Newsom and JB have become the Democratic leaders I Guess

[Figarosmom]

He hits harder then any of the others. Bernie and AOC are hitting hard too but don't seem to ruffle as much.

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[Captain Zero]

1. I could see that Oregon Attorney General in a Democratic DOJ

The guy is sharp as a tack.

[betsuni]

2. He IS leadership, he's governor of California, doing his job.

[Figarosmom]

3. I mean for 2028

We'll need someone that will pack the Supreme Court and term limits on the judges and will prosecute the criminals in this administration. And get rid of the electoral college. And those two I think would do it without qualms about it.

We'll need Bernie and AOC in their places to write and get through laws for all we've wanted to do with insurance, immigration, education, energy, climate, transportation and so much more to fix what has been done and to make life in the USA as good as it can be.

[Hekate]

8. Please. The EC is in the Constitution & will need a Constitutional Amendment to get rid of.

Even FDR couldn’t pack the Supreme Court. As for term limits on the judges — you’d have to check where that resides as well.

We need to focus on a To Do List that is possible, not on a Wish List with unicorns in it.

[betsuni]

12. Superman did his supernatural feats all by himself, so we know anything is possible without worrying about votes

or the Constitution -- Newsom or JB just needs to hit back hard (fighting spirit) without qualms. It will be transformational!

[Jack Valentino]

23. The Supreme Court has ALREADY BEEN "PACKED" by the right-wing. Adding justices

would only 're-balance' it. FDR backed down from adding justices, although the court seemed to have gotten the message at the time.... and this 6-3 majority was STOLEN by Mitch McConnell's unconstitutional refusal to take up President Obama's Garland nomination, and Trump's mad dash to fill that open seat in the last month before the 2020 election.

I think this really needs to be done, although of course we need House and Senate majorities and the Presidency to do it--- and will have to get rid of the Senate filibuster (or create a rules carve-out for that issue alone). Adding at least four justices, considering how the country has grown since we arrived at nine ought to be considered quite reasonable by anyone who isn't a right-winger.

[Hekate]

24. What I think is reasonable and what I think can actually be done are two different things...

And that does not make me a right-winger.

We may very well be able to get a majority in the House next year — but getting the Senate back is unlikely and may not be possible at all. Regaining the Presidency — what if we don’t and can’t, given the intense outside interference into the process? What then?

While it is possible that Trump will not live until the end of his term, it is also possible he will be kept on as a useful figurehead even though visibly incapacitated. His Cabinet is the group that must invoke the 25th Amendment, iirc, and they show no inclination to do so. Do you know what power the House and Senate have to invoke it? I don’t.

Guaranteed: if and when Trump dies, JD Vance becomes POTUS immediately, and he is owned by Peter Thiel. The calculation has to be going through their heads that the longer JD is in the WH looking “presidential” the better his chances are of being directly elected soon after, thus giving the billionaires the Trump 3rd term they want to consolidate their gains. It would be laughably easy, given the state of his health, to remove Trump and give him a lavish funeral. Then what? What is our calculation?

I may be gloomy, but I’m a lifelong Democrat who worked on Eugene McCarthy’s election campaign and have just kept on keeping on. Losing my country never seemed possible — until now.

[Midwestern Democrat]

25. The problem with adding justices to the Supreme Court is that there would be tit for tat escalating responses each time

either of the two parties had a trifecta - and eventually, the Supreme Court would have well over 100 justices and basically be nothing more than a judicial version of the House of Representatives, and at that point, it would be better to just abolish the whole thing altogether.

[TheProle]

10. This is some pie in the sky

We'll need someone that will pack the Supreme Court and term limits on the judges and will prosecute the criminals in this administration. And get rid of the electoral college. And those two I think would do it without qualms about it.

Yeesh.

[C Moon]

4. Newsom has been onto trump since COVID. Trump was being a 100% ahole toward California...

and Newsom was doing everything he could to protect the state that he governed. He saw early on that trump was going to mess with blue states and give to red states.
I think Newsom knows more than most about how to handle the bastard.

[C Moon]

5. I'm not saying he's the best candidate for 2028, because California is very blue.

It would take a lot of convincing to get any red state votes.

[Hekate]

9. California is blue on the coasts, with a very red interior. Nothing is easy or guaranteed.

We’ve sent 2 presidents to DC: Reagan and Nixon. We ditched Davis (D) for Schwarzenegger (R).

[maxsolomon]

16. The interior of CA is red, but it also lightly populated.

The Blue coast is heavily populated.

