Newsom and Harris court Democrats and donors as one-and-done Biden speculation builds

Washington Examiner ^ | 7/20/22 | Katherine Doyle

[Libloather]

Prominent elected Democrats are meeting with political donors, courting national attention by attacking leading Republicans and positioning themselves for a run for the White House if President Joe Biden steps aside.

Most visible has been California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has taken a match to his party, accusing Democrats of inaction in the lead-up to the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

“Where the hell is my party?” Newsom asked in May after a leaked draft opinion indicated that the Supreme Court was preparing to overturn the 1973 precedent finding a constitutional right to abortion. The blue state governor later said the charge was “not an individual gripe with anybody,” but Democrats had failed “to capture the narrative, to capture the imagination of the American people.”

“What is going on in the Democratic Party nationwide? I cannot answer that question,” the governor said during an interview with Fox LA in June.

Newsom was again scoring national attention when, weeks later, he was on air in Florida asking Fox News viewers to consider “what’s going on in America.” The state is led by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is up for reelection this fall and is considered a Republican presidential possibility in 2024.

**SNIP**

If Biden steps aside, Harris would likely face challengers to the nomination, perhaps more than a dozen. Earlier this month, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) predicted “a 20-person field” during an interview with reporter Tara Palmeri. “It will be a very contested election,” Khanna said. Khanna, another potential Democratic prospect, brushed off the speculation.

[Sirius Lee]

More like half and done.

One and dumb.