California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) took his roadshow to bucolic Boulder City on Wednesday, regaling a packed house of partisans with tales from his new memoir and trolling President Donald Trump.

The leader of the world’s fourth-largest economy, a man raised in considerable privilege, was affable and relatable before a gathering of 150 as he dished scenes from Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery, which its publisher calls “an intimate and poignant account of identity, belonging, and the defining moments that inspired a life in politics.” The book’s recent debut also offers Newsom the opportunity to tour the country, testing a message that has some pundits talking about his potential as a presidential candidate in 2028.

That election is a long way off. At the rate Trump is tearing down the nation’s economy and standing in the world, it will take an especially resilient person to attempt to pick up the debris field he leaves behind.

When it comes to authentic “street cred,” or what one acerbic critic calls “everyman credentials,” Newsom might be a tough sell. No matter his personal life’s travails, family dysfunction and personal dyslexia, the handsome guy raised in the orbit of billionaire industrialists and Hollywood celebrities surely had it better than most. His log cabin creation story featured room service.

But, frankly, so what? Well-heeled FDR’s sweeping social programs got him labeled “a traitor to his class” by the swells. JFK wasn’t exactly born under a bridge. If Newsom lacks LBJ’s hardscrabble upbringing, it may be the one thing he has in common with the current occupant of the White House.

In a week that featured an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, his Boulder City stop was more about political panache than policy. But if Newsom had been looking for a place to speak on the water, environmental and energy challenges that face the arid West, he could hardly have picked a better spot. The home of veteran Democratic Party activist Judy Hoskins offered a beautiful and heart-aching view of receding Lake Mead. The banks of the over-allocated Colorado River are mere miles away. An inland sea of solar energy sits silently a few miles west in Eldorado Valley.

In his second term, Trump’s endless disinformation campaign continues to vilify environmental protection efforts and renewable energy, issues that former Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak says his friend Newsom cares about deeply.

“We could not have had a better partner than Gov. Newsom, and not just on renewables,” Sisolak says from his place in the crowd. “On water, wildfires, the whole bit. He’s always been there for us. He’s a big state and we’re a little one, but I know how important renewables are to him.”

Too important to be added to the Trump scrap heap of deconstruction.

“There’s never been an administration in modern American history that’s vandalized environmental policy like this administration,” Newsom says in a brief interview. “Ronald Reagan is rolling over in his grave. So is Richard Nixon, who had the Clean Air (Act), the Clean Water Act and the EPA. So, the rest of the world is leaping ahead and China is going to leave us behind.”

Newsom rattles off efforts to create large-scale battery capacity and storage as well as a regional power grid, “so we’re going to start sharing a lot of the excess and avoid the curtailed power.” Nevada and California have shown that interstate regional partnerships can be successful — and essentially apolitical.

“In that space, we’ve had a very good collaborative relationship regardless of guys like me that come and go, Republican and Democratic governors,” he says. “Particularly in the renewable energy space. It’s all about abundant and cheap energy. And it’s about reliable energy. And Nevada and California should be the dominant leaders.”

As for the current anti-renewable political environment in Washington, D.C., Newsom remains sanguine.

“As a point of contrast, which gives me some confidence, states continue to lead despite the federal government,” he says. “So, it’s a way of sort of not necessarily falling prey to too much anxiety because Trump is temporary.” Cutting through the chaos, the states get it.

“I just feel like the market and Mother Nature are going to ultimately prevail in that debate.”

Presidential debates are another matter.

As Newsom’s roadshow continues, let’s see whether his message sells.

John L. Smith is an author and longtime columnist. He was born in Henderson and his family’s Nevada roots go back to 1881. His stories have appeared in New Lines, Time, Reader’s Digest, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, Reuters and Desert Companion, among others.