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‘Draft Marco’ effort grows on Capitol Hill after midterms bloodbath

Politico -

A growing number of Republicans on Capitol Hill want to draft Marco Rubio for a 2028 presidential bid as they grapple with their midterms wipeout — and look beyond Vice President JD Vance.

The generational losses are sparking new discussions among Hill Republicans about who should lead the party. Many argue the race to carry the mantle is now wide open — including a faction who view Rubio as a better fit, given that voters may continue to tie Vance to the president’s unpopularity, interviews with roughly two dozen GOP lawmakers reveal.

“I hope he runs. I think he's the best person to communicate, to unify,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) said of Rubio in an interview.

“I think he's the most talented Republican by far,” Stutzman said when asked about why he supported the secretary of State over Vance. “We're going to have to continue to re-message, put some new faces up.” The vice president still has his supporters. And he got a boost Tuesday by fellow Ohio Republican Jim Jordan being elected as the incoming House minority leader.

But the election wipeout “certainly makes it harder for Vance,” said one GOP senator, who like others in this article, was granted anonymity to speak candidly.

“I think Rubio is our best hope to lead Republicans out of this wilderness, and I hope he makes his break from Trump and JD early next year,” said one House Republican in the wake of the election.

The openness toward Rubio — or any other candidate that’s not Vance — is a complication for the vice president, who was picked by Trump for the role that’s next in line to the presidency. Now, Vance has to grapple with being closely associated with an agenda that even GOP lawmakers argue voters harshly rebuked last week.

Several lawmakers said they’ve spoken to people close to Rubio who have suggested he isn’t interested in pursuing a 2028 bid, even after Tuesday’s results. Rubio himself this week has stood by Trump’s decision to go to war against Iran and told reporters Monday he was “just not going to talk about 2028 anymore.”

A person close to Rubio said the secretary of State is the only person who knows what he will do regarding a presidential bid. Right now, he’s “fully focused on doing his many jobs and isn’t thinking about 2028.”

But some Hill Republicans aren’t giving up hope.

“I’m a big supporter of Marco Rubio, and I’m very excited about the potential of his candidacy,” said Florida Rep. Mike Haridopolos, who has known the secretary of State for nearly three decades. “No question he’s ready to be president if he chooses to pursue the office.”

“Some of us are still hoping we can draft Marco,” said another GOP senator.

A State Department spokesperson declined to comment. Vance’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Vance, for his part, has tried to distance himself from the unpopular Iran war, blaming it for the party’s losses in the immediate aftermath of the midterm election. His allies argue that the vice president would’ve always faced some internal opposition, like Trump did within the GOP ahead of the 2016 election.

However, as the Rubio talk swirls, even some of Trump’s top MAGA allies on Capitol Hill are unwilling to publicly declare Vance the presumptive GOP nominee for 2028. “Can I skip this one?” one House GOP hardliner said. “Not wading into 2028 yet.” Some Republican senators also declined to back Vance just yet, citing their own reelections.

GOP Rep. and Sen.-elect Barry Moore of Alabama said he thought Vance would certainly “have a shot” at the presidency in 2028. Moore was the first member of Congress to back Trump for the 2016 race.

But Moore for now is leaving his endorsement up in the air: “We got a great bench," he said. "Whoever steps up, we'll be happy to support.”

Rubio’s supporters say that he’s not as closely associated with the 2026 GOP wipeout as Vance, but he could face his own obstacles. Rubio, unlike Vance, has continued to show strong support for the war in Iran, a conflict he’s tied to as the country’s top diplomat. Some GOP lawmakers have also grown frustrated with the amount of information the Trump administration, including Rubio at times, has been willing to share about the ongoing conflict.

Rubio also has his failed 2016 presidential run to contend with, including an infamous debate performance where he awkwardly repeated the same rehearsed line multiple times.

One thing is clear, the 2028 presidential race is now wide open, many Hill Republicans argue as they process Tuesday’s results. And other potential candidates only appear encouraged after the midterms wipeout.

Several Hill Republicans believe outgoing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been one of the most outspoken Republicans urging a course correction after the midterms bloodbath, will get in the race as well. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) this week also didn’t rule out a presidential bid. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also appears likely to run.

“I think everybody reserves the right to adjust. You know, learn from this,” GOP Rep. and incoming Oklahoma Sen. Kevin Hern said. Asked his favorite candidate of the three he expected to run: Vance, Rubio or DeSantis, he replied with a smile: “Everybody.”

Vance does have ardent supporters, including Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana who said before the midterms he would enthusiastically back him for president in 2028.

