First, California Governor Gavin Newsom ran television ads in Florida, now he’s placing print advertisements in Texas newspapers. He was soundly thumped by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for the ads in the Sunshine State, so it’s unclear what he’s hoping to achieve in the Lone Star State.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz was quick to weigh in:

It’s understandable that Newsom would want to run ads in Texas, given the millions of Californians who’ve fled his state and sought refuge in Texas. pic.twitter.com/dm7nRx7M3o

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 22, 2022

According to Deadline, the “Gavin for Governor” campaign is running ads in three Texas newspapers—the Austin American-Statesman, the Houston Chronicle, and the El Paso Times—slamming Texas Governor Greg Abbott on guns and abortion. I have a feeling a lot of Texans aren’t going to appreciate his message. Note that Donald Trump carried the state 52 to 46 percent in the 2020 presidential election.

In one ad, the words that Abbott used as he signed a Texas anti-abortion measure last year were changed:

“Our creator endowed us with the right to life. And yet … children lose their right to life every year because of abortion. In Texas, we work to save those lives.”

In Newsom’s ad, however, the word “abortion” is crossed out and replaced with “gun violence” and the word “Texas” is crossed out and replaced with “California,” so the quote reads thusly:

“Our creator endowed us with the right to life. And yet … children lose their right to life every year because of gun violence. In California, we work to save those lives.”

How bizarre that a California governor would brag about the gun violence issue—in 2019 an average of 8 people died from gunshots every single day in the state. Two hundred and thirty-five of those deaths were kids and young adults under the age of 19.

The ad touts California’s S.B. 1327, a new gun measure that mirrors Texas’ abortion law in that it allows private citizens to sue other citizens. In Texas’ case, citizens can sue abortion providers; in California’s, it means that you can sue someone over a ghost gun. “Ghost guns are unserialized and untraceable firearms that can be bought online and assembled at home,” according to Bradyunited.

Here’s the new ad Gavin Newsom is running in Texas. pic.twitter.com/11CzhrWlnp

— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) July 22, 2022

The only real conclusion one can take from Newsom’s assaults on red state governors is that he’s waiting for Joe Biden to bow out of the 2024 presidential race and that he sees himself as our next president. It would seem delusional since California is plagued by high crime, excessive taxation, and rampant homelessness. Not much of a record to run on. In fact, as Ted Cruz pointed out, California is seeing an exodus of residents—with many of them moving to Texas.

Kamala Harris was the darling of California politics, and the press loved her, almost never asking her tough questions. That left her completely unprepared for the national media or the rough-and-tumble world of Washington, D.C. politics, and she has made a fool of herself almost every time she appears in front of a camera.

Should Newsom run, I’m guessing he would face the same fate. He may—inexplicably in my opinion—enjoy huge popularity in the Golden State, but I’m betting his record on homelessness, crime, taxes, abortion and all the rest won’t play so well in the rest of the country.

I’ll leave you with this hysterical parody of Newsom’s Florida ad from the Republican National Committee. Let’s hope they make an equally effective one for Gov. Abbott.

"CALIFORNIA FREEDOM" – if we raise more than a 100k, we'll put this on TV in California. Send Gavin Newsom a message from Florida and donate here: https://t.co/nDjZiz7yl5 pic.twitter.com/dRHAh9rFW2

— Trey Radel (@treyradel) July 6, 2022