Person of the week: Gavin Newsom: The US presidential joker had an alcohol problem and can barely read

Person of the Week: Gavin Newsom
The US presidential joker had an alcohol problem and can barely read

By Wolfram Weimer
January 2, 2024, 2:27 p.m

What happens if the ailing Joe Biden has to abandon his candidacy? The governor of California is then considered the favorite for the Democratic candidacy. The dazzling media star is already running an active shadow election campaign.

Gavin Newsom is not on the ballot for the US Democratic primaries that are about to begin. But he does everything as if it were already like that. The smart governor of California is running election campaign advertisements across the country, he has founded a fundraising campaign committee “Campaign for Democracy”, meets with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and with Xi Jinping in China and has himself photographed in the media on the Great Wall of China wearing aviator sunglasses. He is contesting a televised election campaign duel with the Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, although of the two only DeSantis has so far declared that he wants to become the next US President.

In short: Newsom is running a pretty loud shadow campaign. He is the candidate who is officially not one. The governor is considered the Democrats’ clear favorite in the event that the ailing US President Joe Biden still has to get out of the election race – due to age, health or because the polls remain as disastrous as they are currently. There is unrest in the party because, in his shaky state, Biden is no longer believed to be able to beat Donald Trump or the moderate Nikki Haley again in the election campaign. Newsom, on the other hand, would be the embodiment of the new generation.

He is telegenic, smart, successful baseball athlete and a modern incarnation of liberal California. He was mayor of San Francisco and introduced gay marriage there on his own initiative. He has a touch of Hollywood about him – and so (although he rejects its political agenda) he repeatedly follows in the footsteps of Ronald Reagan, who once reached the White House as an acting governor of California. It fits into the glamorous image that he is married to the women’s and environmental activist actress and documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel.

Significantly further left than Biden

At first glance, Newsom would be the perfect replacement for Joe Biden. Traditionally, California plays an outstanding role in the political zeitgeist of the USA. And Newsom is using this position to articulate his vision for a modern America. He has mastered the craft of activism politics from the executive branch. He repeatedly launches provocative initiatives on his left-green agenda, especially in climate policy. He is currently suing the oil companies Exxon, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and BP for their alleged complicity in global warming. Newsom aggressively advocates for same-sex marriage, the right to abortion, universal health insurance for illegal migrants, the legalization of marijuana, strict gun laws and the rights of immigrants. He describes the historical treatment of the indigenous population of the USA as genocide, and he is one of the most prominent opponents of the death penalty.

But Newsom’s risk also begins with the edgy agenda. He is positioned significantly further to the left than Joe Biden, just to the right of Bernie Sanders. But since elections in America are also won by the middle, he would have to position himself more moderately in order to become capable of becoming president. He’s been doing that for a few months now. He recently backed out of his project for state-run injection sites for drug addicts, then he opposed the unions in a collective bargaining law and finally joined the Republicans in vetoing an initiative to ban discrimination based on the Indian caste system inserted. Such a ban is unnecessary, he said.

Three problems

But Democratic campaign strategists are worried about something else. Behind the facade of the radiant man, Newsom also offers personal targets. In 2007, Newsom publicly admitted that he had an alcohol problem. He sought advice from Mimi Silbert, head of a drug counseling foundation in San Francisco, but denied in 2018 that he had been in treatment. Newsom also said at the time that he hadn’t had a problem with drinking in years and that he was “enjoying a little wine again.”

The second sensitive issue concerns a severe reading disability; he suffers from a severe form of dyslexia. Newsom speaks openly about the fact that he has suffered from this all his life, that he did not attend a real university and that he has never read a novel in his life. To compensate for his weakness, he prepares particularly carefully for debates and speeches. Political opponents are now addressing this by pointing out that a man who cannot read properly cannot possibly become President of the USA.

Newsom’s third personal problem concerns his varied affection for women. He once had a headline-grabbing affair with the wife of his campaign manager. Before his marriage to Jennifer Siebel, he was married to the colorful television presenter Kimberly Guilfoyle for four years. The irony of history is that Guilfoyle is now in a relationship with Donald Trump Junior. So it could happen that in the 2024 presidential election campaign, Gavin Newsom will not only face Donald Trump, but also his ex as his rival’s daughter-in-law.