Hey, Gretch, Hey.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s actions are the opposite of disqualifying.
By the volume of criticism directed at Governor Gretchen Whitmer over the past few days, you’d think Democrats have nothing better to do. And they do.
To recap, Whitmer visited the Oval Office to seek aid following an ice storm in Michigan. Trump staffers ambushed her and staged a photo op. Instead of a quiet opportunity to talk relief and the fate of a critical military base, Whitmer was hijacked, stuck in the midst of a press conference around Trump’s newest round of bonkers executive orders.
Here’s the thing: Whitmer handled it as well as anyone could. She let the press know she was “not happy” and made clear that her presence didn’t amount to an endorsement. Most importantly, she got what she came for.
Shortly thereafter, Whitmer secured federal funding to keep a key base open in Michigan. The stakes were high: Selfridge Air National Guard Base employs more than 5,000 people and it’s worth at least $850 million to Michigan each year. The cost? Appearing on stage with Trump at Selfridge, making remarks off the cuff, and tolerating a hug.
Democrats angrier about Whitmer playing the diplomat with America’s most reprehensible modern POTUS to protect constituents’ livelihoods and state economy than they are about Trump’s reprehensibility need to take a seat.
The Peanut Gallery
Kibitzers are missing a number of glaringly obvious factors.
The first and most obvious: There’s a massive difference between being a governor and being a senator. Whitmer can’t sponsor a bill to end the faux emergency declarations Trump’s using as a pretext to create real emergencies and wreck the economy — or even vote on one.
Whitmer’s doing what’s in her power, what she needs to do, as an executive elected to lead her state. Tell me she’s blocking her attorney general from joining lawsuits against the administration and I’ll revisit that take.
I don’t have an ounce of ire to spare for a governor navigating this hellish political and economic landscape with savvy and courage, putting her constituents ahead of herself and a prospective presidential run. Especially not when most of our federal elected officials are failing so miserably to rein Trump in or resist in the most basic of ways.
Whitmer’s actions are the opposite of disqualifying. She knew damn well — and she curses, another point in her favor — that there would be liberals with knives out if she dared engage in diplomacy and she did what she needed to do to get the best results she could as quickly as she could for her state.
Moving On: 2028
We’re not Canada. A straight anti-Trump platform wouldn’t just be tricky — the past suggests it’d be doomed unless undertaken by much defter hands than we’ve seen so far. That just might be Whitmer.
If we want to win the White House back, we need Trump voters to either stay home or change their minds. We’ve failed at both so far. Whitmer might not, particularly if Trump continues to praise her.
If Whitmer stays steady, willing to do what it takes for Michigan and show (if not entirely intentionally in these cases perhaps) that she can work with the administration without being of it, that makes her a stronger prospective presidential candidate — in key states, with key demographics.
Reminder: MAGA won’t disappear with Trump, even if he doesn’t overthrow the U.S. government for a third term.
If the only things Trump does that improve rather than tank state, federal, and international economies are linked to Democrats, we can work with that. In fact, I’m writing that speech in my head right now.
What’s the Matter with the Democratic Party?
What’s most concerning about the wave of criticism directed at Whitmer by Democrats is what it means. A significant number of Democrats — armchair politicos, political junkies, and practitioners alike — are talking themselves into blocking women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ candidates both in districts Trump won and looking ahead to 2028.
Trying to game out our 2028 nominee in 2025 is an exercise in futility, particularly when doing so on the basis of shoddy post-mortems of a too-brief campaign contending with both unconscious and conscious bias. That said, I’ll play insofar as offering this prediction: Should Gretchen Whitmer be the nominee in 2028, Democratic voters aren’t going to stay home because she did the job she was elected to do.
If anyone remembers this week at all in a year or two, it won’t be haunting Whitmer. Given Trump’s chaotic and insane behavior, who’d doubt Whitmer was set up in the Oval and at the base and just rolling with the punches? And, by the way, if Whitmer’s comments at Selfridge were extemporaneous that’s more good data on the kind of candidate she’ll be nationally.
We need a fighter, a steward, and a statesperson. This week proved Whitmer’s all three. Wanna criticize a governor? Gavin’s right there.