Gavin Newsom works to bolster Biden in a swing-state tour that could boost both their ambitions
HOOKSETT, NH — For years, Gavin Newsom deliberately stayed away from New Hampshire.
The ambitious California governor understood that any visit to a bastion of presidential politics would fuel speculation that he was gunning for President Joe Biden’s job. But on Monday, with Biden is battling an existential political crisisthe president, in a tight spot, sent Newsom to New Hampshire to save his campaign.
It was the final and perhaps most important stop in a multi-state tour for Newsom, who has emerged as Biden’s top defender in key states.
“I decided not to just give up, but to go and fight,” Newsom told reporters at a highway rest stop during his first public appearance in the state as an elected official. He said of Biden, “He’s going to be our nominee.”
It’s a pivotal moment for both Newsom and his Democratic Party, which has faced infighting and uncertainty in the aftermath of the election. Biden’s Disastrous Debate Performance only 11 days earlier.
Biden insisted again Monday that he would not suspend his campaign. But a growing number of elected Democrats in Washington and even here in New Hampshire are calling on the 81-year-old president to step aside, warning that he is too weak to defeat former president donald trump this fall and even if he wins, he may not be able to lead the country effectively for the next four years.
Many Democratic officials believe Vice President Kamala Harris is best positioned to replace Biden. But the short list of top-tier alternatives is headed by Newsom, a big-state governor with big ambitions who is as comfortable talking policy as he is engaging with leading Republicans.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore are also part of the replacement debate playing out privately among donors, strategists and elected officials. All have been outspoken Biden supporters in recent days.
Newsom said ahead of a closed fundraising event for New Hampshire Senate Democrats that the current divisions within the party are unhelpful and distracting.
He also brushed aside questions about whether he would run for his party’s nomination at next month’s national convention if Biden drops out of the race.
“I think that’s a legitimate question and I respect it, but it’s also exactly the question that Donald Trump hopes everyone asks when he’s on the golf course,” Newsom said. “So to me, that’s not a question that I’m going to answer because Joe Biden is our nominee, he’s our president. … And I look forward to voting for him.”
At the most vulnerable moment of his presidency, Biden has never held Newsom so close.
Since the June 27 debate, Newsom has been campaigning for Biden in Michigan, Pennsylvania and now New Hampshire, a state known for its traditional early primaries and a small swing state in the general election with four electoral votes.
Earlier Monday, Newsom was a guest on a Biden campaign conference call with all staff, where he stressed that voters still care deeply about Biden, despite their fears and concerns.
Newsom and his team have been overwhelmingly deferential to Biden. In recent days, Newsom’s staff has referred all questions about his travel schedule and political plans to the Biden campaign.
Within both camps, the relationship between Biden and Newsom is seen as mutually beneficial.
Newsom, 56, offers Biden credibility and excitement as one of the Democratic Party’s most promising rising stars with deep ties to California’s powerful donor network. And Biden offers Newsom a platform on the biggest stage in American politics to help build his brand ahead of a potential presidential bid in 2028.
But there are risks, especially for Newsom.
Former New Hampshire House Speaker Steve Shurtleff said he has been “very impressed” with Newsom and sees him as a top candidate for president. But Shurtleff, once Biden’s top supporter in the state, now believes the president should step aside and wondered aloud whether Newsom is picking the wrong side in what he described as “a profile-in-courage moment” for party leaders.
“He has shown himself to be very loyal to the president and the administration. And that, I think, could hurt him,” Shurtleff said of Newsom.
Overall, few Democratic officials in New Hampshire have called for Biden to withdraw from the race, but it’s no secret that Biden’s relationships in the state could be tense.
It was Biden who earlier this year prompted the Democratic National Committee to skip New Hampshire as an opening battle on the presidential election calendar for the first time in decades.
Even before the historic shift, Democrats in New Hampshire were not Biden’s biggest supporters.
He finished fifth in the state’s 2020 primary, behind Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, current Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. However, Biden defeated Trump by 7 points in the general election.
Biden’s Democratic critics are becoming increasingly vocal.
“The party should honor and thank the president for his five decades of service, but must quickly embrace new leadership before it is too late,” said New Hampshire attorney Jay Surdukowski, who is active in Democratic politics, pointing to a “deep bench” that includes Newsom, Harris, Whitmer and Buttigieg.
He referred to Biden’s faltering debate performances and his subsequent statement that he would limit his events after 8pm
“Democrats like to say that President Trump is a threat to democracy,” Surdukowski said. “A president who can’t form coherent sentences and goes to bed at 8 o’clock is perhaps the greatest threat.”
At the rest stop along Interstate 93, where Biden’s campaign team had invited a handful of local party officials to attend Newsom’s unannounced appearance, there was no sign of such criticism.
One of the guests, Webster Democratic Party chair Jennifer Buck, 78, said she likes what Newsom has done in California, but she doesn’t think he should replace Biden on the ticket.
If Biden does indeed step aside or is “sent out,” she said, Harris should be the party’s nominee.
Newsom might agree.
The California governor predicted the vice president would beat Trump in a hypothetical showdown when asked.
“I have no doubt about that. And that’s from someone who’s known her longer than most, before we were both in politics,” he said. “But I don’t expect it to come to that.”
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Peoples reported from New York.