Someone's Presidential Aspirations are Severely Damaged

[Chasstev365]

A 2028 opponent can say, "You literally embraced Trump." And, "Trump inspired militia members try to kidnap you Governor Whitmer, and you cozy up to him?"

https://www.rawstory.com/gretchen-whitmer-2671865397/

[Rebl2]

1. What the

hell is wrong with her!

[ananda]

9. Stockholm Syndrome? Death threats?

Hellifikow.

[mucholderthandirt]

38. Like a lot of other Dems, saving her own ass at the expense of ours. Sweet, huh?

[soldierant]

49. Well, there's this

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/29/whitmer-claims-victory-michigan-trump-00317405

But I also stand by my original post (#21)

[Ocelot II]

2. Trump always has a quid pro quo in mind. He is never "nice" for free.

I hope Whitmer hasn't sold out somehow.

[Rebl2]

15. Looks like

she has to me.

[tman]

3. It's another case of overreading the 2024 results.

Terrible judgement combined with unhealthy presidential ambition is a very strange thing to see.

It started with Newsom.

[wolfie001]

12. Dood said he found "common ground" with this bigot.

Kirk said he wouldn't fly on an airplane if the pilot was black because: DEI. Freakingly unbelievable!



Did Gavin spend hours in the makeup chair to get that polished look?! What a man! All of us schlubs can so relate to that.

[Chasstev365]

4. Absolutely!

[RandySF]

5. Toast

[usonian]

6. Read the email I posted from Bernie, entitled "Moderation"

https://www.democraticunderground.com/13243179

Short of it:

While members of the Democratic Establishment have occasionally applauded our efforts on the road, a number of them and their corporate media backers are becoming increasingly nervous. They warn their followers that progressives shouldn’t be taken too seriously, that we are “far left,” “extreme” and “out of touch” with American society.

According to these politicians, analysts, media pundits and wealthy campaign donors, the future of the Democratic Party lies in “moderation.” We shouldn’t be talking about oligarchy. We shouldn’t be talking about massive income and wealth inequality. We shouldn’t be talking about the unprecedented concentration of corporate ownership that exists. We shouldn’t be talking about the need to build the trade union movement. We shouldn’t be talking about a corrupt campaign finance system that allows billionaires in both parties to control the political process. We shouldn’t be talking about corporate control of the media.

According to these leaders of the Democratic Establishment, the path forward is to continue doing exactly what they have been doing for the last 10 years. In other words, tell the world how bad Donald Trump is while continuing to defend a rigged and corrupt economic and political system that makes the rich richer, while working families fall further and further behind.

From one end of our country to the other -- in red states, blue states, purple states -- working families, the younger generation, seniors, and the poor are desperately looking for a new and bold vision for America’s future.

[Celerity]

7. video

[Sky Jewels]

14. WTF...

[Renew Deal]

19. I hope she doesn't end up on fox

Talking about how the party left her

[Skittles]

8. disappointed

she is not nearly as smart as I thought she was

[hatrack]

10. "Governor Gretchen Whitmer, her 2028 calendar clearing rapidly . . . . "

[BlueSpot]

24. Yeah

I can't see myself throwing a vote her way now. Could have before.

[calimary]

25. Well, if she's gonna hug him up, I gotta go find somebody else to vote for.

A handshake would have been enough, girlfriend.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

30. From the video above it looks like ...

... she held out her hand and he pulled her in for the hug. She did not seem to initiate it.

She did not knee him in the nads, but she did not hug him. Just nervously open hand patted his shoulder. Possibly tapping out of the clench.

Or so it looked to me.

I am not sure she would have had the option to not meet him when he decided to come.

And she may have needed to be at the base to ensure her constituents got the money.

I am not seeing she had any choice in any of this.

[hatrack]

31. She's the governor of the state, and an adult . . .

So yeah, she had the option to not go, but she went.

The end.

