By Jeffrey A. Rendall
Dems have begun vetting the “I don’t look like a leftist radical!” 2028 party candidates
In the prolonged leadup to the certain-to-be-crucial 2028 presidential election, there appears to be some disagreement about what constitutes “normal” among those in the desperate-for-power Democrat party.
Each of the rumored Democrat would-be candidates has diligently worked to individually establish him or herself as potential viable presidential candidate material for the next nominating cycle, the campaign for which will begin in earnest later this year. This means time’s running out for ambitious hopefuls to begin laying the groundwork for capturing the minds and imaginations of agitated Democrat voters in search of the next Bill Clinton/Barack Obama “outsider” who possesses the “it-factor” to win the White House.
We’ve heard from the famous Democrats. Then there are those who currently aren’t so well-known. Could Kentucky Democrat Governor Andy Beshear – in the latter category — be the party’s “Candidate X” in two years?
It’d be a hard sell, for sure. In an article titled, “Andy Beshear Thinks Democrats Should Start Talking Like People”, Dasha Burns wrote at Politico last week:
“[Beshear has been put] in the spotlight as a potential 2028 contender. Just don’t ask him if he’s running. Beshear, who heads up the Democratic Governors Association, says his only focus for 2028 is ‘changing the map’ and getting more Democratic governors elected across the country.
“And while many Democrats may be pointing fingers at each other as part of the party’s soul-searching journey, Beshear is uninterested in such infighting. It’s the current administration that should be scrutinized, he says, particularly JD Vance, who he thinks ‘could be more damaging than Trump.’
“He has a bit of advice for his fellow Democrats to make inroads in 2026 and beyond: ‘Don’t just talk about your policy points. Talk about your why. People really want to know why are you willing to march into the toxicity of politics right now? They want to know what drives you.’”
Why(!) not just come right out and say it, Andy? “Hi, I’m just like Bill Clinton after Reagan and Bush. Vote for me!”
Don’t Beshear’s words sound like someone who’s thinking of running for president? Beshear is term-limited next year. He’ll need another political job because he probably can’t do anything else other than squat in office. The Kentucky U.S. senate positions are probably lost to non-Democrats. What’s left? How about the big white house with columns in front?
Main problem: Nobody knows Andy Beshear. Bill Clinton got away with the anonymous thing in 1992, but today’s reality is worlds apart from three-and-a-half decades ago. You need name recognition in the social media-driven universe. How many Americans have ever heard of the Kentucky Governor? Needless to say, lots more folks recognize the difference between KFC regular recipe and extra crispy chicken than could recite one thing about what Beshear has done or not done.
He’s just a good-looking face on a screen. Will that be enough for the 21st century Democrat voters?
And correct me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t Beshear – and all Democrats – start thinking like normal people rather than just talking like them?
Burns’ interview with Andy demonstrated that the Kentuckian excels at platitudes and reciting lofty-minded ideals without offering much substance underneath them at all. Beshear began his sit-down with the Politico reporter by explaining why he despises J.D. Vance so much, since the Democrat clearly views Vance as his main future competitor and seeks to lay the foundation for why Americans should mistrust the rags-to-riches Marine who graduated from Yale law school and merited-himself into Donald J. Trump’s Vice President’s position.
Democrats hate Vance because they can’t get under the Ohioan’s skin. Plain and simple. They’re probing for ways to attack the personal side of Vance in 2028, and they’re throwing pointed missiles at a dartboard hoping one will hit the bullseye. Who’s next to try?
Seeing it objectively, I get it – Beshear is perhaps trying to potentially position himself as the “normal white guy” Democrat ahead of 2028, but in this day and age, so-called “normalcy” isn’t looked upon as a virtue in the donkey party. Senile Joe Biden probably could be the last of this particular species for Democrats, one, because most “normal” people think Democrats are kooks and fruit loops (as in crazy, not a gay reference) and two, because the invisible but thick and impenetrable force field that surrounds the party’s electorate wouldn’t allow them to weigh a non-minority, non-female human on the same plane as someone with pigmented skin and/or ovaries and a uterus.
