He ran TV ads taunting the governor of Florida. Ron DeSantis and put up billboards in seven states telling women that California would defend their access to abortion.

He lashed out at fellow Democrats for not being sufficiently glowing in their anger at the impending reversal of Roe vs. Wade through the Supreme Court. “Where’s my party?” asked Gavin Newsom.

Then, just last week, California’s flamboyant governor announced the formation of a nationally focused political action committee, accompanied by all the trappings of a burgeoning White House bid:

A fundraiser.

A launch video on fire with images ripped from the headlines, urgent narration by Newsom, and a lineup of political villains Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene, DeSantis that Democrats love to loathe.

Finally a campaign-style swing, with wife and kids in tow, to meet black leaders in the South, the first of a promised series of road trips to places, Newsom declared, “where freedom is most under attack.”

All of this is very similar to the actions of someone vying for the presidency, less than three months after Newsom, just 55, was inaugurated for his second and final term in Sacramento.

There are still plenty of reasons to doubt that Newsom will make a full bid for the White House, not least the fact that the incumbent Democrat is apparently preparing his own 2024 campaign launch, with the oft-cited and unqualified support of the governor of California.

That said, California voters, those who pay Newsom’s salary with the expectation that he would serve them in the state’s capitol, can legitimately ask what exactly he is up to.

California governors almost always see presidential wood when they look at themselves in a mirror. Few can resist the beckoning of the Beltway, the chatter of political pundits, or the friendliness of campaign workers urging them to run.

Jerry Brown twice sought the presidency while governor. His fellow Democrat, Gray Davis, was castrated by a voter recall before he had the chance. Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger might have been happy to do so if he had been born an American citizen.

In his 1994 re-election campaign, Gov. Pete Wilson outright ruled out a White House candidacy, turned around the following year and ran anyway, a broken promise that helped sink the Republican’s bid.

Newsom has been equally emphatic in professing “subzero” interest in running for president. When asked directly during the only gubernatorial debate last fall, Newsom unequivocally promised to serve a full four-year term if reelected in November.

That was smart.

Whatever his personal wish, Newsom presumably understands that it would be suicidal to run against President Biden in a Democratic primary and only slightly less charged to challenge Vice President Kamala Harris, the early frontrunner for the nomination, if the president would stand aside.

Harris would almost certainly face a formidable challenge from Democratic rivals, but starts off with significant advantages, not least her position in the White House and a sizeable base among black and

female

voters, the muscle and backbone of the party.

Newsom would love to step in if Harris stumbled during the primary season, but that’s highly speculative and dependent on a number of events occurring between now and then.

Clearly, the governor’s ambitions cannot be curtailed by his current profession.

It was like the mayor of San Francisco, when Newsom made his way onto the national scene by issuing same-sex marriage licenses before they got legal sanction.

Yes, Newsom seems to acknowledge, it may seem like he has his eyes on the White House. In fact, he told the Washington Post, he was hesitant to create his new political action committee, littered with $10 million in leftover money from his re-election campaign because of how it could be misinterpreted.

But, Newsom said, last week’s mass shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville dispelled any doubt that it was the right thing to do. (And so the slick launch video, the legal creation of a federal political action committee, and the multi-state travel schedule suddenly came together.)

It’s not like the voters are clamoring for a Newsom presidency.

In a poll published last month

March 1

by Quinnipiac University, seven in 10 California voters said they do not want Newsom to run for president in 2024, a view shared by 54% of Democrats.

That’s not surprising. Voters, not unreasonably, want politicians to do the job they were elected to do.

Does not matter.

The announcement of his new campaign committee received the national attention Newsom craves, and the governor’s travels are sure to further raise his profile, increase his political coffers and forge a nationwide network of connections.

There are other entries.

“National reporters will ask him questions about Donald Trump and Kevin McCarthy and marriage equality. He won’t face tough questions about legislation or controversial policy issues,” said Dan Schnur, a former Republican strategist who became an independent and teaches political communications at USC and U.C. Berkeley.

“Any day he talks about abortion rights or DeSantis instead of housing and homelessness,” Schnur observed dryly, “is a good day for him.”

How Newsom spends his free time, nights and weekends is, of course, his own business.

But if he wants to run for president in, say, 2028 or later, Newsom might be better off focusing more on the many not-insignificant issues he’s facing in California, rather than a sort-sort-but-not real campaign. for the White House. Charity, as the saying goes, begins at home.

So is most of the political success.