Hey, friend. Thank you for this. It echoes both my response to these particular politicians and eludes to something I've been thinking about ever since the lead up to No Kings last weekend, which is contempt. In many of the critiques of No Kings that I read over the last week, the overwhelming emotional tone is a sort of world weary, more radical than thou, scolding contempt- for new participants to activism and for more liberal activists. In Gavin and Rahm and their ilk of politically uber-ambitious candidates, what I also sense is an overwhelming contempt. In their case, for both the voters of their own party and the voters and candidates of the party they're hoping to decimate with their performative, tough guy faux-realism. All of these contemptuous folks are arguing that only they know what's really going on here. Only they know what the right path is. All the rest of you dummies just need to sit down and listen up, dammit.
You know who else is super contemptuous of everybody (unless they're currently complementing him and he needs something)? Donald Trump. And I don't know about anybody else, but as a woman I've had to learn to avoid men (and women, too, but so many of these contemptuous finger-waggers seem to be men) who lead with contempt. They're not safe for me, and they're frequently unsafe in community. Feh, I say. Just feh to all of that.
Contempt is a way of asserting superiority. So, yeah, it’s a prime tactic for folks who either see themselves as better than whoever they’re contemptuous of or who actually feel like crap about themselves, so being contemptuous allows them to make themselves feel better in comparison. It’s classic bullying behavior. And sends off my alarm bells immediately.
It's so disheartening to me that, in a world in which we actually have real, successful other examples of how to do "Man Winning Politically", by being essentially a generally kind-seeming not aggressive dude who wants to solve real problems for real people (and even like, that picture of Drumph beaming at his bff Zohran...like we have a man *not doing aggression* actually outflanking the orange demon)... that is is still the unimaginative template for 2028.
I am HERE for feisty Garrett. These dudes suck so hard - they represent the last dying gasps of neoliberalism, where the consulting class has absolutely no idea what Americans actually want because none of them are interested in actually talking to Americans. Also would like to note the air of dismissive contemptuous misogyny in Emanuel's Lululemon jab. He's a Manhattan highrise Dem, but he's a dude so it's okay? People want someone who actually understands their needs and wants, ESPECIALLY those of our most vulnerable. Someone who supports a functioning government that represents us all. Someone who, I don't know, LIKES people, and believes in the promise of our democracy more than they crave power.
Such a good point, and I wish I had dived a bit deeper down that thread. It's so clear that when Rahm pictures the solution, he's picturing himself, and when he pictures the problem, he's picturing A WEAK, NAGGY WOMAN.
Hear, hear! It's fully possible to fight without fighting dirty. There are plenty of legitimate criticisms of Republicans, MAGA Republicans, and whoever else...there is absolutely no need to resort to name-calling and bigoted insinuation when you can just stick to the facts. Sheesh.
P.S. Write about whatever you want, Garrett! It's your blog. We can spare ourselves if we don't wanna read a particular column.
I have some personal knowledge of both of these dudes because I live in California and my brother has spent his entire adult life in Chicago. I don't know anyone in CA who is truly excited about the idea of a Gavin Newsom candidacy. Those of us who live in the Bay Area have been stuck with this guy for decades and I sadly don't think he's been very effective. He's vetoed some good progressive bills. The one good thing he did was lead on gay marriage, but now that he's constantly throwing trans people under the bus, I don't think that's going to help his standing with the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. And Rahm's support in Chicago was at rock bottom toward the end of his term; there are plenty of old scandals to dig up there.
Thank you for this perfect writeup and YES - NO THANK YOU to these two! Especially for the gem of "malevolence light" which finally captures what has been screaming in the back of my mind (behind all the other more urgent screaming) about Newsom in particular as I viscerally physically react everytime I see his picture or hear him mentioned. And looking at you Vogue for doing a whole writeup on him. Thank you profoundly for the antidote! Also, I thought i had already upgraded to paid but apparently hadn't so that is taken care of right now to support you and so I could express my appreciation for this!
Oh thank you for the upgrade! And I really would love to stop writing about Gavin, but there always seems to be another big glossy spread (like the Vogue one) and so many powerful institutions working to Make Newsom Happen (makes sense- he offers no real threat to power), that I keep getting pulled back in.
Please keep writing on him and helping us stay sane - i tell myself what you said, about the not going to happen - but still feel sick when I hear his mention so I appreciate your affirmation.
Yeah, I was coming here to flag the Vogue piece! I only happened to see it cuz my nephew was working on a collage for school depicting excessive corruption during slavery pre-civil war in the U.S. We were scouring magazines for a guy who epitomized richness and greed...and Newsome's profile stood out for images perfect for that character in the collage. Really says something about what he represents when his cut-out can convey such repressive values.
