weak on human rights
Oh my fucking God, when the fuck is the time for it, then? You said it's not the time for it during the election, it's not the time for it during the primary, it's not the time for it at the midterms, what is the time? Never? We just have to eat your shit and thank you for it?
Just say that we have to bend the knee to your asinine idea of a moderate who will "siphon votes away from republicans" and yet has never actually done that and also never will because it's based on an entirely invented mythology of what the republican voters are like.
Now is absolutely not the time for coronations, either.
🎯 exactly my view.
He is a sadist who enjoys throwing out the belongings of unhoused peoples
In real wars, you figure out who is on your side and who is shooting at your troops. That matters a lot. Which part confuses you?
the Iowa Caucuses are in early 2028, we’ve got well over 2 years to find a better candidate. Fuck that sleazebag Newsom.
So who’s going to REALLY challenge Trump in the meantime? You?
Where are the democrats? Aren't they supposed to be the opposition party? See, I do not oppose democrats because I support right wing ideologies I oppose them because THEY DO
If you’re gonna tell me Charlie Kirk’s transphobe buddy is a-ok because he’s being an asshole to Trump, I can’t take you seriously.
It's the perfect time for purity tests for 2028 candidates I'll back Newsom standing up to Trump but there's no way I can vote for him after everything he's done this year besides standing up to Trump. Now is the time to be clear about that so we can field better 2028 options
Let’s ALL back him up NOW. THE FATE OF ALL FUTURE ELECTIONS is decided now. We can talk about 2028 later. Think about how many critics Churchill had in 1940, bitching that he’s so wrong. He’s the only one who had the balls to stand up to Hitler and saved the world basically.
Churchill. Thanks for saving me the trouble of explaining to everyone else why you shouldn't be listened to.
Churchill pimped out his daughter in law to US generals while his son was on the front lines
Gavin Newsom can get fucked I'm sick of right wingers masquerading as democrats getting a tongue licking by their evil sycophants
@laart20.bsky.social Actually, Churchill is a very bad example. As Home Secretary (1910-11), he ordered soldiers to fire on strikers and was in favour of the forced sterilisation of "the feeble-minded". Throughout his career, he made racist remarks. His rerouting of food donated by Australia 👇👇
for starving India towards White British troops during the Bengal famine of 1943 is estimated to have been directly responsible for the death of an extra 2 million (out of total deaths of 3.8 million)... and largely caused India to seek independence after the war. Richard Burton felt greatly 👇👇
honoured to be offered the role of his greatest hero in a film, but - studying in depth Churchill's private papers & lesser-know speeches* for the part - made him come to the conclusion that Churchill was a fascist monster and he despised his memory after that. * e.g. the one in which WC said that👇
No.
You're using Winston "committer of genocide" Churchill as a positive example? That says all anyone needs to know about you.
I won't back a guy in 2028 who platformed Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon in 2025 and is still "just asking questions" on trans rights. That's non-negotiable. If he's the best in 2028, we've already lost. I support what he's doing right now, but I don't trust him and that won't change.
anybody bothered by Newsom is a whiny pussy, hope that helps
He's also getting the most attention because his team is playing the Trump game, and doing a really good job of it. That we can applaud wholeheartedly. I worry that if we meet someone finally doing it right with, "BUT WE DON'T LIKE YOU" we disincentivize the exact behavior we've been demanding
how convenient that the stripping of others freedoms is just a matter of personal preference to you!
FFS NOT REMOTELY THIS. Newsom can be our useful idiot. For now.
I am a bit concerned that come 2026, he will have all the free time he wants to start campaigning, while say, Pritzker will still have a state to run