[HAB911]

33. This is the second time she didn't see the obvious coming

she's gone

[travelingthrulife]

46. There was no reason for her to show up at all.

It was a political rally.

[Hekate]

11. Someone is required to say "dead to me" in 3 - 2 - 1

[Keepthesoulalive]

27. I am now open to suggestions

For someone else to be the presidential candidate in the next election. Don’t give him a photo op.
There’s a man rotting in a prison in a South American death camp and children being deported. Stop kissing his fat ass, we need leaders who will stand up and defend all the people and their constitutional rights.

[Sky Jewels]

13. I'm really surprised how quickly she and Newsome imploded ...

Hopefully someone with courage and charisma will step forward and lead us in the grand fight against fascism and authoritarianism and oligarchy.

[Scrivener7]

32. Better for it to happen now than later.

[Sky Jewels]

37. Yes, that's true.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

44. If you are going to harp on a Democrat, at least get their name right. . . . nt

[maxsolomon]

53. Newsom's "implosion" is TBD.

He has both courage and charisma, and 2028 is a very long time from now.

You may not vote for him, but it probably won't be up to you.

[Billsdaughter]

16. Politics...

Makes for strange bedfellows.

Whitmer just secured a contract to bring desperately needed revenue and economic growth to Michigan. That's far more important than getting down in a ditch with a troglodyte.

Looks like Big Gretch's game of rope-a-dope was a huge success.

[angrychair]

20. Even if true

That doesn't require her to meet him on the airport tarmac or speak at his event. That is completely insane. Do you realize what he is doing? This is, at best, tone deaf. At worse it's compitulation.

[Billsdaughter]

22. Apparently, getting the fighter jet build

DID require her to do just that: meet him on the tarmac, say a few words and walk off in exchange for billions in revenue and growth. That's called bringing home the bacon or pork as they say.

She never mentioned him by name in her brief statement to the crowdd but instead doubled down on her support for our military. In a room of MAGAs.

I'm impressed.

[angrychair]

23. I'm sure the innocent people

He is sending to torture prisons understand. I'm sure I'm sure all the people about to lose Medicaid understand.
I'm sure the tens of thousands of people that will die due to cuts of research grants understand.
Money talks, poor people die.

[W_HAMILTON]

29. It's called ignorance.

No MAGA will support her, whatever "bringing home the bacon" she thought she did will inevitably be held over her head long enough that she will need to continue to kiss the ass of the most unpopular president ever at this point in his term, and with projects such as those, she could have just held out till Democrats regained power and most likely secured the same sort of arrangement, without all the fascist strings attached.

She probably already killed her presidential hopes when she was photographed in the White House hiding her face because Trump and his MAGAts were treating her like a useful idiot, but if that didn't seal the deal, this sure did.

And whatever """bacon""" she is bringing home, even if she does manage to continue kissing Trump's ass for it to actually materialize, it inevitably won't come close to the unfortunate significance of her cozying up to a wannabe dictator.

Her hopes for achieving higher office have been snuffed out with her deplorable performance post-Trump inauguration.

[Keepthesoulalive]

28. No

She gave him legitimacy, she needs to stand for our rights and freedoms which he is eroding.

[travelingthrulife]

47. She will have to pay trump bigly for any favors.

[orleans]

17. olbermann's take and mine

olbermann: Poor Gretchen's future is now reduced to co-hosting a podcast with
@gavinnewsom.bsky.social

keith reposted aaron ruper who wrote; Trump invites Gretchen Whitmer to speak. She avoids praising Trump, but says "I am so grateful that this announcement was made today" and shakes hands with him (48 second video included in the post)

but here's the first thing i thought of:

[soldierant]

21. The reality is

that no woman is going to win a Presidential election in the United States for a very long tome yet. Probably not in the lifetime of anyone currently alive.

I hate it that that is true. But I'm also clear-sighted enough to see that it is.

And I hate even more seeing brilliant and vapable women lose their careers and legacies because they accepted the nomination for the Presidency.

