new mexico, who dis?

Today, instead of one longer lukewarm take + a bunch of quick hits, I offer you a series of mid-sized trends and thought bubbles.

It’s like you traded a party bus and some shopping carts for a whole fleet of sedans.

I don’t know if that’s a good trade – and I do know it’s a bad analogy – but it is, nevertheless, happening. So just ride with me.

When the new 2028 early primary lineup was revealed last month, the inclusion of SC, NV, NH, & MI were never really in doubt. As such, ambitious Dems had already found ample reasons to visit. (Who doesn’t love a fish fry in Columbia or a bike ride across NH this time of year!) And now that it’s official, they’re flocking back. For example:

The curveball of the calendar was the 11th hour addition of VA & NM to the early slate. Of course, the former is a DC neighbor & political heavyweight whose 2025 races drew many top Ds as surrogates. The same can’t be said for the latter. 

Since 2025, I’ve tracked over 300 trips by 2028ers spanning 38 states – a tally that is surely both incomplete and clinically insane – and not a single stop in New Mexico. 

Soon, there will be a mad dash by national Dems to become acquainted with the Land of Enchantment (NM’s state nickname, I learned 10 minutes ago). But for now, the Wild West remains wholly unexplored. Should’ve taken that left turn at Albuquerque!

We’ve reached the point of the pre-campaign where everyone starts showing up at the same flagship events, rubbing shoulders with fellow almost-candidates, donors, operatives, and key constituencies. Last week alone:

None of these hotbeds of 2028ers match the near-total participation at April’s NAN Convention. But it’s safe to say, cattle call season is upon us. And don’t blink, cuz…

Yes, yes – it is undeniably true that everyone should be laser-focused on the midterms right now, not fantasy-sportsing 2028. But hey, you signed up for this stupid newsletter! And I regret to inform you, a bunch of Dems are just 3-4 months away from launching presidential campaigns… 😬

Since last week, three Dems have offered such timelines:

And speaking of cattle calls, there are now two key events set for the post-midterm interregnum: Crooked Media’s CrookedCon (Nov. 5-7 in DC), and Majority Dems’ What’s Next (Nov. 12-14 in Denver), which explicitly plans to invite 2028ers and help shape the race, per Playbook’s Adam Wren.

Many top-tier contenders will bide their time. But for the rest of the field, there’s real value to being first out of the gate – the free attention… the ability to drop the act (and jab rivals for playing coy)… the first crack at staff. Don’t sleep on that last one; in this ~40-candidate primary, the race to snatch up talent will be fast & furious.

Of all the strange things you can find beneath the surface of slow-rolling Democratic civil war – which is itself often a bitter fight over who is failing to punch Donald Trump in the face hard enough – none is more disarming than comity.

This week, as WES MOORE was elected chair of the bipartisan National Governors Association, he launched a new campaign to “work across party lines to strengthen and restore civic bonds.” Moore waxed poetic about his friendship with Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK), who handed him the gavel, as the pair made the media rounds together – something he’d previously done with Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT). 

Moore also shared warm moments with Trump DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin at the NGA summit, roiling some on both the left and right. Incidentally, Mullin was already facing a MAGA backlash for touting his “real good” relationship with JOSH “get shit done” SHAPIRO, who’d quietly worked with him to block two new ICE facilities in PA. And like Moore, Shapiro has partnered with both Stitt & Cox to spread the good word of bipartisanship.

But you needn’t be a moderate to embrace cross-ideological civility. Ask left-wing populist RO KHANNA, who famously worked across the aisle on the Epstein files, and has done so less famously on many other issues. Last week, on a 5-day tour of PA, Khanna graciously engaged with right-wing protesters, and praised the centrist Shapiro, whom he said called to check in after his recent West Bank kerfuffle.

Of course, all three Dems throw their fair share of partisan haymakers. In the new world order, best to practice situational comity; too many saccharine episodes and you’ll lose the audience.

I’m broken record on this – mostly because she’s rarely portrayed this way – but AOC is one of the sharpest political tacticians in the game right now. I wanted to pull out three moments I found illuminating from an extended interview with Emma Vigeland last week on the lefty podcast The Majority Report:

The DNC will hold its summer meeting in Austin next week, where they’re set to ratify the new primary calendar amid mounting troubles for Chair Ken Martin. I’ll spare you another futile rant on this topic, but here’s some selected August reading: