I love Newsom but his time isn't 2020.
Isn't Newsom too economically moderate for you?
He's an economic moderate only by virtue of his own description of himself. In reality he's basically right there on economic issues with the vast majority of California Democrats. The only reason single payer didn't go through at the state level is cuz we're required to balance our budget.
... I'm fairly certain that he wouldn't exactly push any such thing through. He and Brown seem to be building allies economically in the legislature. Nuñez, Brown, Newsom, and Westly are the main four I can think of, but there are quite a few Democrats in California who don't quite like single-payer and other such proposals.
Newsom supported single payer until it became obvious that they'd have to raise taxes dramatically to meet the budget shortfall so he correctly shifted his support to an all payer program instead. I support single payer at the federal level (where you can run a deficit and phase in the cost savings in the long run from negotiatiating for lower prices) but I think he made the right move at the state level.
You're an advocate of "pay cash now, save money later"? That might just be the definition of economic stupidity.
That's basic Keynesian economics. Run a deficit so you have cash on hand to pay for job, health and infrastructure programs in the short, which yield benefits in the long term.