With the Democratic Party still reeling from its defeat in the 2024 elections, there is no shortage of speculation about who might be the party’s best chance for victory in 2028. Now a familiar power broker has stepped forward: Former President Bill Clinton. The 42nd president has reportedly indicated which contender he believes offers Democrats their strongest shot at reclaiming the White House.

According to a Democratic source speaking to Jonathan Martin of Politico, Clinton has been telling allies that California Governor Gavin Newsom is the one Democrat who looks ready to win the White House. 

The former president, who interviewed Newsom at this fall’s Clinton Global Initiative, has told people how impressed he is by Newsom’s talent, a well-connected Democrat relayed to me recently. Clinton said he thought his dedicated student had what it takes to be elected president. -Politico

Martin called Newsom the clear front-runner. “No Democrat has had a better two years than Gavin Newsom,” he writes. “And because of it, the California governor — a national figure since he was a 36-year-old boy mayor — has claimed a new title: front-runner.”

Polling certain bears that out. The latest Atlas Intel poll had Newsom at 37%, a full 16 points ahead of the nearest opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, whose chances of winning the nomination are slim after her billion-dollar defeat in 2024.

Though he’s made no official declaration, Newsom’s White House ambitions are no secret, and he’s been positioning himself to run for president for years now. He has been using social media and public appearances to position himself as a counterweight to President Trump. In September, he signed multiple laws aimed at restricting Trump’s immigration enforcement, including limits on officers’ access to schools and health facilities, requirements for officers to identify themselves, and bans on wearing face masks while on duty.

Not all Democrats are convinced that Newsom is the future of the party, however. Earlier this month, Sen. John Fetterman called out Newsom’s “shift to the center” as pure political theater, and not representative of his true values.

"Everyone's going to go into the middle," Fetterman said. "But people forgets [sic] that the internet exists and all of the clips and all of the outlandish things that they've said or they've done, that's going to have about 20 or 30 million dollars that can pound you for those things."

Newsom has been trying to have it both ways on cultural issues. In 2023, he vetoed AB957, legislation that would have allowed state courts to weigh a parent’s affirmation of a child’s “gender identity” in custody disputes. His veto was widely seen as a calculated effort to appear more moderate on transgender issues. But three years earlier, he signed SB145, ending automatic sex offender registry requirements for certain adults who commit sexual acts with minors, which was deemed unfair to the LGBTQ community.

Fetterman made it clear he thinks Newsom and other Democrat contenders for the 2028 nomination won’t be able to hide from their radical records.

"They'll pander, scream to the base,” he said. “Then they're going to have to try to just walk it back, or now just pretend that all these things weren't said or done. That's how it works. And that's one thing I refuse to do."

By signaling his support for Gavin Newsom, Clinton is weighing in significantly early on the battle for the 2028 Democratic Party nomination. But whether his endorsement will translate into real momentum is far from certain.