Gavin Newsom said Monday that he will not run for president in 2028 if former Democratic Party nominee Kamala Harris does run. 

The announcement struck many as bizarre. But it was, in fact, brilliant.

Newsom accomplished two things.

First, the California governor confirmed that he intends to run for president, albeit in a backhanded way. He did so without actually declaring , which means he will (for now) avoid all the filing deadlines, legal requirements, and media scrutiny that would have accompanied a formal campaign launch.

Second, and more important, Newsom paid homage to the party. And not just the political elite, such as it is, which coronated Harris in 2024 without holding a single public vote; but also to the coalitions that form the Democratic machine.

By showing deference to the country’s first black and female candidate, Newsom honored two crucial constituencies within the party — blacks and women — who had been skeptical of him.

He also flattered the party’s “woke” ideology by subordinating his ambitions to Harris’s own, knowing full well she can’t really run this time around. 

Harris herself may not realize it yet, but the the donors won’t be there, nor will the voters, for a failed candidate who lost the popular vote to Donald Trump in 2024.

Yet Newsom put her on a pedestal. He kissed the proverbial ring. He shed his “white privilege.”

Newsom also gave Harris a way to show magnanimity — to elevate herself by allowing him to run, rather than shaming herself by attempting yet another failed presidential effort (her third). 

Newsom has many weaknesses. He cannot govern. He is thin-skinned. He is a French Laundry hypocrite when he thinks no one is watching.

But no one in the Democratic Party is better at politics. That is why he is the frontrunner for 2028.

Joel Pollak is Opinion editor of the California Post.