HOLLAND, Michigan — When California Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke at a barbecue in Michigan to rally nervous Democrats behind President Joe Biden’s candidacy, it felt a lot like a Newsom campaign event.
Asked about minimum wage in nearby Chicago, the Democratic governor and possible future presidential contender spoke about how he handled the issue in California — then snapped back to the present and touted Biden’s record on labor.
“It’s so important that we focus on workers and so important we focus on wages, and it’s so important that we have a president that gets it,” Newsom said.
The scene highlighted the awkward but obvious dance unfolding at a transitional moment for ambitious Democrats ahead of what could be either a mini-primary before the convention or a longer run-up to 2028. Whatever happens at the top of this year’s ticket, Biden’s political crisis has put an early spotlight on the party’s next presidential contest.
Many of Biden’s surrogates have been cautiously positioning themselves to run for president in 2028, including Newsom, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Vice President Kamala Harris. But by trying to salvage the president’s reelection bid and traveling to battleground states like Michigan, Ohio or Nevada, the surrogates have shifted the chatter suddenly, jarringly, to this November. The fallout from Biden’s disastrous debate performance has cast the surrogates’ appearances in a new light — and given these ambitious Democrats a new opportunity to position themselves as strong candidates for 2028 — or sooner.
Biden has insisted he will not drop out of the race, and each surrogate has made public statements that they continue to stand with the president, despite his fracturing support among some lawmakers and donors. But it’s impossible for them to ignore questions over whether they could step up and serve, forcing them to walk the line between appeasing Biden while also presenting voters with a potential alternative.
It has also prompted an examination by donors and political consultants of which candidate could quickly mount a national presidential campaign before the Democratic National Convention in August. While much of the focus has naturally been on Harris, it’s still possible that others could compete for the Democratic nomination — as Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), a top Biden ally, suggested previously.
“It’s an extremely tricky situation for all of the candidates who would like to succeed Joe Biden, including the governors,” said a veteran Illinois political observer who was granted anonymity to speak freely. “No one wants to be seen as the person who is telling grandpa publicly you have to take away his car keys — if you also want to follow grandpa and own the car. Nobody wants to alienate Joe Biden’s base because they know they will need them later.”
Speaking in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Harris came out and forcefully supported Biden on the first night of a three-stop campaign swing to bolster the president. Harris has experienced a groundswell of support as a potential alternative in the event Biden steps aside — a hypothetical scenario that her team has forcefully pushed back against.
“We always knew this election would be tough, and the past few days have been a reminder that running for president of the United States is never easy,” Harris said in Nevada. “But the one thing we know about our president, Joe Biden, is that he is a fighter and he is the first to say, when you get knocked down, you get back up.”
In Illinois, Pritzker, heir to the Hyatt Hotel empire, is seen as a logical choice to quickly pivot to a national campaign because he is a billionaire who could easily self-fund the effort. He’s also got a skilled team in place. His chief of staff in the state capitol is Anne Caprara, who ran his first campaign and is the key strategist behind Pritzker’s political ambitions. Pritzker’s most recent campaign manager, Mike Ollen, now heads up the governor’s Think Big America nonprofit, which is focused on helping states expand abortion rights — including in the swing state of Arizona.
The day of the debate, Pritzker’s political team released a video showing the governor walking casually down the street, hip music playing in the background and images of headlines showing bills he’s signed as governor addressing a minimum wage hike, gun control law and an infrastructure bill, all talking points for Democrats.
Asked on Tuesday at a press conference if he was ramping up his own profile by going on the road, including a stop in Ohio this weekend, Pritzker said: “I suppose you could say that about any of the surrogates who are traveling around the Midwest or the country, that they’re introducing themselves in some way or another.”
And asked if he would throw his name in if Biden were to drop out, he said: “What I can tell you is I’m not engaging in any hypotheticals. You can see that I’m all in for Joe Biden.”
Over in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, another Democrat frequently named when discussing potential 2028 presidential hopefuls, is on a well-timed book tour, putting her in front of multiple national interviewers amid the Democratic panic. Yet the popular swing state governor has renounced calls for her to replace Biden on the ticket.
“I don’t foresee any change in this race and the president and the vice president have my full support,” she told Good Morning America this week.
But Whitmer may have trouble convincing the Biden world that she’s the heir apparent. Biden aides and advisers for months privately bristled at what they viewed as the arm’s length distance Whitmer kept from them — often comparing it with her fellow governors who were quicker to sign up for travel and TV hits.
At one point, Biden aides interacted with Bloomberg for a story on the fundraising efforts for them from Pritzker, Newsom and others. Noticeably missing was Whitmer, who had gotten to work raising money for her own PAC.
The Michigan governor’s ambivalence became so pronounced last fall that senior advisers were forced to intervene to engage her team in fundraising efforts and surrogacy. And in January, Biden staff snickered anew when Whitmer went on CBS’ “Face the Nation” and said Biden should lean more into abortion rights.
Some Biden aides note, however, that Whitmer has been more receptive to their team since then. She did TV after the debate and was in Los Angeles for a fundraiser for them. But on Wednesday, she brought yet more angst by suggesting on CNN that it wouldn’t hurt if Biden took a cognitive exam — something both the president and his aides have said there’s no need for.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is another Midwest option. Biden’s only former 2020 rival in the Cabinet aside from Harris, Buttigieg outpolls not only Biden but also would-be contenders like Newsom and Whitmer. Now a resident of Michigan, an early nominating swing state, his travels selling Biden’s infrastructure law have taken him to every state in the nation except for Maine. And he’s expected to travel to battlegrounds like Pennsylvania in the coming weeks on behalf of the administration.
On the Friday after the debate, Buttigieg headlined an LGBTQ+ fundraiser at the Manhattan Center for Biden, and has been a fundraising asset for the campaign. In North Carolina with Gov. Roy Cooper recently, Buttigieg defended Biden’s capacities, saying: “Look, when I’m in a room with him, it’s a lot like what America saw on the night of the State of the Union address.”
Buttigieg is one of the party’s most effective communicators, and like Newsom, isn’t afraid to go on Fox. He also won the Iowa caucuses in 2020, demonstrating an ability to win the middle of the country.
Cooper — a top Biden campaign surrogate — has also been floated as a 2028 contender. The Democrat’s governorship is up in January, and his swing-state creds have also spurred chatter about Cooper as a potential vice presidential pick if Harris is elevated as the party’s nominee. The vice president has visited the state regularly this cycle in the wake of the GOP’s abortion ban, and Cooper has often appeared alongside her.
The governor appeared with Biden at his Raleigh rally the day after the president’s rocky debate performance, digging into Donald Trump as a “convicted felon” who will put himself above Americans. This speaks to Cooper’s style in moments like this, as the governor is not one to publicly feed into the panic but drill down on the issues — and steer clear of the political jockeying already underway, said a person familiar with his thinking, granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Back in Michigan, Newsom would linger for an hour, gripping and grinning his way through a crowd that mobbed him in pursuit of selfies.
When he had finished his remarks, a man in the crowd shouted: “What about you? Are you going to run in four years?”
Newsom laughed.
What he didn’t say: No.
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