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Hi, y’all. Welcome back to The Opposition. A few weeks ago I was speaking to an undergrad class at my alma mater, and one of the students asked me for my candid opinion about whether pursuing a career in journalism was really feasible nowadays. They’d been reading the headlines about the chaos over at the Washington Post and they were understandably concerned. To be honest, I’m not sure how I would have responded if I’d been asked this question a few years ago. The landscape seemed unpredictable and bleak. But the success of independent media outlets like The Bulwark shows that journalism is not dead and it’s absolutely a worthwhile career. That’s thanks to our Bulwark+ members, whose support helps make sure that the Fourth Estate is still thriving for the next generation. I hope you’ll consider becoming a member yourself:
In today’s newsletter, I interview the most ubiquitous Democrat on the national scene—arguably the current party frontrunner for the 2028 presidential nomination. It’s . . . Gavin Newsom, whose book tour brought him to my backyard of Nashville, Tennessee. (Not literally my backyard.) Enjoy!
–Lauren
Gavin Newsom Wants to Sell You a Vision
The California governor has a podcast, a new book, and two eyes fixed on 2028.
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FEW LEADERS IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY have taken better advantage of the post-election malaise than Gavin Newsom. The California governor successfully kneecapped Donald Trump’s mid-decade redistricting scheme by engineering a counter-redistricting in his own state. And his mastery of attentional politics—from starting a new podcast to trolling the GOP on social media—earned him frontrunner glow heading into the 2028 cycle. At least for now.
Newsom still carries baggage. He’s a product of the coastal elite at a time when Democrats are desperate to win back working-class voters; a California Democrat who’s been a national political figure since he was 36 years old. And if you don’t think that’s a problem, then you should tell Newsom, because he also seems to think it is. His new book, Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery, has been described as a “bootstraps memoir” and reads in part as an effort to make sure that the country knows he didn’t grow up with a silver spoon, despite what his slicked back hair and well-tailored suits might suggest. He writes about his parents’ divorce and how his mother had to work multiple jobs to support her family. Whether or not voters will be persuaded remains to be seen.
Newsom kicked off his book tour on Saturday in my hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. I caught up with him backstage before the event. Our conversation below has been edited for length and clarity.
Lauren Egan: My newsletter is all about the Democratic party, how you get out of the wilderness.
Gavin Newsom: Are we in the wilderness? I think we’re in 2006 and you’re gonna have not Speaker Pelosi but Speaker Jeffries.
Egan: What about the Senate?
Newsom: Well, that happened in 2006 and I think the tsunami is coming. And I do think that will bode well for 2008 where we had this guy, Obama, and he did, what, 53 percent of the vote? In so many ways, the contours are similar. We lost the popular vote in 2004, we were out in the wilderness. That’s my humble opinion.
Egan: Who is Obama in this comparison?
Newsom: Whoever emerges.
Egan: I want to start with this recent Twitter exchange—
Newsom: Oh God, which one? We have a lot of them...