Fox’s The Five spent airtime this week discussing a Politico column that anointed California Gov. Gavin Newsom the Democrats’ early front-runner for 2028, and the hosts didn’t hide their incredulity as the media races to coronate another coastal celebrity. The argument is simple: when the establishment wants a candidate, it writes the headlines first and worries about voters later.
Politico’s case for Newsom rests on his recent high-profile moves — a Prop 50 win, a nationalized anti-Trump posture, and a social-media-first play that has boosted his name recognition outside California. The column practically admits the calculus: fame plus fundraising equals “front-runner” in today’s headline-driven politics, even if policy achievements don’t back up the hype.
And yes, the polls have caught up to the puff piece; recent surveys show Newsom surging into the top tier of Democratic shortlists as voters name preferred 2028 contenders. That’s the danger of early polling: it can be self-fulfilling when the press starts treating a narrative as reality and donors follow.
But let’s be clear for the hardworking Americans who actually live under Newsom-style governance: California’s headline moments mask real failures on affordability, public safety, and the homelessness crisis that have made living there a nightmare for middle-class families. Newsom’s fixes — aggressive encampment bans and CEQA overhauls to speed housing — are being sold as solutions, but they come after years of expensive policies that drove people out and left cities broken.
The bigger story is the media double standard: a governor who presided over a state teetering under left-wing experiments gets dubbed the savior of the Democratic Party while a conservative who actually delivers for voters gets smeared and silenced. If Democrats think celebrity envy and clever headlines will paper over their policy failures, they’re in for a rude awakening in the heartland.
Patriots worried about the future should take this as a warning and a call to action — remind your neighbors what actual results look like, hold the press accountable for its coronations, and make sure the conversation stays focused on substance over spin. The 2028 fight will be decided by real Americans in real towns, not by chit-chat on cable panels and puff pieces in coastal outlets.