I love your substack and thank you for it. But please, PLEASE do not dwell on these fellows. Life is too short. (I'm 78 years old!) I understand they make excellent targets, but please, PLEASE, spare us. Thanks for all your great work, my friend! Keep it up. Everyone has a down morning.
Linda, I appreciate this note so much. I promise not to spend too much of my life on these fellas, and apologize sincerely for bringing them into your inbox today. I do so not because of them, necessarily, but because unfortunately they are representative of a broader undercurrent in anti-Trump politics that just isn't going away (the concept of fighting meanness with meanness) and I do find value in naming the ridiculousness of that whole framing. I wish we weren't about to hear more of it but my hunch is we will! And occasionally, in the midst of focusing on more life giving things, I think there's some value in saying no thank you to that
Agreed, Garrett. I can take it! Bring 'em on...Some mornings, I just think of denial as a life skill; generally I know that's no true. Keep up the good work. This IS THE CRAZY world we live in, and we're all lucky to have you directing your analysis (even sardonically) to them. With you, I say, "No, thank you. No, thank you." Press on! The struggle continues.
I try to have a lot of empathy for folks who can't seem to quit Newsom, even though my first reaction is just such immense befuddlemnet-- my gut is that it speaks to life in such a political desert-- we're so starved for any meaningful opposition to Trump, that of course we turn to the guy being all loud and boisterous. I'd be curious as to your thoughts, though, as to what the appeal seems to be?
He is a charming, good-looking white guy wonk (wonk meant in the nerdy political sense, which I do think he earnestly is) who has been in the right place at the right time. I don't think anything he says is particularly innovative or new, but he has packaged himself to be the "right" guy to say it.
My mom likes Newsom because she thinks he's "a fighter," but she's only been a Californian for two years, whereas I've had almost 25 years of exposure to him. I think I've managed to finally talk her out of supporting him for higher office. She's not as online as I am, so I don't think she's had any exposure to his posts on X or his podcasts, she just knows he's vocally anti-Trump from his various TV appearances.
I saw that "aggressively shaken salad" article, and I rolled my eyes so hard I saw the back of my head. Thanks for giving it the good shaking it deserved.
And I know you're on spring break and sick, but I think you might have meant bighorn sheep head-butting act. (I usually only offer correction suggestions when I'm getting paid, but sometimes my inner copy editor can't keep her mouth shut.) Hope you're feeling better soon!
Thanks for the well wishes and kind words! In this case, I meant the in heat line deliberately, because that's when a lot of the head butting comes out in particular (see video) but your point that it may have been less distracting if I was a little less cute and just said head butting is well taken :).
Here's some bighorn sheep in heat videos. Safe for work, unless you happen to work in an office full of bighorn sheep.
Sitting here trying to imagine building community by deciding who's in or out. Imagining the glee of Republicans when they figure out that their attack memes have been written by Dems. Imagining a world in which we find the perfect candidate and realize they are too unknown to get elected. Hoping we focus on identifying , helping shape, supporting, building name recognition, and helping get elected. Maybe I've just gotten too old for all of this.
Garrett, I’m late to the party on this column - as per usual. I was at work yesterday and glanced at my phone and saw the title of this piece in the notifications. My brain immediately said, “Oooooh! Garrett’s playing my jam today! I love me some political shop talk and boy did you deliver (as always!).
These two are something else. In my brain they fall into the category of politicians I like to call the “It worked last election” crowd. So tiresome!
You hit the nail on the head (as did so many commenters here). Get out there and care about people and present solutions to their problems that make sense and don’t malign our neighbors.
The problem with that is, as the saying goes, it’s not difficult, but it’s really hard to do.
Hey, friend. Thank you for this. It echoes both my response to these particular politicians and eludes to something I've been thinking about ever since the lead up to No Kings last weekend, which is contempt. In many of the critiques of No Kings that I read over the last week, the overwhelming emotional tone is a sort of world weary, more radical than thou, scolding contempt- for new participants to activism and for more liberal activists. In Gavin and Rahm and their ilk of politically uber-ambitious candidates, what I also sense is an overwhelming contempt. In their case, for both the voters of their own party and the voters and candidates of the party they're hoping to decimate with their performative, tough guy faux-realism. All of these contemptuous folks are arguing that only they know what's really going on here. Only they know what the right path is. All the rest of you dummies just need to sit down and listen up, dammit.
