My guess is Californian nationalism. A lot of people seem to have pride in California as “not like those other fascist states” and I think Newsom is playing into that. I have full confidence that most liberals who fall for it won’t wise up, while it will only really fail if Trump or people who oppose him stop it. I’m not sure if Newsom will be able to actually capitalize on this nationalism, but I do think it’ll provide a backbone for future civil war and breakup of America should the military weaken enough.

The key part is that his authoritarian ambitions aren’t left wing in the slightest, merely right wing in a way that opposes Trump as an external enemy. Like many in the corporate aligned world, liberalism is truly dead to him, so for maintaining power he doesn’t really need to consider it seriously. As long as he has a fascist enemy, he can position himself as a bastion of liberalism. Looking at ideology on any political axis is a mistake, it’s all about power. He’s an opportunist through and through.