Authored by Thomas Buckley via 'The Point' substack,

So, well, now that’s over, let’s look at the 2028 presidential race.

If you are polite, you just swore in your head – if you’re normal, you did it out loud.

But sometimes we like to torture our readers, so let’s look ahead four years, shall we?

On the Democrat side of the aisle:

First, I wonder how one says “neener neener” in each of the world’s 7,000 languages?

Mean, but I think we all deserve a football spike or two after the last four years.

Donald Trump is the happiest person in the country today, the 73 or so million people who voted for him are a close second, and in a very close third is Gavin Newsom.

It can only be assumed that the his Plumpjack (such a creepy name) wine flowed very freely last night at whichever house Gavin and the First Partner were at.  Donald Trump just did Newsom a huge favor – he vanquished the one person who could have absolutely guaranteed he couldn’t run for president at least 2032 and by that time – let’s face it: the boyish charm will have worn off a bit and the oil slick oin his head will be a bit grey and those are his two “best”  electoral qualities so, phewww.

With her out of the way, Newsom now has a clear path to the nomination.  The national media will fawn over him and try to convince the rest of the country that California is not actually as much of a third world basket case as and if it is it’s, um, Ronald Reagan’s fault.

Last night’s results also means that Newsom will tack to the middle for the next two years as governor, desperately trying to rub the progressive stink off of himself.  Not that that’s really great, but – for California – it’s better than nothing as he may turn back some of the most egregiously silly ideas the legislature tries to foist upon the state.

Case in point, Newsom issued a statement yesterday that he will “work with” the new administration.

One serious downside for Newsom did emerge last night – the nation’s opinion of the state.  That will be tough to overcome, hence one can expect the aforementioned policy shifts.

As for Newsom’s potential competition, let’s start with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.  True, Kamala lost his state but that is not at all on him, as it were.  In fact, it seems she did him a favor by passing him over for the veep spot on the ticket.

Of course she only settled on the rolling dough of goofball that is/was Tim Walz (note to Democrats: stopping nominating chubby white guys named Tim to be vice president,  it just doesn’t work) because Shapiro is Jewish. 

There is no other reason, no matter what she has claimed.  She simply could not have a dastardly colonizing rapacious JEW on her ticket, what with her base being so rabidly anti-Semitic (not anti-Israel, just straight up anti-Semitic.)

If the relatively moderate Shapiro holds Pennsylvania together for the next few years – which will be made easier by Donald Trump’s labor and energy policies, to be honest – he will be very strongly positioned for 2028 as the saner alternative to Newsom.

Then we have Illinois Gov. J.B Pritzker, but he has some very heavy baggage.  First, he looks like a Thomas Nast caricature of an evil Gilded Age plutocrat/corrupt politician.

Take a look:

And now Pritzker:

He is also in charge of one of the most poorly run, brokest, and corrupt states in the country that has outmigration numbers that give California a run for its money.  And Chicago has more murders than pretty much anywhere.

In other words, he does not have the charm to try to cover things like that up like Newsom does.

True, he’s a zillionaire (richer than Trump, actually) but it is inherited wealth (hotels) and his other trust fund relatives have done some absurdly woke things with their share of the money.  His cousin Jennifer – it used to be James –gave a $2 million donation to create the world's first endowed academic chair of transgender studies, at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.

Oh, and here she/he/whatever is:

Kudos for her military service when she was a guy and her continuing support of veteran’s causes but, well, yikes.  Fat old white guys should not wear dresses.

Case in point, Admiral Rachel Levine:

Speaking of women, there’s Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.  Personally, I’m baffled by her appeal and why she is constantly touted as the Democrats “next big thing,” and that even before her Flamin’ Hot Eucharist stunt.

Oh, and here’s the link to the vid: https://x.com/i/status/1844449775992893861

She’s very controlling and privileged – her record during the pandemic could be the poster child for “rules for thee, not for me,” although she did get pretty lit at a football game so I’ll give her that.

And then you have Pete Buttigieg – he’s gay, ya’ know – and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore – he’s black, ya’ know – and then a bunch of other folks who will give it a shot.

And many others – except Kamala, lol - will give it a shot for it is a rather rare occurrence that a nomination for either party is completely wide open.

On the Republican side, it’s Vice President Presumptive J.D. Vance’s race to lose.

Trump cannot run again, so that opens up the nomination.  And short of Trump nuking Canada and/or appointing Mike Pence as his Chief of Staff, Vance is the very very odds-on favorite.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could have thought about challenging for 2028, but he made the huuuuge mistake of running for president this time around.  And his campaign was a pathetic disaster, so that’s strike two through eleven.

Other than that, at this moment there is no alternative to Vance for the Republicans.

But another issue that will be extremely important in the run up to 2028 will be what the Democrats do internally.

No changes in California – they have 147 legislators out of 120, of course – but in the national arena.

Tuesday’s results must show the party that it is utterly out of touch and that when it does try to touch people it can only be described a “BAD touch!!”

But if the Democrats try to move to the center-ish they will have to deal with the lunatics they have let run the asylum.

Gaza.  Trans.  DEI.  Government unions.  Speech codes.  Greenaholism.  Microaggressions.  And on and on…

The party has based its existence over the past few years, as well as much of its funding, on those very things. 

To paraphrase supporters of Joe Biden in 2020, they have let the children run the room.

And now the regular Democrats – who obviated their responsibility -  have to give them a spanking and that is going to be difficult.  I mean, you have people on the loony left of the party that refer to being “pro-life” as being part of “the forced birth movement.”

The wokerati – who bitch and moan about everything anyway – will not go gently into that good night.

And whiny. And squirmy.  And howly.  And ragey.

But it will be fun to watch.