Between a sit-down with Sean Hannity and a "28th Amendment" proposal to obliterate the Second Amendment, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) hasn't exactly hidden his ambition of replacing Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket. But contrary to the collective amnesia of progressives, Newsom's dream is more of a delusion.

However cringeworthy Vice President Kamala Harris can be, Newsom's unbelievable personal baggage renders him an impossible choice to sideline the heir apparent, the first woman and first black American to become vice president. That baggage also makes him an improbable choice to challenge Donald Trump, still statistically the most likely Republican to win the GOP nomination.

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It is not that Harris is a great politician. She failed to make it to Iowa in her 2020 gambit for the Democratic presidential nomination, and she was made Biden's running mate only after he boxed himself into the promise of appointing a black woman. (Harris was the only black woman in the Senate at the time, and no black woman has become a governor in the nation's history.)

But while Harris's tenure as vice president has been riddled with gaffes and reports of staff turmoil and turnover, it hasn't been deluged with scandal. At a roughly 39% approval rating, she is less popular than Dick Cheney was after he shot a man in the face, yet those two in five Americans approving of Harris are more than twice the share of Californians who want Newsom to run for president. Yes, in the most indigo electorate in the union, which has elected Newsom a whopping three times if you include the 2021 recall, a full 70% outright oppose Newsom launching a presidential bid.

And here is the unsavory truth. Let's explore the hypothetical tragedy that Biden, who is three years older than the average American male life expectancy, passes away, and Democrats are forced back into a primary. If other prospective candidates, such as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, get in line and allow Harris to take the top of the ticket, Democrats wouldn't face many surprises. Her 2020 bid already brought her past relationship with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown into the national news, and ultimately, voters weren't too scandalized. Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff's relationship is evidently stable and supportive, and unlike a certain current First Son, Harris's stepchildren won't provide the press with much fodder.

Newsom is a completely different story. He has perhaps less personal baggage than Hunter Biden, but not by much. Should he face Trump, whose constant celebrity has practically insulated him from the shock voters would normally feel, Newsom's personal life would be a gift to Republicans the same way Hillary Clinton's husband was in 2016.

Newsom's least problematic romantic liaison was arguably his marriage to Kimberly Guilfoyle, who has been the girlfriend (now fiancee) of Donald Trump Jr. for the last five years. While Newsom and Guilfoyle were in the process of divorcing, the then-San Francisco mayor had an affair with his secretary — who also happened to be married to one of his best friends — and siphoned off $10,000 in public funds to her. Right before the news broke, Newsom, then pushing 40, began dating a series of outlandish partners: a Scientologist who controversially took him to a public event sponsored by the cult, a reality television star, and a literal teenager. Newsom would later blame the I-banged-my-secretary incident on his alcoholism, but as evidenced by that infamous French Laundry incident, Newsom still drinks alcohol to this day. (Reporters later figured out that he never actually went to rehab, despite saying he did so at the time of the scandal.)

Now, this is all the scandalous stuff that's already out in the open. While it would certainly be relitigated in the same way the Willie Brown stuff was in 2019, it is technically already public knowledge, meaning that its influence on public opinion is at least partially baked into Newsom's polling.

But select Democratic operatives in California are sitting on an alleged treasure trove of juicy oppo. At least in public, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, until recently, avoided too much scandal, save for some pre-COVID footsie with anti-vaxxers. But her reputation in recent months has taken a hit amid reports of financial feather-bedding, and rumors fly high in the California sun.

Suffice it to say that I would put my money on Harris's camp.

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Harris and Newsom have been able to play nice for decades now, conveniently jockeying for complementary positions: first lieutenant governor and attorney general, then U.S. senator and governor of California. But if Newsom challenges Harris for the top job and the party chooses the latter, Harris will likely have the tools to end Newsom's political career. And Democrats terrified that Harris would be unable to do so would wind up backing her anyway, if only because of the likelihood that the Trump camp is sitting on even more dirt thanks to Guilfoyle.

None of this is to mention the obvious racial and gendered implications of Newsom trying to edge out Harris in a Democratic primary or Newsom's abysmal political record entirely, which renders him vulnerable in both a primary and a general. But as far as personal standards go, Kamala Harris obviously carries less scandal and less liability for Democrats.