Politico: “The primaries before the midterm elections haven’t even started yet, but Beshear is running for president. His local political advisers are thinking deeply about his strategy, and he’s tapped a handful of national strategists to guide him in these early days.
However, the real giveaway is that Beshear already has a two-pronged theory of the case about why he’s positioned to be his party’s nominee in 2028. And he was happy to say it out loud to me, the morning after I attended his State of the Commonwealth speech here.
Sitting in Kentucky’s old governor’s mansion — its capitol is under a multi-year renovation — Beshear offered only cursory nods to what candidates are supposed to say this far out from a White House race before getting to his argument. A case, if you doubted his intentions, he made while taking an unmistakable shot at early frontrunner Gavin Newsom.
“Democratic primary voters are going to be, number one, focused on electability,” the second-term governor told me, adding that the driving force of the next primary will be: “Who do we believe has the best chance of beating J.D. Vance?”
And, he said, that’s him.
“I’m a guy who has won three straight statewide elections in a Trump plus-30 state,” Beshear said, alluding to his win as attorney general before becoming governor. Rattling off Kentucky’s economic growth, healthcare gains and crime decline, he said: “I think it’s a mixture of both electability and the idea that, here’s somebody that not only could win in a purple state, he wins in a red state.”
So, the governor added in case you missed the point: “You both want somebody who’s electable, but then somebody who can deliver.””