Latest news with #redState
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Andy Beshear confirms he's eyeing 2028 as he polls high with Republicans in deep red Kentucky
Kentucky's governor Andy Beshear delivered a ray of hope for Democrats worried about their party's bench of future national talent on Sunday as he confirmed that a 2028 run for president is something that is on his radar. Beshear appeared on CNN's State of the Union, where the red-state governor confirmed that his thinking on the issue had changed over the past few years. 'If you'd asked me this question a couple years ago, I would have said no. My family's been through a lot, but I do not want to leave a broken country to my kids, or anyone else's,' said the governor. 'So what I think is most important for a candidate for 2028 is a candidate that can heal this country, that can bring people back together. So when I sit down, I'm going to think about whether I'm that candidate, or whether someone else is that candidate,' he continued. Beshear's appeal as a national candidate for the party is obvious, given his popularity as a Democratic governor in a state with two Republican senators and a record of going red in presidential races. His ability to win over moderate Democratic voters and independents especially is something the party is eager to reclaim after Kamala Harris's devastating defeat in 2024. Beshear's second term as governor term will also end in December of 2027, making the timing of a presidential run achievable while also completing the entirety of his four years in office. Staffers at the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) may be breathing a second sigh of relief on Sunday after his interview, given that a competitive Republican primary is already broiling over who will replace the retiring Senator Mitch McConnell, formerly leader of the GOP Senate caucus. The lack of an incumbent in the seat gives Beshear a clear opening were he to run, especially given his proven ability to win independent and even Republican support in his past races. He also maintains a high approval rating, and is one of the most popular governors nationwide. He has no interest in serving in the Senate, however, a spokesman said in February. Beshear also maintains one other key advantage were he to run in a Democratic primary: he is not tainted by association to the Biden administration or either the former president or Harris's successive doomed presidential campaigns. Beshear did hit the campaign trail to support Harris over the summer of 2024, but his distance from the White House frees him from the stink of the controversy surrounding Biden's physical and mental decline over the course of his presidency. Harris herself is widely reported to be eyeing a run for governor of California, but at the same time continues to avoid the press. She has not sat down for an interview with a national news outlet since the election, and has only delivered public remarks once this year in April. As well as Harris, Beshear's potential rivals for the 2028 nomination include ex-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, known for being one of the Biden administration's most skilled communicators, as well as California's current governor: Gavin Newsom, who has been a figure of leadership in his party in the second 'Resistance' era. The Kentucky governor will take over chairmanship of the Democratic Governors Association next year, putting him in charge of a key campaign arm for the party and giving him a chance to make important political alliances should he consider a future bid for office.
WIRED
16-06-2025
- Politics
- WIRED
The Online Tools That Fueled ‘No Kings' and the Trump Resistance
Jack and Fiona wanted to do something, but they didn't know where to start. For months, the couple had watched as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, then spearheading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), had turned the US into what they thought was 'a fascist hellscape.' But they live in a deeply red county in a deeply red state in the South, and were worried that speaking out publicly could mean putting them and their children in danger. Jack, who requested WIRED use a pseudonym to safeguard his identity, has long been familiar with extremism in the US. He says he was brought to his first KKK meeting at the age of 7. 'I have seen the kind of behavior exhibited by MAGA, and know that it's exactly what I saw when I was younger,' he says. 'The strain it is putting on society is the same strain that it puts on every single one [of us] who was in that space.' So Jack and Fiona turned to technology. Searching on platforms like Reddit and Bluesky, Fiona stumbled on Realtime Fascism, a website that uses AI to trawl the internet for news articles featuring keywords linked to fascism. The tool analyzes those stories to produce a score for the threat posed by fascism in the US at any given time. The rating they found when they opened the site in February? CRITICAL. The WIRED Guide to Winning a Fight Illustration: Shirley Chong Right now, everyone seems ready to throw down. More than ever, it's important to pick your battles—and know how to win. The couple wanted more people to understand what was happening, so they built their own website called Stick It to Fascists. They bought a $100 thermal label printer, created a QR code linking to Realtime Fascism, and began making stickers. What began with 500 stickers posted all over their small town 'in the heart of MAGA country' quickly grew—with the help of an appeal on Reddit—to a campaign that has so far seen the couple and their children send 750,000 stickers to more than 1,000 people in all 50 states. Stick It to Fascists is one of countless grassroots efforts that have emerged since Trump took office a second time. Many of them are fueled by technology: printers, QR codes, Reddit, online platforms, encrypted messaging apps like Signal. Across the country, small local groups have used a wide variety of online tools to mobilize their resistance to Trump 2.0 while trying to protect themselves against backlash from the administration. As millions of Americans joined some 2,000 'No Kings' protests last Saturday, these tools were powering the movement. Spinning up crowdsourced collaborative tools is relatively easy. Maintaining them is much more difficult, however, and without aligned goals or aims, many of them could eventually become digital wastelands. But that is not stopping people who see no other option. WIRED spoke to more than a dozen people involved in organizing against the Trump administration who all believe that the Democratic Party has not presented a coherent opposition to Trump and DOGE's dismantling of the government. As a result, the organizers say, they had no choice but to get involved. 'We're doing this now, because in a couple of months, what we're doing may be illegal,' Fiona says. 'This administration is already doing everything within their power to limit free speech, and it's extremely important that dissenting voices not be silenced.' In the early days of Trump's second term, there was concern that an opposition movement against Trump was nowhere to be found.
