Susan Shelley: A reality check on Gavin Newsom’s California

After several years of not bothering to show up in the Capitol to deliver the annual State of the State speech, Gov. Gavin Newsom enlisted the building and all the government officials in it, even the justices of the state Supreme Court, to be props in his latest presidential campaign video.

Copying the president’s entrance for a State of the Union address, Newsom entered the Assembly chamber from the back, followed by an escort committee. He moved slowly down the aisle, shaking hands and offering smiling recognition.