Top O' the Briefing
Happy Friday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. Mocktail Happy Hour begins immediately following Rage Yoga at the Koi Pond of Ambivalence.
Throughout most of 2024, there was rampant speculation that California Governor Gavin Newsom was the odds-on choice to step in and replace Joe Biden when he eventually dropped out of the race. Nobody was speculating about Biden, by the way, we all knew that he was going to be pushed aside.
This will probably be met with a lot of revisionist history, but I was one of the few people who insisted that Newsom was never going to be the guy. Trust me, it wasn't a popular opinion at the time. Like so many of my opinions, however, it was correct.
There were two things that I knew to be true: 1) There was no way the Democrats were going to throw their black female vice president under the bus and run the lily white Newsom, and 2) California progressive crazy doesn't play well once it moves away from the coasts.
Now that it's crystal ball time for the 2028 election, I still maintain variations on both of those themes. Morning Briefing regulars are no doubt aware of that. It now seems that more people are coming around to my skepticism about Newsom's inevitability. It's not just the people here on my side of the aisle.
Newsom recently took his coastal commie shtick on the road to Michigan in order to put out feelers for 2028. The guv was given a rude awakening to the world outside of his podcast studio, which my good friend and partner in thought crime Stephen Green wrote about yesterday.
The adoring throngs never materialized. One could hardly refer to the smattering of people who showed up for Newsom's public events as "crowds." Democrats are very adept at astroturfing attendance, but the party wasn't doing any favors for Newsom.
What really caught my eye was that Newsom pulled out of a fundraising event in Ann Arbor. Stephen quotes a Politico article as saying that Newsom's people cited "a small Ann Arbor donor base," as the reason for the cancelation. As Mr. Green wrote, "Saying Ann Arbor has a small Democrat donor base is like saying you couldn't spot any tech bros in Palo Alto."
My mom and sister both live in Ann Arbor, so I spend anywhere from one to four months a year there. Trust me, it's the bluest kind of blue. The Gavin Newsom story that he and the water-carriers in the mainstream media have been telling should have been a massive hit there. That he had to tuck tail and run to avoid further embarrassment there does not bode well at all for his future plans to redecorate the Oval Office.
My latest column examines a Washington Post rundown of the potential 2028 Democratic field. Newsom doesn't exactly come off as a world-beater in it. In fact, the author has nicer things to say about Pete Buttigieg, another white Dem who's going nowhere.
At this rate, the Gavin Newsom 2028 Express may never get out of the station. If he can't sell his leftist loon vision in Ann Arbor, he should probably stick to podcasting.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Speaking of Ann Arbor, I'm heading there this weekend to celebrate my mom's 88th birthday. Kevin is going to take care of Monday's Briefing and I will be back on Tuesday, tanned, rested, and ready. Have a great weekend, everyone!
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The Mailbag of Magnificence
A couple of quick ones, then it's nap time. I mean the weekend. Doug F. starts us off:
Karoline Leavitt the Sophie Cunningham of the West Wing. I miss her already.
Yep, she's been President Trump's enforcer. Wouldn't it be fun to see Karoline recreate Sophie's pointing meme? Also, if Sophie wants to take her triggering to the next level, she should show up to a game wearing a MAGA hat.
Allen L. takes us to the finish line for the week:
Kruiser - no doubt about it -- Leavitt's a rock star. Not to take anything away from Kayleigh McEnany. She was also exceptional, along with Dana Perino. Sarah Huckabee Sanders set the tone for Karoline and Kayleigh, however. The press secretary I most recall still makes me LOL. Marlin Fitzwater looked like a complete goofball with his glasses on crooked, and his goofy smile. He was worth the entertainment.
All of the Republican women you mention who held the job were very, very good at it. Contrast that with the Biden women — Jen Psaki and Karine Jean-Pierre. Despite dealing with a press corps that was mostly friendly and did nothing but lob softballs at them, they always seemed to be caught off guard and confused. That's the difference between merit-based hiring and DEI hiring.
I got to do an episode of the old FNC show Red Eye with Dana Perino. She's a lot of fun and has a wicked sense of humor. My daughter and I ran into her a couple years later when both Dana and I were doing a hit on a Fox Radio show. She was really sweet then too. Great person.
That's it for this week. Thanks to all who played our home game!
Everything Isn't Awful
This is me every night at 10 since I've been adjusting to a new sleep schedule.
Mood.. 😅 pic.twitter.com/mKw5eQYW1V
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) August 12, 2026
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Still life with grapes,pears and lemons - 1887 #artbots #vangogh pic.twitter.com/NyJaVxxIch
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I was in an offbeat cover mood. P!NK drops an f-bomb, so WARNING about that. Also, I saw Tori Amos live in the '90s and the whole thing was kinda sexy.
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