“If JD runs, he has my full support,” Banks said in an interview this week. “He continues to lead in all the polls on the Republican side to be the nominee. He's my friend. We come from the same part of the country, the same background, and he's what the country needs. I hope he runs. But I don't know if he's running or not.”

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) called Vance “a friend who I’ve had the honor to work alongside. He’s the vice president, of course he’s a front-runner.”

Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) said in an interview that it was the Republican “party” and not its “policies” that suffered massive losses last week. But he doesn’t blame Vance, and he supports him for the 2028 presidential race.

Vance, for his part, made his own allusion to the situation he’s found himself in. "I wanted to talk, of course, about the devastating loss last week. …There are a lot of people, I think, unfairly criticizing the leader of the team … a lot of staff infighting. … And of course, there's a conversation about whether the No. 2 has what it takes to ultimately lead the team.”

He finished: “I'm talking, of course, about the Ohio State Buckeyes."

Biden says he wouldn't have run in 2024 if he knew about his cancer

Politico -

Former President Joe Biden would not have run for reelection in 2024 if he had known about his cancer, he said in an interview released Wednesday in which he also sought to downplay the historic debate performance that helped end his political career.

"If I had known that I was feeling lousy because I had cancer, I would have not gone forward because I don't think an 80-year-old man with cancer should be running," he said in the interview with People magazine, which was conducted last week following Democrats’ big midterm wins and ahead of his upcoming memoir’s release.

The former president announced his diagnosis — Stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer — in May 2025, just four months after leaving the White House. It triggered an outpouring of public support — but it also raised questions about how doctors failed to catch the cancer earlier and whether it might have contributed to Biden’s apparent decline toward the end of his term.

“I think it’s very sad, actually. I’m surprised that it wasn’t, you know, the public wasn’t notified a long time ago because to get to [a Gleason score of] 9, that’s a long time,” President Donald Trump told reporters shortly after Biden’s announcement.

Prior to his diagnosis, Biden hadn’t been screened for prostate cancer since 2014. U.S. guidelines have long recommended that men shouldn't be screened for the cancer once they hit their 70s.

Biden also downplayed his poor June 2024 debate performance against Trump that contributed to his exit from the Democratic ticket a month later.

“To me, it was not very consequential,” he said. “First of all, I thought there would be another debate, which there wasn’t. But notwithstanding the fact that there wasn’t another debate, it didn’t disturb me because it wasn’t consequential.”

Biden’s son, Hunter, has said he believes the cancer was responsible for the performance. His weak showing on the debate stage led to mounting calls within his party for him to withdraw, an effort eventually backed by longtime friends and allies such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The former president’s memoir, “Promise Me, America,” will go on sale next week. Biden wrote Sunday on X that the cancer meant he “won’t be able to do as many conversations about my book as I’d hoped.” But he still feels sharp, he told the magazine.

“I’m not saying I’ll live forever, but the point is that, you know, I have all my faculties, I have access to all the things I had before and, you know, I feel good,” he said.

Several Dem women leaned into their identity this cycle. Not in the way you think.

Politico -

When Annie Andrews announced her longshot campaign for U.S. Senate last May, the Democrat from South Carolina pitched herself as a “busy mom.”

“Lindsey [Graham] is going to tell you I am radical, that I am crazy,” Andrews said in her launch video. “But here’s the thing: I am literally a busy mom and a pediatrician who plays peek-a-boo with my patients, watches Bluey with my kids … and spends most of my free time shuttling them to dance, Tae Kwon Do and football.”

Now, she is one of a record number of women who will serve in the next Congress. And as a 46-year-old mother of three school-aged children, she’s among several Democratic women who flipped seats and governor’s mansions this November with campaign messages centered on parenting and affordability.

It’s a notable campaign shift from previous election cycles: This year, female candidates focused less on the historic nature of their bids, or culture war issues that have long fomented divisions over gender and electability. Instead, they zeroed in on an economic message emphasizing bread-and-butter concerns — like how rising costs were squeezing families, including theirs.

“Moms understand kitchen table issues better than perhaps anyone,” said Jessica Mackler, president of EMILY’s List, the group that recruits and backs female Democratic candidates who support abortion rights. “They understand how to stretch a paycheck. They understand what it is like to walk through a grocery store and have to put something back on the shelf.”

Senate, House and gubernatorial campaigns spent a combined $72 million on ads featuring the words “mom” or “mother” in 2026, according to AdImpact — a 50% increase from the $48 million spent in 2024 and double the spending on these kind of ads from 2022.

In many races, Democrats leaned on their experiences as parents to dismiss the kind of culture war attacks that have been effective for Republicans in recent years.

