WETTING HER WHISTLE
Speaking of Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the glare of the national spotlight continues to shine brighter as a potential future Democratic presidential contender. Her profile has continued to rise as she has fought off misogynism by Republican legislative leaders during her first term, which coincided with the COVID pandemic and attempts to strip her of her emergency powers – as well as a plot to kidnap and assassinate her and Trump renaming her that “nasty woman.” She and her colleagues prefer her nickname, “Big Gretch,” from a popular 2020 rap song, which gave her street cred. A new Vanity Fair profile points out that Whitmer’s core ideology is “Find the partners, build the coalition, get the thing done,” or as the author stated, “getting shit done.” Both Democrats and Republicans note she is a team player. She has joined President Joe Biden’s re-election team as one of his national co-chairs, part of the team’s “backbone,” according to a campaign statement, focused on building and expanding support for the Biden/Harris ticket and House and Senate Dems across the country. She has just launched her own political action committee in its support – The Fight Like Hell PAC – which was her rallying cry during efforts to preserve abortion rights in 2022. “We will fight like hell for Democrats to hold the White House in 2024,” Whitmer says in the video. “We will fight like hell for Democrats to hold Michigan’s seat in the U.S. Senate in 2024. And we will fight like hell for every candidate who shares our values.” Just a note – money raised by this PAC cannot be spent on a federal race if Whitmer is a candidate. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be another one that will – likely shortly after the 2024 election.