Gavin Newsom is gambling on Joe Biden

Most Democrats looking at 2028 are trying to move past Joe Biden.Gavin Newsom is doing the opposite.That is not an accident.It is a strategy.While other Democrats are distancing themselves from Biden’s failed reelection bid and the political wreckage that followed, California’s governor is leaning in.

Newsom has praised Biden’s presidency, defended his record, and positioned himself as one of the party’s most visible Biden loyalists.He has called the Biden presidency a “masterclass of policymaking.” He has said he will never turn his back on Biden.And last week, he went further.He hosted Hunter Biden on his podcast.That matters.Most ambitious Democrats would not go anywhere near Hunter Biden.

They would treat him as a political liability.Newsom did the opposite.

He gave the former president’s son a friendly platform at the moment the Democratic Party is trying to figure out what to do with the Biden legacy.That was not just a podcast booking.It was a very public message to Biden’s orbit.Newsom appears to be telling Biden-world that he is different.

He is not running away.He is not joining the chorus of Democrats suggesting Biden should have stepped aside earlier.

He is not using Biden as a punching bag to prove he represents the future.Newsom is making himself available as Biden’s heir.That may sound odd, given Biden’s age, unpopularity, and Democratic frustration over 2024.But presidential primaries are not general elections.

Democratic primary voters are older, more partisan, and more loyal to party figures than pundits suggest.Among many Democratic voters, especially older voters and key constituencies in early primary states, Biden’s name still carries weight.Newsom may be betting that those voters will reward loyalty.There is another reason this matters: Kamala Harris.If Harris runs in 2028, she begins with the most obvious claim on Biden’s political inheritance.

She was his vice president.She was his running mate.

She inherited ...