Mayor Gavin Newsom puffed up his chest yesterday after leading the lawsuit that will "challenge a cut in the reimbursement rates paid to doctors that treat Medi-Cal patients." (That is to say, he's upset that the state has now decided to cut payments to doctors who accept low-income patients. Thanks, Arnold.) But the real story here is whether or not Newsom finally answered the big question about a possible run for Governor of California. And whether or not he's the next Jed Bartlet. KQED's John Myers reports:

[A] decent sized crowd flocked to see the charismatic San Fran pol at today’s event, and it’s hard to deny that many wanted to hear how he answered The Question.

I call it that in homage to an episode of one of my favorite TV series, . In that episode, as the staff prepares for President Jed Bartlet to run for a second term, there’s giddiness when a potential GOP contender flubs what the White House staff keeps calling “the question” from a reporter. In that case, the question was: “Why do you want to be president?”

In Newsom’s case, you probably know the question…

Are you running for governor in 2010?

The West Wing