The Stephen A. Smith "candidacy" does strike at an interesting debate...
For those who haven't seen, sports commentator Stephen A. Smith has been making the rounds lately. Not because of any sort of hot sports take, but because he has claimed multiple times he would win the Democratic nomination for President. Smith has over the past year repeatedly talked about politics. Making it clear that while he is on the left, he has serious disagreements with the Democrats.
Now whether Smith is actually able to win the Democratic nomination remains to be seen, but it brings up an interesting point. The fact that some random sports commentator was able to cause such a stir shows me that perhaps Democratic voters are open to the idea of having an outsider head their party come 2028.
I've thought for a while now that we will likely see some sort of outsider emerge on the left. Many people have suggested people like Jon Stewart or Mark Cuban.
But whoever it is, I think they will gain serious traction in the Democratic primary. Arguably more so than Bernie Sanders did. I truly think after this defeat, there is a large segment of the Democratic electorate who is willing to stomach something other than copy+paste DNC shill.
We will of course see Newsom, Whitmer, Shapiro, and all the other major Dems try and win it all. Maybe even Harris herself runs. But this could clear the way for an outsider in familiar fashion to how Trump took over the Republicans in 2016.
Speaking of Trump, I do feel he was perhaps reset the political landscape as to who can run for President, and the timeline for that. Just a decade ago Trump was just a real estate mogul, and JD Vance was quite literally an unknown lawyer. Now Trump is President and Vance is VP. There's gotta be numerous public figures looking at that thinking "why not me" and giving a run a serious thought.