Governor Gavin Newsom received a huge political boost when Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s presidential election. Newsom now has a direct path to the White House in 2028.

With Harris — his fellow Californian and longtime Democratic ally — not running for re-election in 2028, Newsom won’t feel politically and morally inhibited from entering the race.

That’s the conventional way of looking at the election’s impact on Newsom. But there’s also another way: Newsom’s brand of virulently anti-Trump liberal politics was rejected by most American voters. What does this mean for his national political future?

Once again, California—despite having by far the largest number of electoral votes in the country—held its record of never sending a Democrat to the White House. In fact, Harris was the first California Democrat ever to be nominated for president.

If Harris had won Tuesday, Newsom, 57, could have kissed all presidential aspirants goodbye. He would instead consider whether to ask Harris for a cabinet post and abandon his last two years as governor. It would have been a lousy trade. Boring and boring. But the option is now off the table anyway.

So, should Newsom jump into the political fray and prepare to run when Trump is impeached in four years? Actually, Newsom would have to hit the ground running the minute he’s named governor in about two years — and warm up long before then.

Sure, go for it, if he really, deep down craves the Oval Office. I’ve always had my doubts and wondered if he’s just enjoying — like any politician — the national attention and being mentioned in the same sentence as potential presidents. But I’m in the minority on that one.

“When any governor in California – the largest state by far with more people than Australia – looks in the mirror in the morning, they always see a president staring back,” said Garry South, a veteran Democratic tactician and former government political strategist. Gray Davis.

I am also very skeptical that Newsom can be elected president. The party’s nomination? Perhaps. But the oval? He is too liberal for most of America.

Longtime Democratic strategist Bill Carrick says that after Democratic insiders conduct a thorough autopsy of Tuesday’s defeat, they may “conclude that they cannot run someone (in 2028) who will come across as too progressive.”

“I think a progressive can get the nomination if they’re a good enough candidate,” Carrick adds. “But can they win in November? That’s the big question.”

Regardless, Newsom will inevitably be pushed into the presidential arena by the news media, which has already anointed him a leading contender. His persona and name help television ratings and draw clicks and readers.

“He’s one of the most charismatic and articulate figures the Democrats have right now,” said South, who advised the then-San Francisco mayor when he tried to run for governor in 2010 before stepping aside for Jerry Brown.

“There needs to be a Democratic face of opposition to Trump’s policies and Newsom can play that role,” South said. “There has to be some Democrat who emerges. And after Newsom’s term ends, he will be loose and free from fancy.”

Newsom doesn’t wait until his workday ends. The governor appeared Thursday with a stunt that signaled he wants to lead the attack on Trump.

Newsom called a special legislative session — he loves ordering these high-profile “special” sessions — “to protect California and fundamental rights in the face of an incoming Trump administration.”

“The freedoms we value in California are under attack and we will not sit idly by,” the governor declared in a statement. “We are prepared to fight…”

He said lawmakers “will focus on strengthening California’s legal resources to protect civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate action and immigrant families.”

In other words, the political animal Newsom is marking his territory as the anti-Trump lead dog.

Actually, it’s just the next phase of his previous nationwide travels to promote the Democratic ticket while laying the groundwork for a potential presidential bid.

One factor that Newsom — or any Democrat — will likely benefit from in 2028 is that voters will once again seek change after four years of Trump’s rule. The underlying driving force behind voting in the last three presidential elections has been the demand for change.

Trump was elected in 2016 because voters sought change from Democrat Barack Obama’s two presidential terms. And Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton certainly did not represent change.

Then in 2020, voters sought change from the loathsome Trump and elected Joe Biden. And on Tuesday, they sought help from the “Biden-Harris” administration. By 2028 they will most likely again be fed up with Trumpism.

But the presidency may be a bridge too far for a California Democrat.

For much of America, we are the La La Land of the Left Coast, a socialist state that harbors the likes of San Francisco liberals Harris and Newsom—who welcome illegal immigration, pander to criminals, over-regulate business, and stifle successful people with sky-high taxes.

Instead of attacking Trump even before all the votes are counted, Newsom should focus on trying to lower his record as governor of California. Homelessness is still a shame. People are fleeing the state because they can’t afford to live here. The tax system is outdated and broken.

Even California voters don’t agree with Newsom’s lenient sentencing policy for repeat offenders — as evidenced by the landslide approval of Proposition 36.

And he should tone down the hyper-rhetoric about climate change. Not every forest fire, flood, hurricane or hot day is the result of global warming. And constantly attacking Big Oil is an attack on thousands of voting workers.

So, yes, start running for president — but swing a little toward the center.

George Skelton is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

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