Two Ill-Prepared Potential Democrat Presidential Candidates in 2028; Is That All There Is? |

Commentary

Most Americans are aware of Kamala Harris’ lack of preparedness to run for the presidency in 2028 after the sound beating by Donald Trump in 2024 in which he took all the battleground states.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is best known for his coddling of immigrants, his inability to manage the land against fires and the aftermath, his mismanagement of the costly high-speed rail system. Add to that, his state’s high taxes, all of which have forced large numbers of residents to leave for other states.

Kamala Harris

She began her book tour sloughing off questions about Joe Biden and ignoring questions about 2028, but that changed after a few weeks on the circuit. It was almost like she didn’t anticipate questions about Joe, but she soon opened up a bit and even declared herself the leader of the party. “Who else?”

Returning to the friendly hosts and audience of The View, where just weeks before the election in 2024, co-host Sunny Hostin asked if there was anything she’d have done differently from then-President Joe Biden.

Her response certainly didn’t help her campaign: “There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of – and I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact,”

Unwilling to believe that answer cost her the election, she said, ““I’m a loyal person, and I didn’t fully appreciate how much people wanted to know there was a difference between me and President Biden. I thought it was obvious, and I didn’t want to offer a difference in a way that would be received or suggested to be a criticism.”

On the book tour, she conceded that Pete Buttigieg was her first choice” for a running mate in her 2024 presidential bid but decided a ticket of a Black woman and a gay man would be “too big of a risk.” Talk about a weak leader.

This week, sitting for an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporter Sarah Ferguson, the expression on Harris’ face turned dour when Ferguson accused her of dodging her question:

“I want to interrupt you because that is a world-class pivot, but it is not the question that I asked you, which is about Joe Biden’s failure to recognize his own frailties and what that did to you,” Ferguson said. “The question is about Joe Biden. Are you still reluctant to criticize the former president?”

After a back-and-forth, Harris claimed Biden “was not frail as president,” even after Ferguson pointed to Biden’s poor performance in the June 27, 2024, CNN debate with Trump.

“But he had frailties. We all saw the debate,” Ferguson said, while Harris followed with,” I do believe that Joe Biden had the capacity to be president of the United States, and I’ve never doubted that he had the capacity to be president of the United States. If you want to talk about whether he had the ability to endure what a race for president of the United States would require in that political environment in 2024, as I’ve said in the book, I had concerns.”

Gavin Newsom

Newsom has been making the rounds of various podcasts and even established his own, but he made a huge mistake when he took on the popular Joe Rogan of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” where Trump appeared for three hours in 2024.

“Joe Rogan is a snack-sized podcaster who can’t stop talking about me (obsessed!) ‘crush?’, Newsom wrote on social media. “No thank you! But he’s too scared to have me on.”

Meanwhile, when Rogan’s guest, author Jack Carr, said, “He’s such a great politician, he’s so smooth”, Rogan said, “He’s not, though! He wants to be president so bad. You can’t ruin a city, then go on to ruin a state, then say ‘Guys, that was just practice. Once I get in as president, I’m gonna fix it all,” Rogan said during the podcast.

Clips from Newsom’s appearance on ABC News podcast with Jonathon Karl will be seen on Republican commercials if Newsom runs, commented Washington Examiner columnist Joe Concha.

“I would argue, of our former president, who I think was one of the most successful presidents in the last century, and that is Joe Biden, and I will defend that to my grave,” Newsom said.

To make matters worse, Newsom added, “The fact that he had a worker-centered industrial policy and the fact that those are the right policies for this country.” Trump won over the workers.

“If you want to read a political obituary, Gavin Newsom just wrote his, said Concha.

Harris and Newsom. I’m reminded of the fabulous Peggy Lee’s 1969 hit recording of the Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller song, “Is That All There Is?”