President Biden, in his State of the Union address, reminded me of a grumpy old grandfather telling his worried adult children emphatically, “Look, kids, I'm not moving out of the house. So forget it.”
In this case, it was the White House.
“I'm not leaving,” Biden insisted. He was talking about not abandoning American values. But I also heard something else:
He won't walk to the South Lawn and board Marine 1 to fly by helicopter to a retirement home in Delaware. At least not this year.
Probably no one is more relieved than California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Newsom has been at the top of virtually every list of alternative Democratic candidates should the 81-year-old president voluntarily retire amid growing anxiety about whether he is too weak and hesitant to serve a second term. His fiery State of the Union speech should have eased the concerns of many viewers.
Newsom never wanted to run this year anyway. “Below zero” interest, he has long insisted. And it's perfectly believable.
If the position were available now and Newsom seized the moment, he would surely have to compete against his former San Francisco ally, Vice President Kamala Harris. That would make him a party pariah, especially among black women, a core Democratic constituency, Newsom has said privately. Then, he would defer to Harris.
Newsom, 56 but still young with his Hollywood looks, is apparently looking ahead to 2028 for a presidential run as he maneuvers to become a national and better-known political player. He is an enthusiastic Biden surrogate who constantly promotes the president's re-election.
But if Biden wins reelection, Harris, 59, will be first in line to succeed him in 2028. Would Newsom defer again? No one knows, probably not even Newsom.
Newsom could seek a Cabinet post, perhaps in Energy or Interior. There he could continue his favorite fight against global warming.
But Newson isn't going anywhere politically until he addresses California's enormous problems, especially homelessness. He needs a track record of accomplishment to sell battleground states where voters are instinctively suspicious of leftist California.
Newsom certainly received a wake-up call in last week's primary election when his favored proposal, Proposition 1, fared much worse than expected. By the end of the week, he was too close to predict.
The measure included a $6.4 billion bond to build more treatment beds for homeless people with mental illness or substance abuse. And it would divert some existing funds away from preventative care and toward people who are already homeless.
So Newsom lacks influence with voters in his home state. And he is in no position to run for president even if Biden were to drop out.
Biden's brave performance should reduce harassment of the governor by journalists who ask him about his desire to run for president. Politicians are always pleased to be mentioned as possible presidential candidates. But answering the same questions in the same way repeatedly is surprising.
More broadly, the president's speech should tone down calls for Biden to step aside.
“Clear, direct, powerful,” Newsom said of the speech in a social media post.
Biden's State of the Union address was actually one of the best delivered by any president in a long time. Forceful, full of energy and direct. Without nuances. Lots of common everyday talk. Maybe a little strident for some, but it fit the national moment.
He highlighted his career, looked to the future and even added some humor.
“In my career, they told me I was too young,” Biden said with a laugh, recalling that he was elected to the Senate at 29 years old. “And they told me I'm too old,” he added amid more laughter. .
“The problem facing our nation is not our age. It's how old our ideas are. Hatred, anger, revenge and retribution are the oldest ideas. But you can't lead America with old ideas that only set us back… You need a vision of the future and what can and should be done. Tonight you heard mine.”
Democrats applauded. The Republicans glared at him.
That's how the speech ended and it was fine, although I had fantasized about different final words before.
I'm one of those wishful thinkers that Times columnist Jackie Calmes referred to last week. Before the speech, I would have preferred Biden to steal President Lyndon B. Johnson's classic line that capped his 1968 nationally televised speech on the Vietnam War:
“Accordingly, I will not seek or accept my party's nomination for another term.”
Johnson withdrew on March 31 because he thought he could not win against the growing anti-war rebellion in the Democratic Party. New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy had just entered the race. And Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy had been running for weeks. Johnson may also have foreseen health problems.
Unlike Johnson, Biden's main problem is age. I never thought I was too old to do the job. But millions of Americans believe so. And many could withhold their votes in November, returning the key to the White House to the loathsome Donald Trump.
Trump, 77, is almost the same age as Biden. And he's a guy who shows signs of mental lapse. But that doesn't seem to bother the MAGA cult.
Polls show Biden trailing Trump, slightly but steadily.
Biden can reverse that by building on his State of the Union momentum and campaigning personally and aggressively among voters, showing his energy, warning about the threat from Trump and showing humor.
One thing's for sure: Grandpa won't leave the house unless voters push him. And Newsom is happy.
