Axios: “In a swing through the deep South, she was greeted like a rock star by enthusiastic crowds of mostly Black men and women, and white women. Many told Axios they want her to run again in 2028.”

“Harris’ appearances — like early polling for the 2028 race — defied top Democrats’ belief that she isn’t popular with the party’s base, and that people blame her for Donald Trump’s 2024 victory.”

Said one top Democrat: “Kamala hasn’t accepted she’s not running yet.”

“Democrats weighing bids for president are struggling for footing on transgender issues, dodging questions on the topic more than a year after President Trump’s ‘Kamala is for they/them’ ad was widely seen as one of his most effective attacks in the 2024 campaign,” Axios reports.

“At least a half-dozen states applied to be in the early nominating window for 2028’s Democratic presidential campaign, kicking off a contentious battle for securing an influential perch inside the primary calendar,” Politico reports.

“The usual suspects — New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina and Michigan, who made up the early states in Democrats’ 2024 primary calendar, though not in the order set out by the Democratic National Committee — are all back, per their state parties. So is Iowa, hoping to reinsert itself into the process after it was bounced four years ago. Georgia also applied.”

“Virginia and North Carolina are both seriously considering applying.”

Jonathan Martin: “The primaries before the midterm elections haven’t even started yet, but Beshear is running for president. His local political advisers are thinking deeply about his strategy, and he’s tapped a handful of national strategists to guide him in these early days.”

“However, the real giveaway is that Beshear already has a two-pronged theory of the case about why he’s positioned to be his party’s nominee in 2028. And he was happy to say it out loud to me…”

Said Beshear: “I’m a guy who has won three straight statewide elections in a Trump plus-30 state… I think it’s a mixture of both electability and the idea that, here’s somebody that not only could win in a purple state, he wins in a red state.”

“Democratic Party insiders are beginning to puzzle over one of the more consequential decisions for the party’s future: which states should vote first in the 2028 presidential primary elections,” the New York Times reports.

“Should Democrats begin the primary race with a battleground state? Is a racially diverse state like Nevada — with its big Latino population — the way to go? Or is a smaller state like New Hampshire, with its long tradition of town hall events and passionate voters, best?”

“Perhaps the party should return to South Carolina, whose base of Black voters is the heart of the party in a region where Democrats desperately need to improve? Or maybe Democrats should go back to Iowa, full of the types of rural voters whom the party has so thoroughly lost touch with?”

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said that Vice President JD Vance would be a “great, great presidential nominee,” adding his voice to the growing number of prominent Republicans who have pointed to Mr. Vance as a likely 2028 nominee and successor to President Trump, the New York Times reports.

Said Youngkin: “I agree with President Trump, I agree with Marco Rubio: I think Vice President Vance would be a great nominee.”

“Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon is laying the groundwork for a 2028 run for president,” Axios reports.

“The MAGA godfather isn’t serious about becoming president — that’s not the point. Instead, he’s told allies he wants to shape the debate and pressure Republican candidates to embrace an ‘America First’ agenda — including a non-interventionist foreign policy, economic populism and opposition to Big Tech.”

Isaac Dovere: “That fear is part of the conversations many Democrats who could be competitors for the White House are having with each other, comparing notes and anxieties…”

“Parades, for many top contenders, are out, along with most other outdoor events. Bulletproof glass and other upgrades have been quietly made to offices and residences. Many crowds are now seeded with undercover officers…”

“Several teared up as they confessed dark fears of children being attacked in the middle of the night.”

“Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro touted his push to lower costs for voters Thursday as he launched a reelection campaign that could help raise his national profile ahead of a potential run for president in 2028,” Axios reports.

“The Democratic governor’s allies hope he could gain an edge in setting up a run for the White House if he wins by a large margin this year and shows he has long coattails in his critical swing state.”

New York Times: “The long-expected move marks the beginning of a significant new chapter for Mr. Shapiro, who is also releasing a memoir later this month.”

“The governor, already a national Democratic figure after becoming a finalist in his party’s 2024 vice-presidential search, is often floated as a potential 2028 presidential candidate. He has gained a reputation for notching notable victories in perhaps the nation’s most crucial political battleground.”

His launch video highlights a record of having “gotten shit done.”

“Kari Lake, the State Department official who oversaw last year’s gutting of Voice of America after losing two separate bids for political office in Arizona, recently purchased a $60,000 condo in her home community of eastern Iowa,” MS NOW reports.

“The property purchase comes after years of Lake flirting with GOP politics in the state and ahead of the potential retirement of longtime Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) challenged President Trump to a cognitive test after the president suggested Newsom could not pass one.

Said Newsom:  “If you’re so confident, let’s do it. Name your time and place.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) raised more than $10 million in the fourth quarter and ended the year with a staggering $30 million on hand, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

The Atlantic profiles Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), noting that he has a 30-page file on why the Democrats lost the 2024 presidential election.

“He starts listing them: incumbency, inflation, interest rates, Israel—and that’s just the letter I. ‘Yes, too woke,’ he adds. ‘Yes, 107 days,’ referring to the short campaign after Joe Biden’s forced withdrawal.”

“But the California governor distills his party’s problem down to one word. Weak. Newsom slaps his hand on a marked-up hardback of Bill Clinton’s memoir, brought down from the shelf a minute earlier. ‘Given the choice,’ he tells me, summing up a crucial Clinton insight—one many Democrats still can’t quite seem to grasp — ‘the American people always support strong and wrong versus weak and right.’”

“Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has been dealing with one big thing that sets him apart from other potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates: a divided state Legislature and all the tricky political compromises that come with it,” NBC News reports.

“Shapiro frequently talks up his handling of this split, particularly in recent weeks after navigating a budget impasse that lasted more than four months.”

“The top Democratic contenders to succeed Donald Trump in the Oval Office excoriated the president for his overnight strike on Venezuela on Saturday, sharply criticizing the president’s foreign policy and trying to drive a wedge between the president and voters wary of foreign entanglements,” Politico reports.

“Trump, they argued, launched the operation to distract from a souring political situation on the home front.”

White supremacist Nick Fuentes threw his support to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) over Vice President JD Vance in a possible 2028 presidential race because Newsom is more “handsome,” Mediaite reports.