If Newsom wants to be president, he's got work to do

The “Newsom for president” bandwagon hit another rut this week. A new poll by the LA Times and UC Berkeley found California's registered voters believe—by a margin of more than 2 to 1— the state’s gallivanting governor is more focused on boosting his chances of winning the White House than fixing the multitude of problems facing him here at home. Which is not great news if you believe the best credential when seeking a new job is high praise for the one you're doing.

- Mark Z. Barabak, Tribune News Service

Those surveyed were decidedly mixed on Newsom, with a tepid 468 approving of his performance in his second and final term. (Presumably few, if any of them, have listened to Newsom's unctuous political podcast.) The same percentage of registered voters said they disapprove of his job performance. That's not a great look compared with other Democratic governors swirling about the 2028 gossip mill. Pennsylvania voters give their chief executive, Josh Shapiro, a healthy 59% approval rating and Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer gets favorable marks from 54% of her constituents. Kentucky's Andy Beshear boasts a positively gaudy 68% approval rating in his deep-red state, the highest of any Democratic governor in the country, according to Morning Consult’s nationwide survey.