I appreciate the work that went into an LA Times story looking at Gavin Newsom’s attendance, or lack thereof, on the handful of boards and commissions upon which the lieutenant governor serves.

But it’s a non-story.

The lieutenant governor’s job should be eliminated (as Newsom has previously existed). The duties are minimal and non-essential. The real job of a California governor is to keep breathing in case the governor can’t. Newsom has so far handled this with aplomb.

He also wrote a decent book and spent time traveling around and learning a lot. That should be a big help if he gets elected governor.

And that thought should in turn remind us of the real question: What sort of governor would he be?

And more specifically, has Newsom already too much tied his own hands?

Newsom’s big lead in the polls reflects a couple of facts. He started running early and lined up almost all of the significant interest group support. So the real question is not whether he’d show up for work (he will) but rather: what has he been promising interest groups for that support? And what will we owe them that would get in the way of governance?

Given the growing weight of retiree benefits on the state’s public services and investments in youth, the big question is whether his union support will make it too hard for him to make sure less money goes to retirees, and more to kids, schools and health.

I wish the many smart reporters in the press would disdain dull journalistic convention and write stories from the future, about what a Newsom governorship would look like.

There is huge pent-up demand in the legislature for bolder policies and spending that Gov. Brown rejected. What of those measures would Newsom sign?

That’s all way more important than his record of no-showing in what is a no-show job.