Two Big Questions: Who Will Trump Endorse in 2028? And Can AOC Really Win?

It'll take courage for GOP candidates to stand up to Trump — and for Dems to stand up to the DSA.

Once upon a time Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a shiny object in the world of politics. She was young, attractive, a social democrat before that kind of thing became trendy. She was on TV a lot but no one really took her too seriously, certainly not as a real presidential prospect.

Cut to today.

A new poll has AOC as the top choice among Democratic candidates in the 2028 New Hampshire presidential primary. According to the poll, she draws much of her support from self-described socialists and progressives.

Let’s stipulate that New Hampshire isn’t representative of the rest of the United States. It’s whiter and it’s better educated. So if she decides to run, and if she were to win in New Hampshire, that doesn’t tell us a lot about her chances to win her party’s nomination, let alone win the presidential election.

But don’t write her off.

Political etiquette — (how’s that for a contradiction in terms?) — dictates that candidates with presidential ambitions don’t announce their intentions until after the midterm elections. That’s when the 2028 presidential campaigns begin for real.

But Kamala Harris has already said she’s thinking about running. Odds are she wouldn’t stand a chance of winning the nomination. She lost the last time around — and didn’t impress anybody in the process.