The 2024 presidential race is looking less like a function of democracy than it is a Greek tragedy, complete with huge egos and fatal flaws; you know from the beginning that it ends poorly for everyone. Former President Donald Trump, facing multiple indictments, still dominates the Republican field, outpolling other candidates by upwards of 30 percentage points. Maybe Biden could beat him; he’s done it once before, and a majority of Americans say they wouldn’t support a third Trump candidacy. But Biden’s real rival is time. Fans of Disney’s “Hercules” can imagine the underworld Fates raising the scissors to his thread. A rematch between the two would challenge Americans’ faith in the electoral system, but it’s not inevitable.
I’ve written in the past about the need for a third major party, and the potential for Michigan to lead the way. I’m still counting on an exciting No Labels ticket, but until then, Michigan has another way to rescue American politics. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer should run for president. She’s a strong, moderate voice capable of defeating both Biden and Trump. Polarization in Washington has deafened politicians to the needs of ordinary Americans; in a swing-state like Michigan, listening to both sides is the only way to survive.
And Whitmer is good at it. She hasn’t used the Democratic trifecta in Lansing to push through a radical agenda; instead, she’s passed bipartisan legislation to reduce the price of prescription drugs and expand clean energy production. Whitmer has the perfect message for 2024: Polarization is tearing this country apart. We need someone to unite us. I crossed the partisan divide in Michigan, and I’ll do it again in Washington. People, especially Millennials and Gen Z-ers, would love it — more than half of them identify as politically independent. And with Whitmer’s popular positions on abortion, climate change and gun control, all highly important issues to younger voters, they would show up big to support her.
Whitmer isn’t especially charismatic, at least compared to a JFK or Reagan, but she’s clear and coherent. She can articulate a point without fumbling over her words or spewing self-aggrandizing hyperbole. And unlike the alternatives, she can successfully climb stairs and stay on script during a speech. Whitmer’s would be a campaign of ideas. That’s what America needs right now — not another impeachment or indictment. Should Whitmer make it to the general election, her achilles heel will be her COVID-19 response. When the pandemic came, she failed. Michigan’s lockdowns were far stricter and longer than most other states’, and Whitmer faced some of the stiffest resistance in the country. Conservative Michiganders never bought into her policies, and they fought back hard, many of them taking their grievances (and guns) to the Capitol Building.
But, to Whitmer’s credit, when she finally did open the state and cases started to spike, she understood her voters and refused to lock down again. She’ll take a few jabs about it on the debate stage, but political memories are short, and most people have moved on. The lasting damage from the pandemic will be harder to forget. Parents are angry that their children aren’t learning as well in school, and many small-business owners before quarantine are now just former small-business owners. Whitmer has managed the fallout well. Michigan’s K-12 test scores dropped after Covid, as they did everywhere, but the state still managed to boost its national ranking in math. On the issue voters care most about, their wallets, Whitmer directly contradicts the Republican narrative that Democrats are bad for the economy. Michigan’s GDP growth significantly exceeded the national average in 2021, with a surprise bright spot in Detroit. State unemployment is down to 2.9%, and the job market has recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Whatever credibility Whitmer lost during lockdowns, she’s earned back.
The Governor has the track record and the energy to beat Biden in the primaries, but she must enter the race soon. The Democratic Party desperately wants a new nominee — someone they can proudly stand behind, rather than begrudgingly vote for because they don’t want Trump. But shaking up the race in the final hour would make her very few friends. If Whitmer enters now, she’ll have her critics, but most of the nation will applaud her courage — and thank God we’ve been spared from a repeat of 2020.
Jack Brady is an Senior Opinion Editor who can be reached at jackrbra@umich.edu.