There’s an old saying in politics: “You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.”
Gavin Newsom’s approach to health care policy reflects this thinking. Newsom’s most ambitious campaign promise last year was to provide health care to all Californians through a government-run, single-payer system. But as the election drew closer, qualifiers like “inevitably” and “ultimately” began to creep into his conversation, suggesting a longer-term effort would be necessary.