# Frontrunners for Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 16, 2025, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036 "2025-01-16T06:50:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 130
**Author:** ![Hawkeyeop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@Hawkeyeop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkeyeop)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2593 "2026-09-21T17:59:22Z")
That is going to be an issue for any Democratic candidate (though still way lower on the list for most voters than things that affect people directly (gas prices, housing, jobs, ai…) . I think if anything Ossoff might be well positioned to be tougher on Israel without getting as much antisemitic backlash. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2594 "2026-09-21T18:03:01Z")
Currently for Dem candidates it is a “no win” issue. No matter what they say- they will lose some Dem voters. But that is now, 2028 is 2 years away. The other “no-win” issue is trans-kids in sports. Both those issues will of course be mentioned often. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2595 "2026-09-21T22:59:10Z")
Newsom folds on Paramount/WB merger. His presidential aspirations are DOA at this point. > **[Feckless Dems Fold, Back Off Effort To Kill Paramount Merger](https://karlbode.com/feckless-dems-fold-back-off-effort-to-kill-paramount-merger/)** > > Every single time Democrats have an opportunity to demonstrate they're serious about media reform, they trip over their own assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2596 "2026-09-21T23:02:46Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Newsom folds on Paramount/WB merger. His presidential aspirations are DOA at this point. I don’t really care about Newsom’s chances, but I have a hard time believing this deal will move the needle any amount in either direction. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2597 "2026-09-22T00:33:45Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I don’t disqualify a Jewish candidate because I don’t think it necessarily plays against them, if anything I suspect it helps thread the needle of being against Israeli actions but supporting Israel’s survival. It could be an only-Nixon-could-go-to-China type of development. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2598 "2026-09-22T00:35:38Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I don’t really care about Newsom’s chances, but I have a hard time believing this deal will move the needle any amount in either direction. Yeah, I can not see any one getting too angry about a settlement on a antitrust lawsuit that was going nowhere. Those are almost always settled- 90% of the time. And this was not Newsom’s call alone. a Dozen other states signed on. The lawsuit had already caused damaging freezes in spending and new development. If they had held out for a trial that would have gone on for years, and of course= no guarantee of a win, in fact it seems like the AGs did not think they could win- given the current political climate. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2599 "2026-09-22T00:46:00Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > So far, all U.S. presidents have been Christian, and only two haven’t been Protestant (Kennedy and Biden). The first non-Christian President was John Adams. But yeah, things have changed a lot since then. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Veterans seem to care. As evidenced by what data? Sure, plenty of people say they prefer a veteran, but when it comes to actual votes, veterans do no better than civilians. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2600 "2026-09-22T01:15:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The first non-Christian President was John Adams. Yep. There have been 4 Presidents who were Unitarian - both Adamses, Fillmore and Taft. Jefferson never joined a Unitarian congregation but he definitely felt an affinity with them. Lincoln was more in line with Universalism but didn’t join a church. By my count that is 6 that were definitely not Christian. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2601 "2026-09-22T02:40:59Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > There have been 4 Presidents who were Unitarian - both Adamses, Fillmore and Taft. Jefferson never joined a Unitarian congregation but he definitely felt an affinity with them. Lincoln was more in line with Universalism but didn’t join a church. My understanding (though I may be wrong) that Unitarianism in the 18th and 19th Century was an offshoot of the liberal wing of the Congregational Church. While they rejected the idea of the Trinity, and of Jesus being God, some of them of them felt that Jesus had a divine nature, and may have been the son of God, but was lesser to God (the Father). It sounds like many Unitarians of that era (including, maybe, John Adams) still did consider themselves to be Christians, even if other Christians might argue otherwise. My other understanding is that Unitarianism in that era was different from modern Universalist Unitarianism today, which is inclusive of a range of beliefs, as well as agnosticism and atheism. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2602 "2026-09-22T05:01:40Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It sounds like many Unitarians of that era (including, maybe, John Adams) still did consider themselves to be Christians, even if other Christians might argue otherwise. From what I can find this is basically accurate. But no way modern fundie Christians would consider those people to be Christian since they denied the Trinity, etc. But I think it best to drop this since it is becoming what will likely be a hijack. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2603 "2026-09-22T05:40:25Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > since they denied the Trinity Well, on that note, do we suppose the 2028 Democratic nominee is going to be lucky enough to get the holy trinity of politics with a Democratic House and Senate to back them up? Or will gridlock by design continue to be the reason the US can’t have nice things? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2604 "2026-09-22T11:18:14Z")
Nvm won’t continue the unitary hijack ---