You know who else is super contemptuous of everybody (unless they're currently complementing him and he needs something)? Donald Trump. And I don't know about anybody else, but as a woman I've had to learn to avoid men (and women, too, but so many of these contemptuous finger-waggers seem to be men) who lead with contempt. They're not safe for me, and they're frequently unsafe in community. Feh, I say. Just feh to all of that.
The common thread IS contempt, isn't it? And the intersection of contempt and off the chart levels of self regard.
Contempt is a way of asserting superiority. So, yeah, it’s a prime tactic for folks who either see themselves as better than whoever they’re contemptuous of or who actually feel like crap about themselves, so being contemptuous allows them to make themselves feel better in comparison. It’s classic bullying behavior. And sends off my alarm bells immediately.
"Would you feel safe alone in a room with these men?"
It's so disheartening to me that, in a world in which we actually have real, successful other examples of how to do "Man Winning Politically", by being essentially a generally kind-seeming not aggressive dude who wants to solve real problems for real people (and even like, that picture of Drumph beaming at his bff Zohran...like we have a man *not doing aggression* actually outflanking the orange demon)... that is is still the unimaginative template for 2028.
Right?!? You all, we're in a post Zohran world!!! If you're gonna copy somebody, copy that!
I am HERE for feisty Garrett. These dudes suck so hard - they represent the last dying gasps of neoliberalism, where the consulting class has absolutely no idea what Americans actually want because none of them are interested in actually talking to Americans. Also would like to note the air of dismissive contemptuous misogyny in Emanuel's Lululemon jab. He's a Manhattan highrise Dem, but he's a dude so it's okay? People want someone who actually understands their needs and wants, ESPECIALLY those of our most vulnerable. Someone who supports a functioning government that represents us all. Someone who, I don't know, LIKES people, and believes in the promise of our democracy more than they crave power.
Such a good point, and I wish I had dived a bit deeper down that thread. It's so clear that when Rahm pictures the solution, he's picturing himself, and when he pictures the problem, he's picturing A WEAK, NAGGY WOMAN.
Hear, hear! It's fully possible to fight without fighting dirty. There are plenty of legitimate criticisms of Republicans, MAGA Republicans, and whoever else...there is absolutely no need to resort to name-calling and bigoted insinuation when you can just stick to the facts. Sheesh.
P.S. Write about whatever you want, Garrett! It's your blog. We can spare ourselves if we don't wanna read a particular column.
So well put, Zoë, thanks!
I have some personal knowledge of both of these dudes because I live in California and my brother has spent his entire adult life in Chicago. I don't know anyone in CA who is truly excited about the idea of a Gavin Newsom candidacy. Those of us who live in the Bay Area have been stuck with this guy for decades and I sadly don't think he's been very effective. He's vetoed some good progressive bills. The one good thing he did was lead on gay marriage, but now that he's constantly throwing trans people under the bus, I don't think that's going to help his standing with the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. And Rahm's support in Chicago was at rock bottom toward the end of his term; there are plenty of old scandals to dig up there.
One might say that the only way you'll get a deeper eye roll than asking California voters about Gav is if you ask Chicagoans about Rahm :)
Thank you for this perfect writeup and YES - NO THANK YOU to these two! Especially for the gem of "malevolence light" which finally captures what has been screaming in the back of my mind (behind all the other more urgent screaming) about Newsom in particular as I viscerally physically react everytime I see his picture or hear him mentioned. And looking at you Vogue for doing a whole writeup on him. Thank you profoundly for the antidote! Also, I thought i had already upgraded to paid but apparently hadn't so that is taken care of right now to support you and so I could express my appreciation for this!
Oh thank you for the upgrade! And I really would love to stop writing about Gavin, but there always seems to be another big glossy spread (like the Vogue one) and so many powerful institutions working to Make Newsom Happen (makes sense- he offers no real threat to power), that I keep getting pulled back in.
Please keep writing on him and helping us stay sane - i tell myself what you said, about the not going to happen - but still feel sick when I hear his mention so I appreciate your affirmation.
Yeah, I was coming here to flag the Vogue piece! I only happened to see it cuz my nephew was working on a collage for school depicting excessive corruption during slavery pre-civil war in the U.S. We were scouring magazines for a guy who epitomized richness and greed...and Newsome's profile stood out for images perfect for that character in the collage. Really says something about what he represents when his cut-out can convey such repressive values.
Yes exactly and go collage artists!
Hi, Garrett,
I love your substack and thank you for it. But please, PLEASE do not dwell on these fellows. Life is too short. (I'm 78 years old!) I understand they make excellent targets, but please, PLEASE, spare us. Thanks for all your great work, my friend! Keep it up. Everyone has a down morning.
Linda, I appreciate this note so much. I promise not to spend too much of my life on these fellas, and apologize sincerely for bringing them into your inbox today. I do so not because of them, necessarily, but because unfortunately they are representative of a broader undercurrent in anti-Trump politics that just isn't going away (the concept of fighting meanness with meanness) and I do find value in naming the ridiculousness of that whole framing. I wish we weren't about to hear more of it but my hunch is we will! And occasionally, in the midst of focusing on more life giving things, I think there's some value in saying no thank you to that
Agreed, Garrett. I can take it! Bring 'em on...Some mornings, I just think of denial as a life skill; generally I know that's no true. Keep up the good work. This IS THE CRAZY world we live in, and we're all lucky to have you directing your analysis (even sardonically) to them. With you, I say, "No, thank you. No, thank you." Press on! The struggle continues.
Oh I am sending this to everyone who asks me about Newsom as a viable candidate. Beginning with my mother and husband.
I try to have a lot of empathy for folks who can't seem to quit Newsom, even though my first reaction is just such immense befuddlemnet-- my gut is that it speaks to life in such a political desert-- we're so starved for any meaningful opposition to Trump, that of course we turn to the guy being all loud and boisterous. I'd be curious as to your thoughts, though, as to what the appeal seems to be?
He is a charming, good-looking white guy wonk (wonk meant in the nerdy political sense, which I do think he earnestly is) who has been in the right place at the right time. I don't think anything he says is particularly innovative or new, but he has packaged himself to be the "right" guy to say it.
My mom likes Newsom because she thinks he's "a fighter," but she's only been a Californian for two years, whereas I've had almost 25 years of exposure to him. I think I've managed to finally talk her out of supporting him for higher office. She's not as online as I am, so I don't think she's had any exposure to his posts on X or his podcasts, she just knows he's vocally anti-Trump from his various TV appearances.
Temu populists 😂 no notes. These two both give me the ick, thanks for helping me put words to why that might be.
The ick is right!
"Temu populists" made me laugh out loud. Thanks for that. Hope you feel better soon!
I saw that "aggressively shaken salad" article, and I rolled my eyes so hard I saw the back of my head. Thanks for giving it the good shaking it deserved.
And I know you're on spring break and sick, but I think you might have meant bighorn sheep head-butting act. (I usually only offer correction suggestions when I'm getting paid, but sometimes my inner copy editor can't keep her mouth shut.) Hope you're feeling better soon!
Right? I don't want to elect anyone a reporter analogizes as violating the Geneva Convention in any respects!
Thanks for the well wishes and kind words! In this case, I meant the in heat line deliberately, because that's when a lot of the head butting comes out in particular (see video) but your point that it may have been less distracting if I was a little less cute and just said head butting is well taken :).
Here's some bighorn sheep in heat videos. Safe for work, unless you happen to work in an office full of bighorn sheep.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fec565nciE8
Right. And the ones "in heat" are not doing the head butting. Or salad shaking.
Ah! Got it. Shows how little biological knowledge I have that I didn't know the term was gender-specific. Great catch!
Thank you for this and for your excellent use of the word jabroni (very common in Pittsburghese). Very grateful for your work.
It is just one of the many cultural gifts that Yinzers have given the world.
Ha yes! Did autocorrect change Yinzers to Yonkers? 😂
Oh jeez it did! Let me go fix it back! NOT THE SAME THING!
Ha! the Yinzers will come for you!!
I'll be pummeled with Terrible Towels
And Primanti’s sammiches!
Sitting here trying to imagine building community by deciding who's in or out. Imagining the glee of Republicans when they figure out that their attack memes have been written by Dems. Imagining a world in which we find the perfect candidate and realize they are too unknown to get elected. Hoping we focus on identifying , helping shape, supporting, building name recognition, and helping get elected. Maybe I've just gotten too old for all of this.
Garrett, hope you feel well really soon.
Garrett, I’m late to the party on this column - as per usual. I was at work yesterday and glanced at my phone and saw the title of this piece in the notifications. My brain immediately said, “Oooooh! Garrett’s playing my jam today! I love me some political shop talk and boy did you deliver (as always!).
These two are something else. In my brain they fall into the category of politicians I like to call the “It worked last election” crowd. So tiresome!
You hit the nail on the head (as did so many commenters here). Get out there and care about people and present solutions to their problems that make sense and don’t malign our neighbors.
The problem with that is, as the saying goes, it’s not difficult, but it’s really hard to do.