The dangerous evolution of Gavin Newsom

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) wants you to know that he is evolving.

Newsom is facing a rising radical movement among Democrats, including a surging contingent aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America. He is struggling in polls and therefore eager to show the skill identified by Darwin that allows certain species to thrive in their environment: adaptation.

Newsom has recently declared capitalism a failure. He is now joining his competitors for president in offering up the Supreme Court and its independence to the far left. His free fall into rage politics is a cautionary tale for those who want to return the Democratic Party to more centrist positions.

Often called a “political chameleon,” Newsom seems to be morphing into the actual species that evolved to adjust to its environment, including more nimble feet.

Although natural selection takes place over many years and even eons, Newsom does not have the luxury of time. He does not want to be eliminated by the more politically fit opponents to his left.

Polls continue to show he receives more media support than public support. He trails Kamala Harris by 15 points in recent polling and is nearly tied with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Harris and Buttigieg quickly turned their backs on the norms governing the Supreme Court to support court-packing. Harris dismissed those of us in opposition as engaging in mere “ nostalgia .”

Newsom had previously tried to offer a sane alternative to these voices. But he has now found himself their quiet companion in a primal scream session. As he began to vanish in political polling, he decided he would not be outcrazied by Democratic opponents.

With candidates like Texas’s Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico calling for the “dismantling” of capitalism as an “oppressive system,” Newsom finds himself needing to cater to the mob. He has now declared that “nostalgia is not working” while adding that “capitalism as we know it doesn’t work either.”

Newsom has recently been campaigning in blue states such as New Hampshire, repeating his mantra that capitalism as “not working.”

But these days, it is not enough for socialists and the far left merely to oppose the most successful economic system in the history of the world. Newsom was still being labeled as an establishment politician. So he tried to dispel that impression with his signature toothy grin and astonished demeanor, claiming that he is really undermining the system from within as “ an established insurgent .”

Again, that is not enough for the current political environment. So this week, he changed his position on the Supreme Court, to say that he is now “open” to court-packing.

Packing the court is considered essential today for any viable Democratic candidate. Some are openly calling for the imposition of a litmus test for all candidates: As they put it, it is a choice between “ packed or sacked .”

Even moderate figures such as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) have now yielded to the mob in expressing a willingness to pack the Supreme Court.

So Newsom wants the far left to know that he is yet again evolving: “My initial instinct — me, a year ago, I would have said no out of concern that it will continue to be expanded. … I’m finding myself evolving on it.”

The question is what Newsom and his Democrat opponents will offer next in their political adaptation. These candidates have shown that no institution or value is more important than their securing power. At this rate, we will be fortunate to have anything more than the ship itself after the race to toss institutions and “nostalgic” values over the side.

The danger for Newsom — like the danger of any fast-tracking of evolution — is that the environment can change, leaving you with an adaptation that makes you even more likely to be eliminated. Newsom knows that attacking our constitutional or economic systems will not play well in the general election, but he also knows he will never see the 2028 general election if his opponents on the left outflank him.

Moreover, offerings like the Supreme Court or our economic system are unlikely to satiate the far left. As I discuss in “ Rage and the Republic ,” history shows that establishment figures rarely survive the mob politics they seek to use for their own advantage.

In the meantime, because of the cynical calculations of leaders like Newsom, we face a growing threat of doing lasting harm to our constitutional system. The framers warned us of these voices of “mobocracy” that would tear apart the contemporary revolution in France, which became known as “the Terror.”

The danger is that, while the majority opposes court packing and socialism, the new majority in Congress could force changes without amending the Constitution. That certainly can be done with court packing. Once a new liberal majority is secured, there would then be little barrier to achieving many of the objectives of a radical agenda long discussed by professors and pundits . Some have argued that, with control of the court and radical constitutional changes, Republicans will not be able to win another election.

In other words, the radicals hope to change the environment to prevent further adaptation and future competition.

Kurt Vonnegut once said, “Evolution can go to hell as far as I am concerned. What a mistake we are.” After watching the chameleonic Gavin Newsom, it seems that we may be on the cusp of precisely such an evolutionary mistake.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times best-selling author of “ Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution. “