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SAN DIEGO -- What's going on with Gavin Newsom?

Earlier this month, in a conversation with CNN's Jake Tapper that took place in a freezing-cold river in Montana where the two regular guys were supposedly fly-fishing, the 58-year-old California governor caught what he was really angling for: attention.

Newsom told Tapper that he would not run for president in 2028 if former Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost her bid in 2024 to President Donald Trump, decided to run again. He said that running against Harris, a fellow Californian with Bay Area roots, would amount to "mutual assured destruction" and be a "waste of everyone's time" because they have overlapping donor lists and bases of support.

This was noteworthy for three reasons. One, Newsom and Harris pretend to play nice in public, but they are longtime frenemies with lots of bad blood between them. Two, it's unlikely that Newsom would make such a declaration without first talking to Harris, which suggests that he might know something the rest of us don't about her plans for 2028. And three, even in a totally unnatural photo op like this, how is anyone supposed to catch fish with all that yapping going on?

Don't lose the plot. There is zero chance that Newsom is not running for president in 2028. In fact, he is already running -- and he's been running for more than seven years. It was back in March 2019 that the California governor with the movie-star good looks appeared for the first time on ABC's "The View."

That was the first clue. The second was his November 2023 debate on Fox News against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Both were insufferable, and the only thing the two governors accomplished was showing America that neither should be president. The third was when Newsom, in March 2025, launched a podcast by interviewing conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk, who was killed six months later.

Whatever Newsom is up to this time with his comments about Harris, you can be sure of one thing: It's all about Newsom.

With the governor, things are never as they appear. There's always an ulterior motive. Much of what he says is a mixture of lies and spin. He is always running a game, even if it's not always clear what it is.

In this case, the idea could have been to spark excitement and force Californians to choose between Newsom and Harris.

According to a new poll by POLITICO and the UC Berkeley Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research, among California Democrats, 61% said they would be excited about Newsom seeking the White House; only 55% were keen on Harris running again.

And yet, Newsom still seems indecisive. The political figure who stormed onto the national stage like Julius Caesar has become Hamlet. Newsom may be overthinking a presidential bid. To run or not to run. That is the question.

AOC seems to be pondering the same thing. In a recent interview with the New York Times, the 36-year-old lawmaker made clear that she knows this moment could pass her by.

"There's an argument that some make that this is a very unique political window and, oftentimes in politics, you do only get one shot," she said. "And you don't -- and just in life in general -- life doesn't wait for you to be ready for things. Sometimes life just makes things ready for you."

Whether Newsom is ready to fully commit to a White House campaign remains to be seen. You don't get elected president by thinking really hard about it. You have to climb into the arena.

As a lifelong Californian, I'm not a fan of my governor. In fact, the only thing I detest more than Newsom are the California Republicans who have proven to be no match for him.

In 2018, I voted for him. In 2021, I voted for his recall. Yet I didn't vote for the Republican alternative seeking to replace him.

Unlike the current occupant of the Oval Office, Newsom is not a con artist. But he is an opportunist. He is a master politician with mad skills who is much better at campaigning than he is at governing.

Still, a big part of politics is luck, and the governor's rabbit foot is that his opponents are always foolish enough to underestimate him.

If Newsom makes it official that he is running for president, that will likely once again be his most valuable asset. A word of advice to his adversaries in both parties: underestimate him at your peril.

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To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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