Top Democrat contenders for 2028 presidential run: Pakman

As Democrats process the shock of their 2024 losses, here are the top contenders who might already be planning for 2028. — Image credit: Reuters

Democrats are embarking on a soul-searching autopsy in the aftermath of the U.S. 2024 elections to try to understand how they lost the national popular vote for the first time in 20 years, in addition to losing both the White House and the Senate. A wide range of senior Democratic politicians, meanwhile, might already be planning new campaigns for 2028.

Watch the above video as Straight Arrow News contributor David Pakman explores what he considers to be the best possible options for Democrats considering a run in the 2028 elections.

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The following is an excerpt from the above video:

That all being said, the name that most naturally jumps to the forefront right now for many Democrats is Gavin Newsom, the governor of California. Tremendous on his feet, good optics, but very much a target of the Right — he’s a known target of the Right, and even some Democrats don’t like the guy. They [Democrats] say he’s not progressive enough. He says he’s not. Republicans say he’s wildly Left because he’s from California, and some progressives say he’s not progressive enough. And so, although there’s some sense in which Gavin Newsom is an obvious choice, he also brings with him some baggage, which could be problematic.

Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, I think he’s awesome. Good speaker, good on policy, good at dealing with both hecklers and right-wingers, younger than some of the other options, which many Democrats say they want. My hesitation on Shapiro is, and I say this as a Jewish person myself, given all of the antisemitism in the country, do you want to take the chance with a candidate whose identity alone might make him a bad candidate? To many Americans, we see antisemitism Left and Right right now, and so that scares me. I don’t have any problem with [Shapiro]. I think he’s fantastic. He would make a fantastic president.

Pete Buttigieg, who was a presidential candidate, then became Joe Biden’s Secretary of Transportation — I’ve interviewed him. Young, youngest of this list, tremendously smart, good at debating the right-wing clouds, good on Fox News. I hate that I have to ask this: Will the country that just elected Trump vote for a gay guy for president? It’s horrible that we’re in a situation where we have to ask this question. I wish we were beyond it, with Josh Shapiro’s Judaism and Pete Buttigieg being a gay man, but we have to ask it, and I don’t know what the answer is.

Personally, I would vote for Buttigieg. I think he’d be a fantastic president.

Many Democrats are eagerly seeking a fresh face for the party for 2028 to go up against whoever the Republicans put forward, of course, in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory, whoever they put forward in 28 Republicans, that is, will probably be some kind of a maga figure. And I understand it. I understand the reason for it. I want to run down who some of the top people would be today. Of course, bearing in mind that we often when we are four years out, have no idea who the natural air apparent candidates are going to be. That all being said, the name that most naturally jumps to the forefront right now for many Democrats is Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, tremendous on his feet, good optics, but very much a target of the right. He’s a known target of the right, and even some Democrats don’t like the guy. They say he’s not progressive enough. He should he’s not. Republicans say he’s wildly left because he’s from California, and some progressive say he’s not progressive enough. And so although there’s some sense in which Gavin Newsom is an obvious choice, he also brings with him some baggage, which could be problematic, Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, I think he’s awesome.

Good speaker, good on policy, good at dealing with both hecklers and right wingers,

younger than some of the other options which many Democrats say they want. My hesitation on Shapiro is, and I say this as a Jewish person myself, given all of the anti semitism in the country, do you want to take the chance with a candidate whose identity alone might make him

a bad candidate. Too many Americans, we see anti semitism left and right right now, and so that scares me. I don’t have any problem with them. I think he’s fantastic. He would make a fantastic president. Pete Buttigieg, who was a presidential candidate then became Joe Biden, Secretary of Transportation. I’ve interviewed him, young, youngest of this list, tremendously smart, good at debating the right wing clouds, good on Fox News. I hate that. I have to ask this, will the country that just elected Trump vote for a gay guy for President. It’s horrible that we’re in a situation where we have to ask this question. I wish we were beyond it with Josh Shapiro’s Judaism and Pete Buttigieg being a gay man, but we have to ask it,

and I don’t know what the answer is. Personally, I would vote for Bucha judge. I think it’d be a fantastic president. Some people are talking about Kamala running again. I don’t know that this is a good idea, just being totally honest. Maybe it’s too soon to say, because we just had the election. She’s brilliant. When I met Kamala Harris in March at the White House, I was completely impressed with her ability to take on any issue on her feed, and

just excellent in so many ways. I voted for her. She would have made a great president. Has that bullet been fired already? And it’s not a good idea given the fact that she was so recently defeated. We have seen situations where you are defeated and then you win. We’ve seen situations where you’re defeated and you never win anything again. I don’t know, but I do think that there’s an appetite right now for something different. And as much as Kamala Harris is brilliant, I don’t think she was the best candidate. Tim Walz is name is being floated walls is great because he fights the image of the sissy democratic man. Republicans love to take a monopoly on patriotism, athletics, hunting, fixing, cars, all of this stuff, fast food. Tim walls knows about all of it, so he really was great in terms of pushing back against that narrative. Same question is with Kamala Harris has he failed out already by losing last week and then in general, with Harrison walls, they’re both 60. They’d be 64 into 65 next time around and at the time of inauguration. Is that the generation that Democrats want right now? Obviously they would be way younger than Biden is as president, then Trump will be at the end of his term. But is that generationally what Democrats are looking for? I don’t know.

JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, is mentioned sometimes. He’s a billionaire, and I think he is intelligent and good on policy. R Democrats looking for their own billionaire. Are we going to go from billionaire to billionaires? President, I don’t know. I don’t know. And then you’ve got Andy Beshear. Andy Beshear is perpetually mentioned because he’s a southern Democrat. And the idea is, if you pick a southern Democrat to be your nominee, you appeal to people in red states. That’s been repeated since, like, the year 2000 at least. I just don’t know if that matters at this point in time. And then the other guy who I would add is.

Is Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland. He’s a veteran, he’s young, he’s got a business background, super interesting to me. He’s black. And then we get again to will Republicans call any black, Jewish or female candidate, a, d, e, i, affirmative action choice? They probably will do we care? Will it make a difference? I don’t know. So those are some of the names on my mind right now. I have no idea whether any of these names are actually going to be in the running two and a half years from now, when the next primary gets going. Let me know what you think i.