For much of this campaign, Gavin Newsom acted like someone who wanted to be president.

He traveled the country and aired television ads. Weeks before Ron DeSantis’ campaign collapsed in a humiliating heap, he held up a sign and debated Florida’s Republican governor on national television.

This hyperbolic campaign was never an actual full-fledged campaign for the White House. First Joe Biden and (oh, the bitter pill!) his former friend and sometime rival Kamala Harris stood in Newsom’s way. Rather, it was like California’s rebellious governor letting his ego loose and going on a bit of a wander.

Things have changed since Nov. 5, following Donald Trump’s victory and a notable shift to the center-right in California on Election Day. Suddenly, Newsoms started showing up in the reddest parts of red California, like Bakersfield, Redding, and Colusa.

That’s what the governor should have done a long time ago, instead of strutting and preening on the national stage. Millions of politically outnumbered and geographically distant Californians have long felt ridiculed and ignored by Sacramento.

But give credit where credit is due. Newsome appears.

And if he’s really, really interested in running for president in 2028, which is likely to be a close Democratic race, that’s a good place to start.

Newsom’s latest proposal, the Jobs First Economic Blueprint, has been in the works for quite some time.

In promotional materials, the governor’s office describes the program as a “bottom-up strategy to create good-wage jobs and local economic development.” The plan, following long-term consultation with local residents in 13 regions of the state, aims to streamline programs and foster economic growth through a series of bespoke initiatives.

The unveiling ceremony in California’s red zone was no coincidence.

With Trump’s victory, Democrats began to consider their policies more seriously than ever before. Decline in status among union members and a devastating collapse of working-class voters and the party that has been going on for decades across rural America. David McCune, a political science professor at Sonoma State and a longtime researcher of state politics, said there is a new urgency to “solving problems and meeting people where they are.”

In California, it has expanded beyond the politically comfortable climates of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area into the hostile hinterland, pushing the boundaries of what Newsom said during a recent appearance in Redding: “Open fists instead of closed fists.” It means to extend the hand. (The event at Shasta College announced plans to create better job opportunities for people without college degrees, and local Rep. Heather Hadwick, a Republican, made a rare appearance.)

That’s exactly what the governor should do. What can be seen and seen in red California sends a message to fellow Democrats who are unsure of the path forward. More importantly, it tells those who live outside the state’s large cities and sprawling suburbs that they matter and that their considerations are not ignored.

Officials close to the governor are now in a much better position than the sullen, moody space Newsom occupied in the months after President Biden resigned and named Harris his successor. says.

It’s not just the vice president’s apparent victory over Newsom in a years-long tacit race on the sidelines. There’s also a renewed sense of purpose, with Trump back in the White House and California poised to once again emerge as the vanguard of the opposition with Newsom at the helm.

No one knows whether he will mount a real, serious challenge to the White House in 2028, perhaps not even the governor himself. But there are things he can do in the meantime to better his position if he decides to do so.

The top man among them will end his term with great success a little over a year from now. And that means spending more time in places like Ione and Newcastle than in Iowa and New Hampshire. (These small towns are located in Amador and Placel counties, respectively.)

There may be some element of fantasy in Mr. Newsom’s story as a presidential candidate.

Having just lost the White House with one candidate from San Francisco at the top, it seems highly unlikely that Democrats will turn to fellow Newsom as the party’s savior four years from now.

But who knows? It’s impossible to rule anything out as a twice-impeached and convicted felon prepares to take the presidential oath for the second time.

Mr. Newsom’s red-state rant may have no effect on his political future after all.

But they can’t hurt.