[Hekate]

18. That's what saves us, when we get out the vote sufficiently

Unless we don’t.

As for our national profile regarding sending governors out to be presidents, it is uncomfortably iffy. Nixon rode a Red Scare wave, and Reagan just charmed the pants off people (bleah, what an image) . A clever Chicago columnist tagged Jerry Brown as Governor Moonbeam for his Save-the-Planet ideas, and altho he was later sorry that he did that, the damage was done.

I am all for Newsom throwing his hat in the ring for POTUS. I think he’s the governor we need right now in California, and I curse the stupidity that gave us term limits. However in this next presidential election cycle, I hope he goes for broke. You go, Gavin.

[C Moon]

26. Agreed. But I was saying for the rest of the country Newsom could be a hard sell for a Democratic gov from California.

Because we're so "liberal."
Fox news would have a hay day.

[Hekate]

11. Newsom has absolutely done the best he could against Trump, who hates us like poison

Still — and I will neither forget nor forgive — we have a clutch of DUers who have shown up in every “who’s the best candidate for POTUS in 2028” thread to bash the hell out of Newsom. Why is this, I wonder? Your guess is as good as mine.

[BannonsLiver]

14. A lot of it can be attributed to ideological purity. Some are trolls, of course.

[Hekate]

19. Indeed that is so

[ancianita]

6. You guess?

What would be good enough for you?

[Figarosmom]

7. Nope, it's still early and still watching

To see who steps up. Is that good enough for you?

[ancianita]

13. Not really. IMHO, at this point it's

never too early for Democratic leaders to step up and get national coverage with overriding and superior, law based messages to Washington.

Even most Americans would be happy to have a previous mayor of a major U.S.city, and now 7-year governor of the 4th largest economy on the Earth as a presidential contender.

Not for nothing...
Newsom has more and greater local and state economic decision making experience than any other Democratic opponent in 2028, including JB Pritzker.
Newsom's run his own business, and guided the CA legislature's priorities.
Newsom as governor projected a humane governance by declaring a moratorium on the state's death penalty, police reform, increased housing, and through his executive orders, steered CA as well, if not better, than other governors through the early 20's Covid pandemic and economic downturn.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Newsom

He's filed against Trump in the federal courts, gotten a CA law passed that bans mask use by all federal forces; he's trolled the heck out of Trump on social media and, held several media interviews, and held press conferences, all of which have gone viral.

And for the record, Kamala has said more than once that she loves him for his leadership and sense of humor.

Why guess, unless like many Democrats, you're in the habit of making the perfect the enemy of the good.

[Figarosmom]

17. Your last sentence is definitely not me

And the I guess is because I don't know what's going to happen between now and 2028 when so much happens in just a months time. I like Newsom and hope he runs. You have to realize that trump is going to eliminate our choices. 2028 is a long way away and for that matter 2026 is going to be a real challenge to even get to vote .

[ancianita]

21. Yeah, it is. You just mistakenly think Dems are running "too early."

You have to realize that trump is going to eliminate our choices. 2028 is a long way away and for that matter 2026 is going to be a real challenge to even get to vote .

NOPE. No, I don't. Know why? Because the perfect candidate whom you imagine shows up "right on time" is when? Hm? When American voters are usually just thinking about voting a month ahead of the election date as in the past?

If that had happened in 2024, the felon's lies about Kamala wouldn't have had time to go viral and outrun her rally messaging.

NO perfect Democratic candidate just suddenly shows up when folks start paying attention a month before elections. That would be stupid.
The usually inattentive voters remember why they voted last time, and look for reasons to keep doing it, or even bother at all.
Only those voters (and non-voters) who've been hit with suffering because of their man and their party pay attention -- to raised prices on food, gas, f'n healthcare, which proves who's really been lying to the public. And that right there is happening now.

Now. Not in January 2026, and certainly not in September 2026.

If the Democratic Party ran candidates when you seem to think they should -- a later date that you don't specify, just "not now" -- you'd likely be the first to blame the party for not
a) getting the messaging out sooner and therefore better, and
b) picking a better candidate.

Think about that. Then think again.

[Hekate]

20. ❤️ your reply

[ananda]

15. Bernie isn't a Democrat.

He represents my core values better than
just about anybody...

but if push comes to shove, I will always
vote Democratic.

[ancianita]

22. Yet his record of voting WITH Democrats is higher than some Dems in the Democratic Caucus. Fact.