"Newsom is not repositioning himself but rather presenting his authentic self."
A Californian sent me a comment about tonight's made-for-TV spectacle. Tony Farrell is a brand strategy expert, with a long career marketing consumer products. I had posited that Newsom was transforming himself from a San Francisco-style progressive into a moderate Democrat who had a shot at carrying battleground states where "California" is a bad brand. Tony Farrell says no, that Newsom is a moderate Democrat ready right now for a presidential run. Tony is a college classmate. He lives in Oakland where he has had a close-up look at Newsom.
Tonight, on Fox News: 9 p.m. Eastern/ 6 p.m. Pacific
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| Tony Farrell in Hamburg, Germany |
Guest Post by Tony Farrell
I look forward to Thursday's debate; long time coming, and actually I did not think it would happen. Likely to not help DeSantis at all, but we'll see.
For more than a decade, Newsom has been pitch-perfect as a California "commonsense" Democrat, calling out progressive nonsense when obvious (taking Lincoln's name off of schools), not hiding from the problems of homelessness, mental illness, illegal immigration, housing and more. I cannot imagine a more deft manager of an image than Gavin; he is a superior political talent and while not brilliant (like Jerry Brown), he studies and works very hard. His judgment about people seems excellent. His choice for Feinstein's replacement, great.
No doubt in my mind he is doing all he can to step in front of Biden without stepping in front of Biden; actually, I believe he will be the nominee in 2024 through some unforeseen string of events, and that would be great. He acted like a head-of-state when the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference was in the Bay Area. So, I would say Newsom is not repositioning himself but rather presenting his authentic self.
There are many loud crazies on this Left Coast, and he won't put up with them; he calls them out. But he is also right-minded on most important issues that concern progressives and the mainstream, from schools to abortion. Because he's emerging on the national stage now, perhaps he is working harder to project his image nationwide; yes, he's working to dislodge the old trope of Gavin as the scofflaw mayor who married gay couples in City Hall years before made legal. He did that; now it's mainstream...a mainstream that has come to him. Not repositioning but clarification!
Curious to see DeSantis's smarts when confronted with the sharp, witty mind of a masterful speaker and debater. He'll be turned in knots, my prediction, revealing the fool he is.
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6 comments:
B.A., History, Yale, magna cum laude; J.D., Harvard, cum laude.
If DeSantis is a fool, we'd best scrutinize these august institutions!
Newsom has a B.S. from Santa Clara, Poli Sci. Okey-dokey.
Newsom is sharp indeed, in my view. But DeSantis is no slouch.
DeSantis has good credentials. My experience is that there aren't any dummies there, but one encounters flawed entitled people. Eccentrics. Some students and graduates are eccentric in a good, charming way. Some eccentrics are jerks. Like everywhere, I suppose.
DeSantis (like Ramaswamy) has an arrogance and attitude problem, not an IQ problem. It is dangerous to be the smartest guy in a room. It is more dangerous to think you are the smartest guy in the room..
If DeSantis looks bad it will be a personality problem, not a smarts problem.
I wish Newsom didn't look like a Hollywood star. I am distrustful of people who are too good looking. It can screw them up, just like thinking oneself the smartest guy in the room can. Personally, I would prefer it if Newsom had succeeded politically in a purple state.
It's true, DeSantis is no slouch. In fact, he was sent by God to be our protector. I know because he said so (I am not making this up):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9oTBA-MvZk
A serious in depth look at the Ivy League "elites" graduating people like Ron DeSantis is seriously overdue, imho, as are the Military Academies turning loose soulless morally deficient people like Mike Pompeo and Ryan Zinke.
Peter, W. B. Yeats expressed your concern about "looking too good" a little better than you have, in "A Prayer for My Daughter":
May she be granted beauty and yet not
Beauty to make a stranger's eye distraught,
Or hers before a looking-glass, for such,
Being made beautiful overmuch,
Consider beauty a sufficient end,
Lose natural kindness and maybe
The heart-revealing intimacy
That chooses right, and never find a friend.
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