Gretchen Whitmer's Name Emerges in the Biden Chatter

President Biden's brutal debate performance has Democrats talking up potential replacements, and one name in particular has been popping up with frequency: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. So much so that Whitmer spoke directly to a top Biden campaign official to disown the "Draft Gretch" speculation, reports Jonathan Martin of Politico.

• Out of play? Whitmer also reportedly conveyed a second message to Biden campaign chair Jennifer O'Malley: that crucial Michigan was no longer winnable because of the debate. Martin writes that he learned this from the camp of a potential rival to Whitmer for the 2028 presidential nomination—a rival who perhaps wants Whitmer to be seen as disloyal to Biden, a sign of the party infighting already underway.

• Denial: For the record, Whitmer quickly denied relaying any such message about Michigan after Martin's article appeared, per the Hill. "Anyone who claims I would say that we can't win Michigan is full of s---," she wrote on social media. "Let's go."
• Hmmm: At the National Review, Noah Rothman points out that if Michigan is unwinnable, so is the presidency. "If Whitmer's remarks were conveyed accurately, she has become the first major Democratic figure to inform the president's reelection campaign that it's already over," writes Rothman. Her comments could spur Democrats to encourage Biden to bow out.
• Gen Xer: In an interview with the New York Times in late June (she is pushing a well-timed memoir), the 52-year-old Whitmer said she hoped to see somebody from her generation in the White House in 2028. She mentioned the climate, the protection of individual rights, gun violence, and bringing down the nation's debt as "the existential issues that my kids' generation is worried about. ... And so I'm hopeful that in 2028, we see Gen Xers running for the White House and that someone from my generation is ready to take the mantle."
• On the other hand: Yes, Whitmer is 52 and thus should be around to run in 2028 or further in the future, notes Martin. "But the history of presidential politics favors the bold," he writes, adding that a short 2024 race might wind up being her best chance to get the nomination.

(More Gretchen Whitmer stories.)