# 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:** 135
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2693 "2026-10-09T19:25:45Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I think they need someone with confidence and swagger, at a minimum. Right. If not Rahm, then Ossoff can pull that off. So could Elissa. Pete is intellectually impressive but probably not a brawler. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2694 "2026-10-09T19:29:57Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Jon Ossoff-Georgia senator; younger generation of Democratic leadership > Pete Buttigieg-Former transportation secretary and 2020 presidential candidate > Kamala Harris-Former vice president and 2024 presidential nominee > Josh Shapiro-Pennsylvania governor Well according to some posters- Ossoff &Shapiro are Jewish, thus non starter due to Gaza. AOC, and Harris can not win as they are women, same with Buttigieg as he is gay. Harris and Buttigieg are also losers, thus disqualified. Amazing what some people think? I do not think Gaza will be such a big issue in two years, but who knows? > [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Newsom and Buttigieg are too identified with the Biden-era Party establishment. I can not see what that is a Bad Thing. Biden was a great President. Of course, i have said AOC and Buttigieg could use more experience. > [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Pete, small town mayor plus four years as Secretary of Transportation still doesn’t add up to a qualified Presidential candidate. I concur here. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2695 "2026-10-09T19:38:59Z")
> **Summary** > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > Biden was a great President. > > Biden meant well. But he wasn’t “great” by any definition of the term. Until he shit the bed in that debate with orange ass-clown. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2696 "2026-10-09T19:50:04Z")
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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2697 "2026-10-09T19:52:25Z")
**Warning was removed.** ~~@DrDeth you are banned from this thread. Ignoring Moderator instructions and once again trying to hijack the thread.~~ > [@DrDeth](#): > > Biden was a great President. @QuickSilver, try not to rise to the bait, I’ll hide your post. ~~**Warning** issued for DrDeth, this might lead to your banning. Weekend suspension.~~ **Moderating:** # This thread is for 2028 candidates, not past candidates and past Presidents. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2698 "2026-10-09T20:26:07Z")
This topic was automatically opened after 32 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2699 "2026-10-09T21:21:50Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > > > > [@JKellyMap](#): > > > > > > I won’t summarize\* — you’re either interested in hearing them talk about this, or you aren’t. > > > > Aw, c’mon, that’s just mean. 😠 > > > > I am interested, but I don’t listen to podcasts. > > Yeah, same. I find podcasts incredibly inconvenient, too. (And… When I’m reading the dope I’m in a place i can read. And often not in a place where i can make noise.) > > I’d be really curious just who he has on his list . Going forward, **[many prominent podcasts also post to YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wqkn2CsJzY)**. Sometimes after a short delay. When they get on YouTube, 99 times out of 100 they’ll have a Transcript available immediately. On a laptop/desktop: you open up the gray section under the YouTube video, then scroll to the bottom of the gray section – usually Transcript is the last thing listed. The Transcript is also available on mobile devices, but I don’t recall the steps to get to it - should be conceptually similar. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2700 "2026-10-09T21:22:32Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I think putting El Sayed on the list is silly. I agree he is no frontrunner now and has no chance of nomination if he loses his Senate race. But if AOC does not run, or just runs for the Senate, someone will have to be the left-lane candidate. And whomever that might be, they will be a frontrunner because the center-left lane is too crowded. So who else could be the next Sanders or Warren if not El Sayed? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2701 "2026-10-09T21:38:16Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Going forward, **[many prominent podcasts also post to YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wqkn2CsJzY)**. Sometimes after a short delay. When they get on YouTube, 99 times out of 100 they’ll have a Transcript available immediately. FYI, Paul Krugman’s podcasts (which are available on YouTube) always have a transcript right below the video. Even when you get them as an email. I can read a transcript a zillion times faster than listening to a podcast. And sometimes it’s just not convenient or possible to listen to a podcast. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2702 "2026-10-09T21:54:13Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Regardless, I think his negatives are way too large; due to the McDonald case, he’s going to be radioactive to black Democratic voters. This makes sense, especially with South Carolina going first. If we believe in the lane theory, who then jumps into the centrist lane, which I expect to be attract a strong candidate due to being, like the left/socialist lane, uncrowded? Shapiro? Maybe. I think he’d be too busy denying he is a centrist candidate to be one. Bashear? Could be. I do not know enough about him. Maybe it will be someone not yet mentioned, like Mary Peltola, if she wins her Alaska race. It makes sense for the centrist lane candidate to be a woman because centrist Democrats are unlikely to think America is too sexist to elect a woman. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2026, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2703 "2026-10-09T22:04:44Z")
If Kelly runs, and if he’s improved his oratory skills, then I think he’s a good pick for the “moderate” lane. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2704 "2026-10-10T02:23:05Z")
Thanks for that. I am interested but not nearly an hour and a half of listening interested. To me the bit regarding a possible tension between familiar vs representing a new generation is important. And likely not an either or. Some familiarity but clearly still fresh is imporant. And progressive vs moderate _may_ overlap with progressive being more fresh. Ossoff sure does have the buzz going though! ---
