A top Republican political consultant says three prospective Democratic presidential candidates have “elements of a winning formula” as the GOP bites its nails ahead of November’s crucial midterm elections.
Karl Rove, writing in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, says that broadly, Democrats are relying on stale messaging that won’t win them any new votes, citing RealClearPolitics polling that suggests the party is currently doing even worse than President Donald Trump.
But three possible presidential hopefuls for 2028 stand out, the former George W. Bush aide said.
“Smart Democrats understand their party needs a better message to attract voters,” he wrote. “They don’t have the complete answer, but three possible Democratic 2028 hopefuls have elements of a winning formula.”
Andy Beshear, Rove says, “has the tone.” He applauded the Kentucky governor for calling on the party to focus “on things that matter” and speak “like a human being” in a way that feels “authentic,” even as he shaded Beshear for coming across as “too wooden.”
“Sen. Cory Booker got the language right at last weekend’s Michigan Democratic Convention,” he went on. He applauded Booker for ending that address “with a call for positive action,” noting the New Jersey senator had “brought the crowd to their feet as he shouted, ‘Will you stand together, unified, strong—be the hope that people need?”
Rove had even kinder words for former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who he says “makes a compelling, common-sense case for a new Democratic Party during every appearance and op-ed.”
Emanuel, in Rove’s view, has been “offering answers to real problems,” showing that “capturing the right tone matters, but substance does too.”
He concluded by noting again that “these three are outliers within their party,” adding that “Democrats still have time to get things right for the midterms and 2028, but less than they think.”
Rove did not address wider surveys that suggest voters are nevertheless leaning toward Democrats by an almost six-point margin just months away from the battle for control of the House and Senate.
