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For the new year, we have a new weekly feature on So, Does It Matter?, which is the Worst Week In California Politics. This is where, after spending the week immersed in the politics of everything, I produce a video critique of the politician or someone else in politics who really had a bad week.
Normally, this feature will be tucked behind our paywall - a special thank you to our paid subscribers. But this week’s been screwy. I published a winners-and-losers column on Monday. But I’m going to skip that this week, both because it's a short week and because my day job has been a bit much. As a trade-off for our valued regular subscribers, we’ll let you watch this usually firewalled video feature!
The video is above in the player! I hope you agree with my pick!
Biggest Loser of the Week:
Gavin Newsom Goes to Davos — and Flames Out
Gavin Newsom had a bad week. Not a routine bad-news-cycle week — but a self-inflicted, on-the-world-stage political flameout.
While California is grappling with a massive budget deficit, the nation’s highest homelessness numbers, and a cost-of-living crisis that continues to drive families out of the state, our governor chose this moment to fly to Switzerland and audition for higher office at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
It did not go well.
In this week’s Biggest Loser of the Week in California Politics video, I walk through what Davos actually is, why politicians like Newsom crave it, and how his attempt to posture as a global “anti-Trump” figure backfired spectacularly.
From having a scheduled speaking event at the official U.S. pavilion abruptly canceled… to being publicly torched by the U.S. Treasury Secretary over California’s record on out-migration, homelessness, budget deficits, and wildfire mismanagement… to waving around $100 “kneepads” as merchandise during what he described as a “code red” moment for democracy — the trip became a case study in misplaced priorities and terrible optics.
And then there was the photo: Gavin Newsom smiling alongside Alex Soros, the heir to the political operation that bankrolled the progressive prosecutor experiment California voters have now decisively rejected — from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Alameda County.
This isn’t about style points. It’s about judgment, priorities, and a governor who seems far more comfortable lecturing billionaires in Davos than confronting the consequences of his leadership back home.
Watch the full video for a blunt, no-nonsense breakdown of why Gavin Newsom is — by far — the biggest loser of the week in California politics.
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