Misogyny exists. I don't like it, but truth is truth. If we aren't willing to actively do anything about it, it will continue to exist. And we Democrats will continue to destroy our finest women.

Big Gretch probably just saved herself from that fate.

[calimary]

26. That's what I fear, too. And I don't like it, either.

It should have been Hillary in 2016. I STILL think she would have made a terrific President. So would Kamala, eight years later, dammit. But that's over, too. I don't see anybody coming up who looks like a good possibility. And now, Hillary's too old and probably doesn't even want it anymore. She doesn't deserve the punishment or abuse or disrespect, either, and I sure can agree with that.

But boy-oh-boy did we miss something REALLY great. HISTORICALLY great. Right now I can't think of anybody on the horizon who could do it, but then again, I can't really see any MEN who seem acceptable, either.

[soldierant]

48. Thank you.

I can't tell you how good it is to read these responses. I've been feeling like a voice crying in the wilderness. And I know it's hard to say this for fear of being called a misogynist. But pointing out that misogyny exists is not itself misogyny. Instead, it's the only way out of misogyny.

[Scrivener7]

35. I hate it too, but it's a fact we have to face.

We underestimated the sexism among Democrats, then we saw it in action with all of those who stayed home both in 2016 and 2024.

We can't make that mistake again.

[soldierant]

50. Thanks -

I can't tell you how good it is to read these responses. I've been feeling like a voice crying in the wilderness. And I know it's hard to say this for fear of being called a misogynist. But pointing out that misogyny exists is not itself misogyny. Instead, it's the only way out of misogyny.

[Vinca]

36. That's what I think, too, and it really pains me because it's going to take a woman to clean up this mess.

[soldierant]

51. Much thanks.

I can't tell you how good it is to read these responses. I've been feeling like a voice crying in the wilderness. And I know it's hard to say this for fear of being called a misogynist. But pointing out that misogyny exists is not itself misogyny. Instead, it's the only way out of misogyny.

[RJ-MacReady]

34. Yup

She's done. Not even giving her a second look. NEXT!

[Ilsa]

39. She's doing what she needs to do to help

the people of her state. I'm not holding this episode against her when every other pol has kissed his almighty stinking ass.

My only regret is that she wasnt able to scratch and infect him with flesh-eating bacteria.

[Billsdaughter]

40. Ultimately

Governance and politics are very different yet exist in the same space. What we saw from Gretch is governance. Beautifully executed. I'm sure all folks in Michigan are thankful for the economic stimulation.

[kentuck]

41. A little harsh, I think.

But, Democrats should have learned a lesson by now.

"Everything Trump touches, dies."

Avoid contact with him as you would the plague.

[BannonsLiver]

42. Here's the reality: Whitmer was never going to be president anyway.

I know she’s a DU Darling but it was never going to happen with or without the hug.

[HereForTheParty]

43. It was a handshake Trump tried to turn into an embrace

He was half successful. I don't know what else she could have done unless maybe not be there to greet him in the first place.

[jalan48]

45. I thought she was one of our bright stars.

The photo of her hiding her face behind some folders when she realized Trump was using her for a photo op, will tarnish her political career for ever.

[Sympthsical]

52. So she crushed it as governor

And because she hi to the bad man, she’s a non-starter?

This is why we fail.

I thought 2024 would teach us we have to stop prioritizing the performative over everything else. (Where the theme was joy for some reason. What in the Oprah was going on over there . . .)

But alas. People want to double down on it, I guess. We’re just not going to learn, are we? Our politics are being run by social media performance culture and it kills us. Because the average voter doesn’t live on cable news and Blue Sky all day everyday.

Prioritizing that shallow sensibility is a turn off to everyone except the people who already live there.

We are willing to throw capable people with proven track records off a cliff because they’re giving the internet a sad.

It would be ridiculous if it wasn’t so simultaneously devastating to our cause.

[Torchlight]

54. The sudden involuntary reflex kick to the topic was not unexpected

But still disheartening.