Democratic Governors Have a Fix for the Party: Themselves
But let's get to the heart of the matter: Democratic governors are also full of swagger because they believe they'll nominate one of their own for president, and win, in 2028.
Not only are many of them more popular than their congressional counterparts, but they can also more plausibly run against ye ole Washington mess as generational change agents, the time-honored formula for every successful Democratic hopeful for over a half-century not named Biden (who ran as a vehicle to stop Covid and Trump, in no particular order).
'We will have a governor who has solved problems, whether it's Josh who has solved the problems with when his bridge went down or Wes when they had that disaster in Maryland and we had the Maui wildfire,' said Green.
Now, the Hawaii governor may not run himself — though Green is a doctor, so look for him to be considered for health secretary — but his references to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore were not happenstance.
In private here at the Broadmoor resort and at a media-free gathering of Democratic women governors on Michigan's Mackinac Island earlier this month, I'm told, the talk has turned to which of them will claim the mantle. And Shapiro and Moore, who are both in their first terms, have emerged as early favorites among their peers.
Each was born in the 1970s, each has a promising biography and, why mince words, they're seen as most likely to fulfill the party's overriding criteria: They can win because it's hard for Republicans to portray them as radicals, soft or both.
This is no popularity contest. The govs are guessing who among them will have the most appeal with the electorate.
They're fond of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker as well as Kentucky's Andy Beshear, if somewhat more skeptical either can claim a nomination and general election. Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer is well-liked, especially among the other women governors, but there are doubts she'll run for president. And former Rhode Island Governor-turned-Commerce-Secretary Gina Raimondo has her admirers.
They're less enamored with California's Gavin Newsom, to put it mildly, who has never really been part of the governor's club.
All of these Democrats may well run, though. So it's unlikely that there will be an early rallying to a single governor as GOP governors coalesced around then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in 1999.
And, it can't be emphasized enough, these are early days.
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