What do people think of Rahm Emmanuel for 2028?
Relevance: he's very much a "barpod candidate" imo, he's against activist progressivism (calls Dems "weak and woke") and tries to change the subject from trans ("we've been talking about the bathroom when we should be talking about the classroom")
I get really excited to hear him speak. I think he has the ability to "say the quiet part out loud" better than any other candidate, but unlike Trump (who can also do that) he wants to talk about substantive policy, and he isn't angry or incoherent.
I've mentioned Rahm as a candidate to family and friends and they say "not electable," but these are people who think Gavin Newsom is electable, whereas I think Newsom would fail in the Midwest swing states because he's slimy and fake like a used car salesman. He's clearly doing a bit, playing a game, whereas I think people respond to authenticity. To me, Rahm is very electable nationally, the real challenge would be to win the nomination.
And even if he's not a realistic candidate, the fact he can say this stuff out loud without flinching changes the entire race. If everyone is quiet about this mess we're in, I think we'll lose, so when he says "dems lost the plot," he's forcing the other candidates to reckon with reality.
What do others think?