“How about so-called “swing” states? “
Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1992 were two unknown southern “moderate” governors who came out of nowhere to win the Dem nomination and then the general election.
California will vote for any Democrat nominee so he brings no swing state votes and his nomination will almost ensure the south will vote for a Republican.
Watch out for the dark horse Democrat North Carolina governor Roy Cooper. He is as philosophically liberal as Newsome but has adroitly positioned himself as a moderate mostly because the GOP legislature has kept him in check and because independents give him high marks for managing Covid. In 2020 Cooper won re-election to a second term as governor in a year Trump carried the state and the NC voters elected a very conservative GOP Lt. Governor.
Cooper is ambitious and has been working in the background. NC will have 16 Electoral votes in the 2024 election. Without those votes it is nearly impossible for the GOP candidate to win the presidential election. If Biden exits after the 2022 election, and Kamala moves up to puppet president, the insiders may appoint Cooper as a “moderate” and reasonable VP with a successful track record as governor in a well functioning state. His nomination might even get GOP bipartisan support in Congress where a Newsome, Abrams, or Hillary appointment would rile up the GOP base. In 2024 Kamala steps aside, Cooper steps to the head of the ticket, and Newsome can decide if he wants to take the VP slot. Four years as VP will give Newsome and the press an opportunity to polish his image, give him foreign policy experience, and make him appear more statesmanlike and moderate.
The key swing voters in presidential elections are white women — independents and moderate GOP women. Cooper will seem safe to them in 2024 when Trump, if he runs, will be positioned by the press as anti-women and dangerous. If the Dems can carry NC, and hold Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona like they did in 2020, they can win even without Georgia.
The Dem donors and insiders want to win in 2024 and know they have a weak hand. Newsome doesn’t bring incremental electoral votes. Roy Cooper, a nationally unknown Democrat governor may be able to carry 16 electoral votes that went to Trump in 2020. Watch Cooper.
Interesting — I’ll have to get Cooper on my radar screen. Were the Republicans as ruthless as their Dem pals they would strangle the Dems’ rising candidates in the cradle, straddling them with scandals and hoohah.