I easily could envision a transgender woman (meaning a biological male who considers himself a female) making headway with the Democrat base, but such a “person” could be a little too edgy for the final vestiges of the dying-off Democrat establishment to accept willingly. You know, it’s that electability thing again, the factor that disallowed Jewish old kook Bernie Sanders from being invited to dwell under the Democrat tent.
Sanders had too many strikes against him to permit the Clinton-era ruling class to take a chance on the Brooklyn-raised socialism-lover in 2020. Besides, “The Bern” wasn’t even a true Democrat who’d sworn allegiance to them and their brand, the type of party honk who knew how to kind of sound “moderate” and even conservative when demanded to do so by circumstance.
That moment being anytime there’s an election at hand and the party needs more than the outcasts who went to the recent “No Kings!” protests to provide votes. “Normal” people wouldn’t have been caught dead cheering on idiots in frog costumes or listening contentedly to speeches by Jane Fonda.
That being said, Beshear is a bit of an intriguing “outsider” in today’s Democrat actuality, a Caucasian-looking guy who appears as though he’d fit right in with the membership at the most exclusive of pasty white club gatherings. Andy’s not exactly as homespun hokey as Minnesota Governor Tim Walz or as rotund, rich and obnoxious – and Jewish — as JB Pritzker, but with the right phraseology, vocabulary and diction, Andy could pass for a regular man.
Having a beer with Beshear sounds possible until he starts speaking and whining about Trump and Iran and Israel and the Iran War not being handled properly, etc. Oh yeah, Beshear claims he’s a faithful Christian, too. That puts him in the same genre as Pete Buttigieg. Just saying.
Shouldn’t we ask Beshear about his views on abortion? In the Burns interview, Andy side-stepped the transgender matter, saying he thinks parents should decide sensitive family boundaries, not politicians. Does Beshear’s logic extend to school choice as well?
The subject is bound to come up, Andy. Better work with those political consultants for a watered-down response to that one.
In the meantime, the Kentuckian insulted the Big Beautiful Bill and savaged Trump’s tariffs as well as mentioned healthcare and affordability and hospitals closing and gas prices are high because of the Iran War, blah, blah, blah. All of these topics will be raised, rest assured. Beshear won’t be able to hide in obscurity that much longer. He’ll need to say something that “normal” people can use to assess what he really believes.
The “moderation” lie worked like a charm in Virginia last November, but here’s thinking Democrats want to talk about how awful Trump is personally and not just take a policy or two and say bad things about it. Democrats covet someone who’ll get down in the trenches and fight for their LGBTQ cultural ideas and bloviate about “climate change” and making sure women expand their “right” to terminate their incubating babies.
Plus the Democrat Cause du Jour includes safeguarding the future voting rights of illegal aliens while simultaneously portraying themselves as “law abiding” and for the Constitution. It sounds as though making ICE the whipping boy of the left is here to stay. Beshear will have to do the tightrope walk to sound the correct themes when the time arrives, no matter how “normal” he presents himself to be now.
So, all of this is somewhat premature.
Unlike some in the Democrat party, I’m not necessarily arguing with the contention that Democrats need a white guy to succeed in 2028, but doing so would certainly remove, albeit temporarily, their unstated obsession with race and gender for a long enough period to perhaps allow them to mount a credible campaign that talks about issues.
There are many Democrat “lanes” left to fill before the campaign initiates. Here’s a sampling:
“I’m a liberal white dude who isn’t Jewish, I’m not an animated parody of politicians (like Gavin Newsom) and I can credibly lie through my teeth that I’m a “moderate” because I was elected and then re-elected in a red state. Vote for me!” – Andy Beshear
“I’m a liberal black dude, just like Barack Obama” – “Vote for me!”. Cory Booker.
“I’m a liberal black chick. I’ve suffered discrimination, but I love abortion.” – Kamala Harris.
“I’m a gay dude. I have a husband and two adopted kids. I’m on the cutting edge of culture.” – Pete Buttigieg.
“I’m white and Jewish but also moderate. Is there room for me?” – Governor Josh Shapiro
The absurdity of the variations – and base demands – in the 2028 presidential field where potential candidates try to be everything to everyone in the jumbled sociopolitical mess that is today’s Democrat party. No individual appears to have a distinct edge – and watching them sort themselves out will be fascinating.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .