Is Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear the Right Person to Lead the Country in 2029

Last fall, the Pragmatic Progressive-Centrist Organization Third Way, working with the Worthy Strategy Group, conducted a study called “The Fighter Americans Want” to ascertain what voters were looking for in terms of strength and effectiveness from their leaders.

Please click here to read the full study.

Speaking on the study, Third Way Communications Director Kate deGruyter released the below video on social media that highlighted the studies findings.

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Recognizing that “voters are deeply anxious,” deGruyter says that the people surveyed in this study are not looking for an “angry warrior.” They are looking for someone who “Could be a healer. Somebody who’s strong but leads, not with anger, but with love, who is a fierce protector and able to help bring out the best in you.”

In the introduction to the report, the staff at Third Way wrote:

“Democracy is crumbling, the planet is burning, families are drowning in inequality, rights are vanishing—yet politics carries on like it’s business as usual. Voters are sending Democrats a clear message: act like you believe it’s a crisis, bring new leadership that feels the urgency, grow a spine, be the opposition Republicans fear, and start acting like you represent the people who put you in office.

When leaders fight from love with strength, fear gives way to safety, chaos to stability, and politics becomes something Americans do together again—where people can finally sleep, the social fabric begins to heal, and hope and faith in one another return.”

One potential 2028 Presidential Candidate who may fit the criteria laid out by deGruyter and Third Way is Kentucky Governor and Head of the Democratic Governors Association Andy Beshear.

Once considered to be Kamala Harris’s Vice Presidential pick, Beshear has earned praise for championing and enacting progressive and centrist measures in deep red Kentucky where he has won three state wide elections.

How does he do it?

He carries himself as authentic, speaks about his faith when he ties it into policy priorities, and talks to people in a respectful-non professorial manner.

Last week, Governor Beshear made the media rounds on The View, The Daily Show, and The 11th Hour on MSNOW, hitting key Democratic voting demographics in the process. Readers can see all of them below.

During his appearances on these three shows, Governor Beshear conveyed similar talking points including:

• ‘”What we want is good government.”
• “While I’ll stand up for all my convictions. While I’ll always stand up against discrimination or attacks on the people of Kentucky, I spend 80 percent of my time on things that matter 100 percent to the people of Kentucky and the United States. Things like good jobs, accessible health care, safe roads and bridges, safe communities, and making sure that what I do every day makes life better for Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Just everyone.”
• “Talk like a normal human being. We’ve allowed advocacy speak, which was created for the right reasons, but I don’t think you change stigma by changing words. I think you change it by changing hearts. In my state, we’ve lost a lot of people to overdoses, but no one has ever said they lost a loved one to substance use disorder. They say addiction. When we talk about the Big Ugly Bill and the cuts it makes to SNAP, that’s about hunger, not food insecurity…”
• “Democrats are really good about the what…but we rarely talk about the why. People want to know what drives us, especially in a world with social media where everyone’s looking for the next authentic thing. For me, that’s my faith. Most of the decisions I make are based on that golden rule that says we love our neighbors as ourselves, and that parable, The Good Samaritan, that says everyone is our neighbor. And so when I’ve taken actions like vetoing the nastiest piece of Anti LGBTQ legislation that ever came through my state, I described it in those terms. I said my faith teaches me that all children are children of God and I didn’t want people picking on those kids.”

Based on those remarks and seeing the View panelists and Audience fawning over him, it seems like Governor Beshear fits the casting call criteria relayed by the voters in the Third Way/Worthy Strategy Study.

Commenting to Blog for Arizona on Governor Beshears political and personal talents and attributes, Ms. deGruyter wrote:

“While some have chosen to focus on turning blue places bluer, the project that commands our attention is how Democrats turn red and purple places blue. After losing every major battleground state to Donald Trump in 2024, anyone who aspires to be the Democratic nominee should have a vision and a path to win back voters in the middle.

Someone like Gov. Andy Beshear has a compelling pitch to offer Americans who are hungry to turn the page from Trump’s chaos and cruelty to a new generation of leadership that knows how to win and govern in the heartland of America, where Democrats have lost a lot of ground. His winning record in ruby-red Kentucky could present a welcome departure from the caricature Democrats have become of a party of out-of-touch, coastal elites. In his conversations about his faith, his values, and his pragmatic approach, he’s offering a different picture of strength and toughness based on love instead of anger or outrage. I expect we will ultimately have candidates who embody both approaches, but when we look back at the Democrats who won the White House, there is a lot of evidence that voters are attracted to a message of hope and optimism. It’s not hard to imagine, after three more years of this Trump Administration, how that could be a powerful draw again.”

While there are other viable Democrats who are offering fiery speeches like Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, who really nailed it at an Atlanta rally last week by branding Trump and his elite supporters The Epstein Class, who betrayed America’s working and middle classes, or Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, who blends charisma with policy proposals on housing, raising the minimum wage, and investing in children, or Arizona’s Astronaut-Senator Mark Kelly who is fighting American’s Civil Rights or for California Governor Gavin Newsom who has a record of achievement and has taken attacks on Trump on social media to an art form, Governor Beshear may have the persona, temperment, communication skills, and record of success in a Red State to convince those preccious voters in the middle of the political spectrum to give Democrats the keys to the Oval Office again in 2029.