Pirate's Cove

They weren’t mad with her when she cosplayed Mussolini during COVID, but, are now

Whitmer just got what she wanted from Trump. But she’s making a risky bet.

President Donald Trump hugged Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer upon landing Tuesday in Michigan to announce a new fighter mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. He lavished praise on her during a speech at the base, referring to her as simply “Gretchen” more than once. And when he was done speaking, he invited her to the podium to give remarks she said she was not planning.

“I am so, so grateful that this announcement was made today, and I appreciate all the work,” Whitmer said, without specifically praising Trump.

Trump’s announcement that he would “save Selfridge” with the new fighter mission marked a long-sought victory for Whitmer and her battleground state. But the scene also illustrated the political minefield that Whitmer, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, has had to navigate as she has sought to build a working relationship with Trump at a time when other ambitious Democrats are spoiling for a fight.

Trump wasted little time acknowledging the bipartisan moment as he spoke Tuesday with Whitmer in the background. He complimented her as “very effective.”

“I’m not supposed to do that. She’s a Democrat,” Trump said. “They say, ‘Don’t do that. Don’t have her here.’ I said, ‘No, she’s going to be here.’ She’s done a very good job, frankly, and she was very much involved with the Republicans [on Selfridge].”

See, this is the way it’s supposed to work: each state is sovereign, and work to do what is best for each state. Instead of governors playing petty politics, they reach out to the federal government to work together. Even if the people involved do not like each other, they have to work together to accomplish things that benefit the state and/or federal government. You know that many negotiating on behalf of the US despise some people they negotiate with from other countries, right? But, it is part of the job. Whitmer, whether you like her or hate her, did the correct thing. She put the state first. And, since the 17th Amendment turned Senators from being the ambassadors from the state general assemblies to D.C. who put the needs of their state first into standard old elected schmucks, someone has to do the part, right?

Yet, to other Democrats, Whitmer is showing herself to be out of step with a political moment where Trump represents an existential threat to democracy.

“I think the fight back faction of the Democratic Party is ascendant, and leaders who ignore that risk getting left behind,” said Ezra Levin, co-executive director of the liberal organizing group Indivisible. (snip)

In Michigan, Whitmer has had an intraparty foil in Attorney General Dana Nessel (D), who has repeatedly sued the Trump administration and struck a more combative tone toward the president. Nessel has leaned into their dueling styles at times.

“Why I refuse to normalize this president: Appeasement is not [a] workable strategy with a fascist,” Nessel wrote on X a day after Whitmer’s Oval Office appearance, sharing an earlier interview where she suggested she has little “common ground” with Trump.

This is nothing compared to the roasting she’s gotten online from the unhinged Democrat base. It’s vicious.

The base currently contributes an estimated $850 million annually to Michigan’s economy and state officials estimate that the base supports some 30,000 jobs, including about 5,000 members of the Air and Army National Guard and Reserve.

She did what was best for Michigan.

Adrian Hemond, a Democratic strategist in Michigan, said in the wake of the Oval Office visit that most people in Michigan understand it is “part of the job” for the governor to work with the president, regardless of party. He expressed doubt that Whitmer wants to run for president but acknowledged the visit was less than ideal politically.

This is why the hardcore, hateful, politics from the Democrats is a problem: it can interfere with doing the job. But, if she does run, she can appeal to more middle ground voters by saying “I did the things best for my state, regardless of party and politics. And I’ll do the same as president.” I mean, she’d probably go pure Progressive as president, but, it would sound good during a campaign.