Gavin Newsom attacked GOP in State of the State. Why you shouldn’t take it seriously | Opinion

Californians are smart people, yet some, even our own, think they can pull a fast one on us.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants you to believe that he’s the last line of defense against the scary conservative GOP laying waste to the rest of America.

In Tuesday’s State of the State address, the two-term governor continued that narrative in a series of his greatest hits.

“Our values and our way of life are the antidote to the poisonous populism of the right, and to the fear and anxiety that so many people are feeling today,” Newsom said. “For conservatives and delusional California bashers, their success depends on our failure.”

Opinion

I am only two months removed from my previous life in the ultra-conservative, bible-belt, and ten-commandment-loving south. It’s true that things there are pretty bad. Those who skew liberal, or just have a different way of thinking, are condemned as diseased or they are believed to have “sipped the Kool-aid.”

Newsom’s words, however, fall flat because they sound just like the bigots from the southern region. Claiming that the California way of life is under attack is just false. You don’t have the fifth-largest economy and somehow play an uphill battle.

If we learned one thing from Tuesday’s packaged video, it’s that Newsom doesn’t mind using tactics from the conservative playbook.

Newsom panders to the right-wing

While Newsom wants us to believe that he is the great purveyor of liberal values, it’s apparent that he also likes to mingle with the right.

We all know that Fox News anchor and conservative pandering extraordinaire Sean Hannity is buddy-buddy with Newsom.

Newsom wants to create a contrast with Hannity, but the two pander to the same people. Just last week the governor announced that he wants to take away smartphones from kids in school due to the effect of social media. Ya know who’s already done that in his state? Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

It’s funny that DeSantis was featured in Newsom’s 28-minute video address, signing a six-week abortion ban into law to pose how opposite they are.

Does Governor Newsom really take us as fools? Both he and DeSantis are fundamental politicians. In some ways, they are two sides of the same coin.

Newsom also happened to set a new low in modern political messaging by pre-recording a constitutionally required State of the State address. Since when did an important speech become an infomercial? Yes, taping the speech in advance made it easy in the governor’s schedule to fly off to Atlanta, surrounded by the very conservative poison he talked about, to help campaign for Joe Biden before and after tonight’s debate with Donald Trump. Newsom is not defending us against the conservative might but playing to their tune.

Newsom is showing his true colors

Whether Newsom is gearing up for a presidential campaign in 2028 or not, he’s showing California and the country that he is just as capable and foolish to use an “us vs them” mentality to gain momentum, in a pre-recorded video no less.

The best advice for Newsom is to stay away from the rhetoric used by the right. He made baseless points in his address in an attempt to seem strong.

Californians are not under attack. We are a state that cares about diversity, inclusion and the betterment of each individual who calls this place home.

The issues that we do face, however, do come from within like affordable housing, high utility cost and inflation.

If Newsom wants to pander to the national culture war politics, so be it. But he’s only pushing himself further away from the state he currently leads.

Californians deserve more than that.