This is an opinion column.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom don’t know grits.

Not about Alabama. Not about the South.

Newsom and his Campaign for Democracy have launched a new ad to run in Alabama, targeting states where abortion travel bans are in the works.

I guess he’s trying to convince Alabamians to vote against Trump. I also guess it will do the opposite.

The ad launched Monday includes two young women driving on what is supposed to be an Alabama road — though there was no Alexander Shunnarah sign in sight.

“We’re almost there,” the passenger says breathlessly as the two pass a sign saying the state line is a mile away. “You’re gonna make it.”

Like they’re almost to the Georgia lottery.

They’ll have to drive a lot farther than that for an abortion.

A siren sounds and a state trooper appears in the rear view. They pull over. And the trooper approaches.

“Miss,” the trooper says, with a drawl. “I’m going to need you to step out of the vehicle and take a pregnancy test.”

It ends with the driver in handcuffs, staring right at you, wearing a University of Alabama crimson tee.

I have questions. I mean come on. That actor’s Alabama “trooper” uniform didn’t even have a Confederate flag on it.

How are we supposed to take it seriously?

It reminds me of “My Cousin Vinny,” when upstart New York lawyer Vincent Gambini arrives in the fictional Alabama town of Wahzoo City with his fiancee, Mona Lisa Vito, and the two discover Southern breakfast.

The cook puts a plate in front of Vinny and he looks at it with suspicion.

“What’s this over here?” he says, pointing at the white stuff.

“You never heard of grits?” the cook asks.

“Sure, I’ve heard of grits,” Vinny says. “I just never actually seen a grit before.”

I don’t think Cousin Gavin has ever seen an Alabama grit. So when he runs an ad in Alabama with a caption that scrolls, “Trump Republicans want to criminalize young Alabama women who travel for reproductive care,” it’s pretty clear he doesn’t know his breakfast, his audience, or what he – or Alabama itself – is up against.

He doesn’t realize the word “California” is Alabama’s first political strategy.

Everybody from the Public Service Commission to the state GOP itself has come to use California as the first line of defense. Want to convince Alabamians that formal rate hearings by Alabama Power Co. are not in their interest – even to save customers money? Blame it on environmental wackos from California, like PCS President Twinkle Cavanaugh did.

Want to burn more coal, or poo-poo climate change in order to keep the fat cats happy? Just blame it on California.

It’s an art form in Alabama. The state GOP perfected it before the overturning of Roe. v. Wade.

“Liberal pro-abortion groups from New York and California are pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into our state to mislead our citizens,” the Alabama GOP said.

And now Newsom is just giving them ammo, with an ad that – despite the Bama shirt they put on that driver – still screams “not from around here.”

Let’s face it. Choice advocates in Alabama know the predicament they are in. They know the forces they are up against. They know that straight-ticket voting and gerrymandering and anti-woke sentiment in Alabama has made life difficult for everybody from trans kids to people who want to use solar energy.

So Cousin Gavin, when you roll into town – thinking you’re gonna save us from some misunderstanding at the Sac-o-Suds – we can only picture that scene in which Vinny and Mona Lisa arrive in town and realize they are strange in this foreign land.

“You stick out like a sore thumb around here,” Vinny says to Mona Lisa, in her short skirt and leather jacket.

“Me?” Mona Lisa says. “What about you?”

“I fit in better than you,” Vinny says. “At least I’m wearing cowboy boots.”

“Oh yeah,” Mona Lisa says, rolling her eyes. “You blend.”

Which is exactly the same reaction most Alabamians – even those who agree with them – will have to these ads.

Oh yeah, Gavin Newsom. You blend . Just like Vinny. Only you might do a bit more damage.

John Archibald is a two-time Pulitzer winner for AL.com.