**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:** [October 10, 2026, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2705 "2026-10-10T03:20:04Z")
IMO, Ossoff shouldn’t run unless Keisha Lance Bottoms wins the gubernatorial race. It’s neck and neck right now and we can’t risk a Republican governor getting to pick his successor. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2706 "2026-10-10T12:31:47Z")
The picks were: 1. Gavin Newsom (Clare). “I think Gavin Newsom has a quality which you need in the sort of post-Barack Obama era, which is, like- Star power. Now, I think he’s a divisive figure. I think he can come off as smarmy, but he’s handsome. He’s the governor of a state with a huge economy. Nate: “A state where, where people are pissed off at how the state is run and it’s losing population.” Clare: “He’s always been one of these Democrats, along with Pete Buttigieg, who goes on Fox News, who engaged with Trump. I think he will basically say, "I’m not prissy. I know how to talk to these AI guys.” Nate: “But Trump is not running in ’28.” The conversation turned to why Kamala Harris probably will NOT run. This included discussion of the order of states in the primaries: Nate: “I don’t think that Kamala Harris does well in a place like Nevada. Remember, in 2020, that was Bernie territory, and Bernie Sanders did really well in Nevada. And AOC will pick up progressives, and she also performs best right now amongst Latino voters. New Hampshire is Pete Buttigieg territory, but, like, maybe if Jon Ossoff over-performs up until then, they switch to Jon Ossoff or somebody like that. But New Mexico, Michigan, I don’t see those as good places for Kamala Harris.” 1. John Ossoff (Galen) “I think Democrats are so tired of their own party. And in that environment, I think people like Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Cory Booker, a lot of these people are absolutely off the table. And I would say by 2028, even AOC will have been in the spotlight in national politics for a decade. somebody who is about to over-perform the partisan baseline of their state by maybe eight points, maybe even more in the midterm, that’s Jon Ossoff. On top of that, he’s young, which is a challenge to the gerontocracy sort of debate that Democrats have been having and in, about government more broadly. And in addition to that, he has somewhat adeptly maneuvered around the Israel-Palestine issue, which I do think will be something of a litmus test in 2028” Clare: “Everyone under 50 who’s campaigning now tries to sound like Barack Obama.” 1. AOC (Nate) “Because she’s very young, she could very plausibly run for, for Senate for the Schumer seat, whether Schumer’s still trying to hold onto that seat or not, I think he’d lose if he did, right? She is the biggest star on the left who is not either 85 years old or ineligible to run for president because Mamdani was born, in Uganda, I believe.” The other problem is that Democrats use a very proportional system- Yeah … for allocating delegates, right? So you can imagine this would be a pretty ugly primary for Democrats, right? You can imagine AOC, um, gets some early momentum, right, and is winning the plurality of delegates and has, like, 35%, and then the, the other ones are split. Galen: “And then let me tell you what happens next. In November, Nate Cohn puts out a poll at The New York Times that says AOC can’t win a general election, and all of a sudden everybody shifts to Jon Ossoff.” 2. Pete Buttigieg (Galen) “Very few people say that they would be disappointed if he won. His footprint is quite large, in that when you ask Democratic voters, “Who would you consider?” A lot of people would consider him because they’ve heard of him.” Nate: “it’s such a meme now that Pete Buttigieg can’t win any Black voters.” Galen: “Also, you know who really likes him? James Clyburn.” Nate: “Almost 80% of Americans say they would vote for a gay candidate. In the latest polling it was 76%. And so I think, I think it’s overcome-able. If Buttigieg had won in Michigan, had run in Michigan this year, um, and beaten Stevens and El-Sayed and whatever else, right, and then won the general election, then you start to get a much more stronger electability case. But it’s, it’s an, it’s an unknown.” 1. Mark Kelly (Clare) “Going back to the primary calendar, uh, I think Nevada and New Mexico being early are kind of interesting for Mark Kelly kind of representing, um, the Southwest.” They discuss how Kelly has authored AI legislation. 2. Josh Shapiro (Clare) Popular governor; huge overperformance in Pennsylvania. 3. James Talarico (Galen) "And this is continuing my theory of the case that Democrats want to turn the page on the past decade plus of political life, period. And if a Democrat manages to win statewide in Texas, that is going to give him so much earned media, it will be sort of crazy. He’s also raised more money than God.” Nate: “He’ll be the fucking Beatles, all The Beatles combined to Democrats if he wins in Texas.” Later picks included Ruben Gallego and Ro Khanna. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2707 "2026-10-11T13:40:28Z")
@ThelmaLou and @puzzlegal – when you have time, see my post above. You asked for it, you got it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2708 "2026-10-11T14:17:51Z")
I just now realized y’all have already had some conversation about the Still Counting podcast episode. My mistake. (Thanks to @Hawkeyeop and @ThelmaLou). Oh, well. Maybe you’re still find my personal summary helpful. At least, it’s interesting to compare it to ChatGPT’s equivalent (posted by ThelmaLou, about ten posts up). I’ll at least take credit for being the first to post Nate Silver’s funny Beatles comment about Talarico. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2709 "2026-10-11T14:43:37Z")
🙃 Also Talarico stating that he’s greater than God. 🙃 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2710 "2026-10-11T15:03:52Z")
No, that was the Rutles. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2711 "2026-10-11T15:11:42Z")
…which would make for a great platform - “All You Need is Cash”. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/2712 "2026-10-11T15:20:52Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Oh, well. Maybe you’re still find my personal summary helpful. Definitely yes. Thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036.md?page=134) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036.md?page=136)