“They want to run an entire campaign saying that I’m too woke … I plan to spend an entire campaign focused on the fact that working people are too broke,” Democratic Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa said in one of her final TV ads. “My pronouns are mom, Texan and soon-to-be governor.”

Campaign messaging around gender and representation can be fraught: In 2016, Hillary Clinton’s “I’m With Her” campaign slogan fell short as she failed in her pledge to break the “highest, hardest glass ceiling.” In 2024, Kamala Harris’ campaign was decidedly less overt in its messaging about the barrier-breaking potential of her candidacy. But debates about gender seemed inescapable as Trump called her “weak” and then-Sen. JD Vance said the Democratic Party was run by “childless cat ladies.”

This cycle was different.

In a 2026 environment driven by concerns about affordability and the cost of living, Democratic operatives said it was an easy decision for women and mothers in particular to lean on their home lives to connect with voters.

At least 159 women will serve in the 120th Congress, according to the Center for American Women and Politics, with Democratic women outnumbering Republicans by roughly five-to-one. Many of the newly elected Democrats are younger moms.

Their victories, especially in battleground districts and states long seen as Republican strongholds, have emboldened Democratic groups dedicated to electing more women, who argue the candidates offer a blueprint for winning races going forward.

Veteran Democratic pollster Celinda Lake said her party’s female candidates “really got points for having the right priorities and being in touch with real people's lives."

"It used to be that women with young children just didn't run, and we were electing all these women who had grown children or no children, and then we were electing women with young children, but they were hiding them, if you will,” Lake said. “Now [candidates] were bringing them out as major credentialers, and that has been changing over time."

Winning Democratic candidates told POLITICO they did not hesitate to talk about their families and personal experiences on the trail.

“I didn’t need anyone giving me talking points on how expensive groceries are,” said Representative-elect Teresa Benitez-Thompson, who won a heavily Republican House district in northern Nevada. “I don’t need anyone telling me how expensive gas is because I am filling up my tank … running kids all around town.”

JoAnna Mendoza, a single mom who flipped a swing district in the Tucson, Arizona, suburbs – said she spent the night before the election in the emergency room with her 10-year-old son.

“That is what parents face. That is what moms go through. Their kids are sick, they have to take time off of work, or they have to leave work,” Mendoza said. “It is important for people to see themselves in their elected leaders.”

Uncomfortable questions surrounding gender and electability nevertheless persist in the run-up to the next presidential election. Some in the Democratic Party at least privately question whether they should nominate another woman at the top of the ticket in 2028.

“My message to people who would say that is: cut it out,” said Mackler. “This election clearly demonstrates that women are the drivers of Democrats' path to power, and we should embrace their leadership at all levels of the ballot.”

Lake, the Democratic pollster, said the surge in female Democratic victors showed how fed up voters are with the status quo, calling it a “Hail Mary for change.”

“It is so bad, it is so failed, we're going to elect these women who will hold people accountable,” she said, adding that voters, particularly women, “were really upset with how out of touch the older white men seemed with their families' lives” after a decade of Trump and Joe Biden running the country.

Democratic candidates do not have a monopoly on talking about family life. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Republican governor of Arkansas, sailed to reelection last week with a campaign that highlighted her three children and efforts to cut grocery taxes and bring down the cost of living for other families. Messages around motherhood also featured prominently at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, earlier this year.

The messaging is part of a broader shift in the public conversation, said Abby McCloskey, a conservative policy analyst.

“For a long time, to be taken seriously in politics, your professional side went first and your personal side went far after, and that was especially the case for women,” she said. “I think there's been broader cultural shifts that, and probably in a desire for authenticity and connection, why that is no longer necessarily the case.”Democratic campaign veterans said the renewed focus on motherhood gave their candidates an edge as they try to counter swing voters’ deep-seated biases against female candidates.

One Democratic pollster, granted anonymity to speak candidly about voters’ biases, said voters still have “bad reactions” to women running for office who are perceived as “cold.” Talking about motherhood and family life, the pollster said, allowed candidates to come across as warm while pushing back against the idea that their candidates are too radical or left-wing.

“In some of these places where you have to win over a bunch of conservative folks, the candidate can come across as just a regular mom,” the pollster said. “Not a scary, left, woke lady.”

The beginning of Jocelyn Benson’s campaign launch video showed the Democrat hugging her son in their family’s kitchen. Now Michigan’s Democratic governor-elect, Benson told POLITICO she was “very intentional” about inviting kids to join her on stage during her celebration on Election Night.

“I think leaders in this moment, and I think parents, moms in particular, recognize this as an opportunity to show a different way of leading and of being a good person and a good citizen,” she said.

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