The 2028 Democratic nomination sweepstakes contestants are showing up in South Carolina early…..
Democrats’ ongoing desperation — seven months after Donald Trump’s victory cast them into the political wilderness — is packing rooms for even a little-known governor from a red state more than two years before any primary votes will be cast.
For Beshear, a popular governor in Kentucky who barely registers in national polling, it’s an opening to introduce himself to the party faithful — even if some used ChatGPT to find out he’s interested in running for president, as Columbia City Council Member Tina Herbert did. State Rep. Jason Luck said he knew Beshear was from Kentucky, is a Democrat, “and that’s about it.”
Throughout his first swing in an early presidential state, Beshear opened with, “If you don’t know me … I’m the guy who beat Donald Trump’s hand-picked candidate by five points in 2023.” During his two-day visit, that line drew cheers every time.
A leadership vacuum at the highest levels of the party has already set up what could be a wildly crowded presidential race, as potential Democratic candidates overtly prepare for national campaigns and frankly acknowledge their interest in what will be a wide-open contest. During the 2020 primary, the lack of name recognition — and the accompanying in-state network of supporters — posed an existential challenge for many of the nearly 30 Democrats who mounted bids to unseat Trump.
Now, Beshear has company in trying to get a head start….
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom headlined a multi-day tour through rural counties here earlier this month, with attendees forming long selfie lines for face time after his events. California Rep. Ro Khanna held town halls and visited churches this weekend. Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland and Tim Walz of Minnesota did their own relationship-building in May, when they both appeared at the South Carolina Democratic Party’s convention.
And in other early voting states, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker railed against “simpering timidity” in his own party before New Hampshire Democrats this spring, while former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg popped up at a veterans-focused forum in Iowa and has appeared on marathon-length podcasts.
The visits come as Democrats, locked out of power in Washington, are looking to the 2026 midterms as their first shot at winning back the voters they hemorrhaged last year….
image…NBC News