Along with her reelection within the rear view mirror, Michelle Wu’s political capital is at an all-time excessive. The large query now’s how she’ll money it in on the nationwide stage.
A run for president? Not out of the query.
Democrats desperately looking for a presidential savior in 2028 might properly flip to Wu, Boston’s dynamic millennial mayor who simply destroyed her rivals to return for a second time period.
Wu could be 43 by the point the subsequent election rolls round, the identical age as Boston’s John F. Kennedy when he was inaugurated because the nation’s thirty fifth president.
Wu is Harvard educated, the mom of three, the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, articulate, freed from any private scandals. Such a power regionally she drove a widely known billionaire’s son out of the race.
When challenged by Republicans in Congress, she put them in her place.
She’s the right anti-MAGA candidate. Wu checks all of the bins.
She is aware of the best way to spin a story, like saying Boston is the “safest major city in America.” Should you repeat it sufficient, it turns into true.
Because the Democratic Social gathering veers to the intense left, Wu has all of the components for what their voters are on the lookout for in 2028 – a younger lady of colour who has stood as much as President Donald Trump’s administration and never solely survived however flourished as Trump’s public enemy primary.
In a formidable show of clout, the mayor on Tuesday succeeded in getting her handpicked flunkies voted in on the Boston Metropolis Council, which Wu-style progressives have a stranglehold on.
She claimed voters delivered a “landslide” victory for at-large incumbent Henry Santana, presumably the one time a fourth place finisher has been described in these over-the-top phrases.
Talking to supporters Tuesday evening, Wu solid her election victory as a nationwide check towards Trump.
“This year, against the backdrop of a federal administration’s chaos and cruelty, we faced a choice: cave to the pressure, backtrack, change course, or double down on the values that founded our nation. That’s what’s at stake,” Wu stated. “That is what this election was about here in Boston, not just how we lead, but what we believe.”
Wu appears to have taken herself out of a run for U.S. Senate difficult Democratic incumbent Ed Markey, letting U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley take that one if she needs.
However you may just about assure Wu will probably be a part of the nationwide dialog in 2028, whether or not as a candidate on the prime of the ticket or a VP contender.
If U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg will be considered as presidential materials, why not Michelle Wu who the truth is has extra credentials and expertise than AOC or Buttigieg?
Whereas some native observers and Wu critics might scoff on the suggestion of her on the nationwide ticket, not everybody nationally views her that approach.
Bostonians typically deride our native pols’ nationwide ambitions even though a few of them have run for and received nationwide workplace. Kennedy received the 1960 election, and Boston Mayor Kevin White was almost chosen as operating mate for Democrat George McGovern in 1972.
Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis received the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, earlier than he was thumped by Republican George H.W. Bush within the normal election.
A handful of different Massachusetts pols, together with former Sen. Paul Tsongas, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton and former Gov. Deval Patrick, have run for president however with out a lot success. Tsongas received the New Hampshire major however was defeated by Invoice Clinton within the 1992 Democratic contest, and Moulton and Patrick’s campaigns by no means went anyplace.
Wu might deny she has any nationwide ambitions however her actions inform a distinct story. The Boston mayor has repeatedly sought to raise her nationwide profile throughout her first 4 yr time period.
Wu was simply named one of many 25 “most promising rising Democratic leaders who have yet to become household names” by New York Journal.
She simply made the minimize as a result of she is 40 years outdated (not precisely younger any extra) however Wu might be probably the most well-known Democrat nationally to crack the record.
“Although they don’t run the country yet, the visions of these young politicians speak to the problems the party is grappling with: how to deliver on working class issues, expand the party’s tent while holding onto its values, and stand up to the current administration,” the journal writes.
Wu vanquished opponent Josh Kraft, son of billionaire Patriots’ proprietor Robert Kraft, within the preliminary election, by such an awesome margin that he was compelled to drop out.
No different Boston mayor can declare that of their resume.
