As the Mayor of San Franscisco, Gavin Newsom accomplished little other than helping to facilitate the city’s decline to its current, lamentable condition.
As Governor of California, Gavin Newsom has accomplished little other than helping to facilitate the state’s decline to its current lamentable condition.
But as a politician looking for ways to get his name in the media? There are few better at it.
Here is his latest news-item accomplishment, pulled from Misty Severi’s article at justthenews.com:
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that the Golden State will remain a part of the World Health Organization’s network, even though the Trump administration just completed the United States’ withdrawal from the WHO.
The governor said California is now the first and only state to join WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network, which is tasked with rapidly detecting, verifying, assessing, and responding to emerging public health threats.
“The Trump administration’s withdrawal from WHO is a reckless decision that will hurt all Californians and Americans,” Newsom said in a statement. “California will not bear witness to the chaos this decision will bring. We will continue to foster partnerships across the globe and remain at the forefront of public health preparedness.”
Does an individual state claiming to stay in WHO have any meaningful standing? Any legal standing? I would assume it does not. But Newsom did get his name out there, didn’t he?
Here’s a story from my past that makes what I think is the relevant point here.
In March of 1979, Pennsylvania’s “Three Mile Island” (TMI) nuclear facility had a partial meltdown. Not at all surprisingly, given the potential radiation danger, it was a huge news story.
Shortly thereafter, I was hired to conduct a research study, to determine how much of an effect the TMI incident might have on tourism in the state’s tourism industry that summer. And, since the findings were good (it had little effect on tourism) I was asked to present the findings at a press conference in Harrisburg, along with then-Governor Dick Thornburg. My contact was a press agent – initials SB – whose name will remain anonymous here.
The day after that press conference, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a front page article about the press conference. In reading it, I found that it either misquoted or misinterpreted what Governor Thornburg said (I don’t remember which anymore) in a way that made him look bad. So I called SB and told him about it, assuming he’d be outraged.
SB’s actual reaction? He told me he was thrilled they got the front page coverage.
I learned a lot that day about the adage “the best thing is good publicity, the next best thing is bad publicity”.
That lesson, apparently is not lost on Gavin Newsom. He regularly makes statements as ridiculous as the one about California remaining in WHO even though the country pulled out. And he knows that, whether good or bad, he’ll get a hefty dose of publicity – which is all this Guy Smiley clone ever wants.
My condolences to the state of California for suffering Gavin Newsom as its Governor…and my blame to the voters of California for putting him there.
