Steven Hill - So which Democratic candidate will be the right one? A recent poll by Lake Research Partners of 2028 Democratic primary voters found that the two Democratic front runners are Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom....To me, this is bad news for Democrats. As a Californian, I really don’t see how either Harris or Newsom can be elected president. It’s partly a matter of trying to win the votes of very different electorates in different elections. To get elected as governor or US Senator from California, you have to say and do things to appeal to blue state Californians, as well as state-based organized interest groups, that are going to backfire against you when you try to win votes nationwide.
It’s a simple matter of optics. In 2024, the Trump campaign ran billions of versions of an ad attacking Harris for being supportive of trans rights. The ad slogan “Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for YOU” resonated bigly in 2024, and will still be effective in 2028.
Newsom has tried to walk back some of his own positions on various liberal issues in preparation for his presidential run, but that won’t matter because those interviews, Twitter posts and video clips still exist. You can’t wave a magic wand and disappear them. His opponent will feature his original statements in ad after ad. The leopard can’t change its spots very easily.
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