Gavin Newsom’s obsession with Ron DeSantis, and more broadly, the State of Florida, continues apace.

Finding the exact moment the mostly one-sided feud began is difficult, but as far as public visibility goes, Newsom started expressing his outrage at DeSantis in the summer of 2022. Newsom would do things like call the Florida governor a “bully” and assert that the state wants to stop people from loving who they want. Apparently, opposing the mutilation and sexualization of children is stopping adults from loving each other or something.

Things escalated from there. More recently Newsom tried to blame a mass shooting on a Florida law that hadn’t even gone into effect yet. The California governor has also made laughable claims that his state is actually more affordable for the middle class than Florida. Then there was Newsom’s early June rant in which he threatened DeSantis with kidnapping charges because Florida flew some illegal immigrant who volunteered to Sacramento.

You get the idea. The Florida man lives rent-free in Newsom’s head, and that’s led the latter to make multiple demands for DeSantis to debate him. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.

Watch: Hannity to Newsom: “You would do a two-hour debate with Ron DeSantis?”

“Make it three,” Newsom responds. “I would do it with one day’s notice with no notes. I look forward to that.” pic.twitter.com/I5Nz7euwEY

— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) June 13, 2023

Yeah, I bet he would. Newsom is the guy who makes threats while his friends hold him back, knowing he won’t actually have to back them up. What would this debate even be for? Isn’t the entire point of a federalist system that states are separate and therefore don’t need to debate each other on internal policy? Or is Newsom running for president and we just don’t know it yet?

DeSantis responded along those lines, telling Newsom to stop “pussy-footing” around.

#BREAKING: DeSantis on if he would take on @GavinNewsom in a debate, tells him to stop "pussy footing"

"Stop pussy footing around! Are you gonna throw your hat in the ring and challenge Joe? […] Or are you gonna sit on the sidelines and chirp? pic.twitter.com/0r8jqM2Bla

— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) June 15, 2023

Like a typical progressive, Newsom wants to have his cake and eat it too. To be more specific, he wants to raise his national profile and set himself up for a possible presidential showdown while not having to actually commit to having a presidential campaign. Imagine if DeSantis had demanded Donald Trump debate him before he announced his 2024 run. Everyone would have thought that was idiotic. That’s essentially what Newsom is doing.

But if he wants to play in the game, he needs to actually get into the game. Declare a presidential run and challenge Joe Biden. As I’ve said before, and not with any joy, Newsom would likely win the Democrat nomination against Biden, and he’d be a formidable general election candidate because he speaks the language of the left-leaning suburban wine-mom crowd.

If he doesn’t have the guts to declare, though, then why would any Republican bother debating him, much less before he becomes the Democrat nominee? Newsom should worry a bit more about his own state, which is facing a mass exodus. In the end, that pretty much settles any debate before it starts. People vote with their feet, and they are flocking to Florida while fleeing California. Newsom can’t change that, no matter how much gel he puts in his hair.