New York Times: How Democratic Governors “Can Win Anywhere and Everywhere”

New York Times: How Democratic Governors “Can Win Anywhere and Everywhere”

In his latest New York Times column, Frank Bruni spotlights how Democratic governors have “outperformed expectations and had political success in places that aren’t reliably blue” by putting aside divisive culture war issues and delivering for the people they represent.

As Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear notes, “When people wake up in the morning, they don’t think about their party, they think about their jobs. They think about the schools their children are going to. They think about the roads and bridges they’re traveling on and whether they’re safe.”

Illustrating this point, Bruni notes that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer “was more invested in results than theatrics. She cared less about preening than about potholes. She was blunt to the point of cursing.”

Similarly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro “sent a clear message to working-class voters by signing an executive order that dispensed with the requirement of a four-year college degree for 92 percent of positions in state government, meaning roughly 65,000 jobs.”

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper “frequently visits farming areas and small towns not just because he grew up in rural North Carolina and is comfortable there but also because he wants to be seen in ‘places where many Democratic leaders don’t go’ …And he has been able to explain to them how his agenda recognizes and addresses those very issues.”

And in Kansas, Gov. Laura Kelly “pays careful attention to rural precincts” and “has created an Office of Rural Prosperity within the Kansas Commerce Department” in order to make sure that Kansans across the state have access to good jobs and more opportunities.

Across the country, Bruni praises “The specificity and detail with which state-level Democrats, working on a smaller canvas, can portray problems, sketch solutions and describe successes,” and the ways that Democratic governors demonstrate “authenticity in an era of profound political cynicism. Even Democrats in the bluest and safest of states can learn from that.”

Read the full column here.