A high-profile Democratic strategist has named Abdul El-Sayed as the party's dark horse for a 2028 presidential run.
David Plouffe, the former campaign manager and White House senior advisor for Barack Obama, floated Michigan Senator-elect El-Sayed as a wild card White House contender if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez passes on a 2028 bid.
Speaking at a forum hosted by Harvard's Institute of Politics, Plouffe said the Democratic field would be 'wide open' if the New York socialist congresswoman decides not to run.
'That's where I think someone like Abdul [El-Sayed] may say, even though I just won, should I look at it?'
He added: 'That's the thing about this race. It's so wide open that there may be some people run who surprise us.'
The strategist's remarks come after the nation was taken over by a 'bluenami' that has handed the Democrats both chambers of Congress.
Part of what made the midterm elections so humiliating for the Republican Party is that Democrats managed to flip areas that have been red for decades while left-wing candidates notched wins across the country.
Among those is El-Sayed, the 42-year-old progressive who is set to become America's first Muslim Senator in January.
Obama's former campaign manager and senior White House advisor, David Plouffe, floated the idea of Michigan's Senator-elect to make a 2028 presidential run
Abdul El-Sayed has won the Michigan Senate race, surviving a late defection by a former rival that rattled the nerves of Democrats
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her re-election race in New York and is also rumored to prepare for 2028
'To President Trump, I know you struggle with my name. So after JD [Vance] swears me in, you can just call me senator,' he said, referring to the vice president.
But what about calling him Mr. President?
El-Sayed said in May this year that he is 'closing the door on 2028' claiming that he is 'not interested at all.'
Existing internet domains suggest the opposite.
He registered three eyebrow raising online domains in 2017: elsayedforpresident.com, elsayedforpresident.org and adbulforpresident.org, Politico reported in May.
He re-registered the domain names earlier this year, raising eyebrows among political observers about his ambitions.
He has not made any more recent comments related to the next presidential election and emphasized that he is focused on the Wolverine State when asked in October.
Both AOC and El-Sayed have close ties with Democratic veteran Bernie Sanders
El-Sayed raised a total of close to $54 million for this Senate race according to Legis 1, establishing him as a politician who can quickly raise money.
Ocasio-Cortez has secured another term in Congress extending her tenure in Washington as speculation grows about a possible 2028 presidential bid.
She told the New York Times in September she'd decide after the midterms, framing 2028 as possibly her only window.
'Oftentimes in politics, you do only get one shot... Sometimes life just makes things ready for you,' she said.
In a statement on Instagram after her re-election, she thanked her supporters, adding, 'Now let's keep changing the world for working people everywhere.'
If her sights are on the top job, she will likely enter a crowded 2028 Democratic primary alongside other potential contenders, including outgoing California Governor Gavin Newsom and Georgia Senator-elect Jon Ossoff – and potentially El-Sayed.
Source link
