Newsom Uses Political Stunts to Garner Attention. As Jerry Brown Learned, It Can Backfire

Gavin Newsom Says Baseball Saved Him. But the Legend of His Career Doesn’t Always Match the Reality

Public biographies of Gov. Gavin Newsom have long touted his baseball career, and playing at Santa Clara University. But he was never on the roster, among other misperceptions of his accomplishments. Newsom has not corrected the record.

How Gavin Newsom uses statistics to mislead about California crime

There is a popular phrase about “lies, damned lies, and statistics.” The last of those three has become a particular favorite of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) as he tries to shed the soft-on-crime label he has earned himself and the state of California. Newsom has been on a yearslong kick of lambasting Republicans on social media using crime statistics. He has touted that the statistics show that California is not the paradise for criminals that Repu…

Newsom uses political stunts to garner attention. As Jerry Brown learned, it can backfire

During his first governorship a half-century ago, Jerry Brown acquired a reputation for making abrupt changes of position, sometimes contradicting himself. The starkest example occurred in 1978 when Proposition 13, a landmark tax limit measure, was on the ballot. Brown denounced the measure as a “ripoff” before the election, but soon after its overwhelming approval, declared himself a “born-again tax cutter” and sponsored a state income tax cut.…