"The Future Ex-Governor of California"

"Although Newsom is prepared to answer any question, he sometimes has trouble answering your question. When asked to name the biggest issue facing Fresno, Newsom spoke rapidly, in his hoarsely resonant baritone. 'Affordability,' he said. “I mean, it's the issue—cost of living, housing, it's the No. 1 issue, issues of childcare for your family, issues of education, cost of education, access.' The way he punches certain words gives his speech the inexhaustible quality of a sea chantey. 'And the perennial issue—I was just down in Bakersfield—the issue of air quality, issue of health, and the unique health disparities that exist out there, the issues of primary-care physicians, access to quality care, affordability of quality health care, all those issues have to be tackled. And, with all due respect, while our economy is growing—4.2-per-cent unemployment rate, twenty-four consecutive months of job creation—people don't live in the aggregate, not everybody's feeling that recovery, and we've got to deal with the issue of income and wealth disparity.'"

Tad Friend profiles Gavin Newsom in The New Yorker.