**Author:** ![JDYanYan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jdyanyan/32/21663_2.png) [@JDYanYan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JDYanYan)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2605 "2026-09-22T12:07:48Z")
Based on how things are lining up in the midterms, I think it’s pretty likely that if a Dem wins the presidency, they’ll also pretty easily control the house and senate. The gerrymanders could theoretically net GOP a few extra house seats this term, but blue states were stifled in their gerrymandering efforts in a way they simply won’t be with a full election cycle to warm up. Right now high quality polls are putting Talarico, Turek, and Peltola above the MOE, and Brown/Jackson/Cooper will probably win pretty comfortably. There are at least 2 more senate seats Dems should expect to win in 2028 (NC, WI) if we end up with JD Vance or Marco Rubio trying to justify this catastrophic admin. I think any decent Dem wins by +5. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2606 "2026-09-22T12:50:19Z")
Good interview with AOC from the NYT on how she’s weighing a decision on whether to run or not: [https://archive.ph/933xS](https://archive.ph/933xS) It’s an archive link so there’s no paywall. > “There’s an argument that some make that this is a very unique political window and, oftentimes in politics, you do only get one shot,” she said. “And you don’t — and just in life in general — life doesn’t wait for you to be ready for things. Sometimes life just makes things ready for you.” > “Pretty candidly, I think about my identity,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez went on. “I’m not naïve to the fact that we are living under a very regressive administration, and I happen to be a woman, and I, you know, happen to be Latina. And I think that there’s a lot of conversation about electability, and I don’t kind of shy away from those realities.” On gender and politics: > “What is very odd about our political culture is that for some reason when you raise it, people just freak out,” she said. “They get so defensive at the mere suggestion that gender could play a role.” > She made plain that this was a problem “independent of ideology.” > “I experience it tremendously — from the right and from the left,” she said. > “This country has never elected a female president. Why are we pretending that this is not a factor?” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said with a laugh. “That doesn’t make it impossible, but to act as though it’s not a factor in anything ever is really a form of, like, denialism.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2607 "2026-09-22T19:18:13Z")
> [@JDYanYan](#): > > Based on how things are lining up in the midterms, I think it’s pretty likely that if a Dem wins the presidency, they’ll also pretty easily control the house and senate. For one election cycle. But it is rather likely that the GOP will retake the House at least in 2030, since whoever the Dem president is, they will be unable to perform miracles. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2608 "2026-09-22T19:24:47Z")
Newsom vetoes bill to protect doctors from being extradited to red states to be prosecuted for doing their jobs. > **[Newsom vetoes bill aimed at protecting providers of transgender care](https://www.ebar.com/story/170505/News/News/Newsom%20vetoes%20bill%20aimed%20at%20protecting%20providers%20of%20transgender%20care)** > > Governor Gavin Newsom used his veto pen over the weekend to ax legislation aimed at protecting providers of gender-affirming care from being extradited to face charges for doing so by another state. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2609 "2026-09-22T19:30:33Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Newsom vetoes bill to protect doctors from being extradited to red states to be prosecuted for doing their jobs. > Assembly Bill 2164 authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) would have prohibited California’s governor from recognizing a request for extradition of a person related to their providing a legally protected healthcare activity in the Golden State to transgender individuals, or if they provide reproductive services. > Yet, it was that watering down of executive branch power that engendered Newsom’s opposition to the bill. He vetoed it Sunday, issuing a [message](https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Veto-msg-AB-2164.pdf) to explain his reasoning for doing so. > > “While I share the author’s views on the importance of protecting these important healthcare services, extradition is an exclusively executive function,” wrote Newsom. “When discretionary, that discretion is appropriately placed with the Governor. I am troubled by the precedent that would be set if an outgoing administration agreed with the Legislature to erode the executive authority of an incoming Governor based on their shared policy preferences, regardless of how righteous and well-intended those actions may be.” Bad bill, properly vetoed. CA governors simply will not extradite anyone in the very very unlikely chance of this ever happening, but this bad bill takes away the Governors authority. They knew Newsom would veto it. The bill was pointless and would not actually do anything. It did not do anything to protect providers. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2610 "2026-09-22T19:43:50Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It did not do anything to protect providers. …except protect them from being shipped off to a kangaroo court at gubernatorial whim. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2611 "2026-09-22T19:46:42Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > except protect them from being shipped off to a kangaroo court at gubernatorial whim. Have any such extradition requests actually been made? This bill was pointless, since that has never happened and is very unlikely to ever occur. And yeah, I trust California’s democratically elected Governor. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2612 "2026-09-22T19:58:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Have any such extradition requests actually been made? This bill was pointless Well, I guess since it hasn’t happened yet then it never will and we have nothing to worry about, but then again, since the bill was pointless and does nothing, then there was no need to veto it. I mean, unless you’re an unprincipled opportunist trying to pander to transports to try to get elected president, that is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036.md?page=129) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036.md?page=131)