At a private fundraiser in the middle of Donald Trump's America, California Gov. Gavin Newsom was on a mission to help President Joe Biden.
Newsom, who hit the road during the Fourth of July holiday weekend, told a group of roughly 50 Democrats gathered in the backyard of a mansion overlooking the Boise foothills Saturday to make the "powerful case for why we should be passionate, enthusiastic about Biden's reelection."
At a time when states like Idaho, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 4 to 1, are enacting laws to restrict abortion, gay rights and advance other culturally divisive pillars of the GOP agenda, Newsom said only one man could be trusted to turn the tide: Biden.
The 80-year-old president has used his years in office to aggressively fight for Democratic priorities, Newsom told them, including LGBTQ+ rights, gun control and clean energy, while rebuilding the American economy post-COVID and keeping democracy afloat.
"I'm really proud of this president, and I hope you are as well," Newsom said to a crowd happy to have one of the party's rising stars.
Saturday's swing through Idaho didn't just energize Biden's much-neglected base in such a conservative corner of the West. It helped build a future one for Newsom.
Many of the Democrats who flocked to hear Newsom speak in Idaho and at a separate fundraising event earlier that day in Bend, Ore., said they thought the 55-year-old liberal governor offered a glimpse into the future of their party, a bolder, more charismatic and younger potential heir of Biden's legacy in the post-Trump years.
"He looks like an incredible presidential candidate," said Russ Buschert, an Idaho Democratic Party trustee.
Michele Anderson, a real estate broker in Bend and former Bay Area resident, praised Newsom for using his "pretty impactful" voice and his willingness to take a stand on the most critical issues facing the nation while pushing back against Republicans eroding the progress made during the country's recent history.
"I appreciate a lot that Joe Biden has done, but I think it's time for that next generation of leaders, too," Anderson said. "And I see Gavin Newsom being a part of that."
Newsom says he has no interest in the White House and that his cross-country travels are to promote his party and president before the 2024 election.
But his stumping for Biden tees Newsom up nicely for other job prospects, said Rob Stutzman, a Republican consultant in California. His public feuding with Republicans fills a "void" in his party and sends a message that he's a Democrat willing and unafraid to take on the MAGA wing of the GOP — a crusade that helps elevate Newsom's national profile and build a database of supporters along the way.
"He's putting in time and effort that no one else outside the White House appears to be," Stutzman said. "He's acting like the candidate in waiting.
"Someday it may pay off for him."
The visit to Idaho, which kicked off Newsom's second tour through red states over the past few months, was all about shoring up enthusiasm for Biden's accomplishments and touting party accomplishments, while showering beleaguered local Democrats with some love, attention and a little campaign cash from his political action committee Campaign for Democracy.
Newsom cut the Idaho Democratic Party a $10,000 check for the event, the maximum allowed; it's a sliver of the more than $3 million he's funneled to Biden and Democrats in Republican-run states such as Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi over the last three months. This week, he'll have private meetings with Democrats in Montana during an annual family Fourth of July vacation, with a stop later in Utah.
The swing through Republican-led states gives Newsom the chance to remind local Democrats how critical they are in fighting back against what he described as a GOP-led "rights regression."
"You think Trump, if he gets back into office, is not going to demand a third term? Give me a break," Newsom said. "You think Jan. 6 is the last we are going to see.... Give me a break."
Newsom's foray deeper into the national political arena has evolved since last year, when he ripped his party for not being aggressive enough in the face of Republican victories on the local, state and national level, including at the U.S. Supreme Court.
"I'm just trying to move from lament and critique to action and responsibility," Newsom said in an interview with The Times in Boise. "No one wants to hear a critic. What are you going to do? And I had to answer the 'what am I going to do' question.
"I'm trying to build something," he said. "But I'm trying to be complementary of the work that's already being done."
But Newsom also has to contend with any side effects of his campaigning in red states like Idaho, one of the top states where Californians are fleeing, according to data analyzed by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. During Newsom's tenure as governor, California has seen a surge in homelessness and a worsening housing shortage and affordability crisis, some of the issues cited in a recent PPIC poll showing that about 4 in 10 Californians are considering leaving the state.
"California's far-left governor came to Boise to raise money for Idaho Democrats...and to export his litany of failed policies, including skyrocketing housing costs," Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon said in a statement. "People are fleeing California in droves because they don't want to live as serfs in Prince Gavin's kingdom. I'm pretty sure his visit here to normal America violates some kind of California travel restriction."
California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said the state's struggles should "serve as a warning to the rest of the nation."
"While Newsom runs a shadow presidential campaign, it's increasingly clear he wants to take his failures from his own state straight to the White House," Millan Patterson said in a statement. "You don't want what Gavin Newsom's selling."
Newsom has dismissed that criticism as tired Republican talking points and a distraction from the cultural issues that underlie his trip.
"I'm not giving a California stump speech, never have in any of the red states I've been to," he said, adding that his assignment isn't a "Visit California" campaign. "That's not what this is about. I talk about the Democratic Party and our values, and I think there's a lot to brag about in that respect."
Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant and co-founder of the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project, said Newsom's brand appeals to Democrats throughout the country, including in swing states, who are looking for a leader "unashamed and unapologetic" about running defense against Republicans.
While Democrats in decades past focused on the economy and shied from the more divisive cultural issues of their time, Madrid said, Newsom's focus on LGBTQ+ and transgender rights, on gun control and environmental issues appeals to the white-collar, college-educated members of his party, along with certain Latino voters looking for a political home.
That could be a winning strategy in a deeply divided America in the middle of a culture war, Madrid said. As voters are looking for a champion on cultural issues, "Gavin Newsom is that champion."
At least for now, Newsom is shrugging off the presidential compliments and sticking to the script.
"I guess I should be humbled by that," he said. "But that's not why I'm here."
