Newsom inherited a state in decline. Once a mecca for the middle class and strivers of all kinds, California has become an economic-inequality machine with an outrageously high cost of living and a steady exodus of people and companies.

Newsom is the governor by and for all the forces that created this debacle. His Democratic predecessor, Jerry Brown, was a substantial figure with an independent streak. Handsome and slick to a fault, Newsom has, in contrast, risen without a trace (to paraphrase a famous line about British TV interviewer David Frost). From San Francisco mayor, to lieutenant governor, to governor, he’s wedded his ambition to a progressive elitism that can seem out of touch even in liberal California.

He wouldn’t face a recall it weren’t for his instantly notorious dinner at French Laundry. This isn’t the most significant of his lapses, but breaking his own COVID rules at one of the finest restaurants in the country — the wine bill reportedly came to $12,000 — was going to engender a fierce reaction.