The Morning Briefing: GOP Will Hit the Lottery If AOC Is Dems' 2028 Nominee

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Happy Tuesday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. (It's the final week of preparation for the whirlwind book tour, and the Sine Qua Non Sequitur is distributing Vincent Price bobbleheads to disenfranchised Bolivian cheese mongers.)

During my daily, work-related wanderings through the digital insane asylums in the Opinion sections of The New York Times and The Washington Post, I see a lot of lefty hot takes about the supposed sad states of the Trump presidency, MAGA, and the GOP in general. Who knew we were struggling so much on this side of the aisle?

As I wrote just before Christmas in a VIP column, we're doing just fine over here,

The Democrats are good at creating a fictional narrative about themselves and getting their flying monkeys in the mainstream media to keep the story going. They keep telling themselves that the Republicans are a mess because it makes them feel like they've got a better shot at taking back the White House in 2028. They can't be getting that feeling when they look at the clown car that they've got driving towards the primaries. They won't publicly admit that it's a mess, but deep down, they know.

This is from a post that my Townhall colleague Joseph Chalfant wrote yesterday:

📊 2028 National Democratic Primary

🟦 Harris 39%
🟦 Newsom 21%
🟦 AOC 10%
🟦 Buttigieg 7%
🟦 Shapiro 7%
🟦 Kelly 6%
🟦 Whitmer 4%
🟦 Pritzker 3%
🟦 Beshear 1%
🟦 Ossoff 1%
——
Hypothetical RCV round
🟦 Kamala Harris 56%
🟦 Gavin Newsom 44%@focaldataHQ | 2/10 | 1,148 pic.twitter.com/rSsCBBzLu4
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) February 13, 2026

I like to dream big, but I think it's a bit much to ask that the Democrats be stupid enough to actually nominate Kamala Harris. It's one thing for them to rally around her when she was forced on them, another entirely to be so deluded that they choose her. It's probably safe to assume that she won't be hanging on up there in the top spot.

Gavin Newsom has essentially been running for president for a year already, but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been uncharacteristically coy thus far. Or maybe we've just been distracted because Jasmine Crockett didn't shut up once during the first 10 1/2 months of 2025. AOC is finally stepping out and dipping her pedicured toes in the test waters, and it's not going well.

As we discussed yesterday, Europe isn't the safe haven for braindead Dems that it once was. Squeaky is the latest Democrat to faceplant at the Munich Security Conference. This is from Sarah:

"It is not a remark on who Maduro was as a leader. He canceled elections. He was an anti-democratic leader," she said. "That doesn't mean that we can kidnap a head of state and engage in acts of war just because a nation is below the equator."
First of all, he was not a head of state. Even the Joe Biden administration recognized that, but all of that aside, someone get this chick a map. No part of Venezuela is below the equator. It runs through other South American countries — Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador — but Venezuela is to the north of the line. I guess all those countries look alike to some people.

It gets better. My RedState colleague Nick Arama shared this in a VIP post:

AOC mocks Rubio: "My favorite part is he said cowboys are rooted in Spain. Uhhh, speak to Mexicans & African slaves!"

Spain introduced horses to Mexico pic.twitter.com/xHt1jZCoSi
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 15, 2026

This has been AOC's shtick all along: she says something that she assumes is clever to an audience that's dumber than she is and, quite literally, no one is the wiser. She got no pushback from the crowd for either of the above paste-eater mean girl quips. In limited public doses, or on her social media feeds, this has worked well for her. The relentless pace and exposure of a presidential campaign can magnify the unfortunate habits, though.

There are a lot of people out there who truly believe that AOC has a great shot at being the Democratic nominee in 2028. Remember, the Democrats are still all-in on diversity, and Gavin Newsom is whiter than a Kennedy clan gathering in an Antarctic blizzard. I still think that's a hurdle he can't clear, especially given the Dems' deep desire to get a woman elected president.

When looking at the list of the likely potential Democratic nominees, America's Dumbest Bartender stands out with the most diversity cred. She's a good fundraiser, too. Her odds are going to start looking better as we get closer to 2028 and Democrats laugh Kamala Harris off the stage and hit Newsom with an oversized race card.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would be a dream nominee...for the Republicans. The harder she works to appear brilliant, the more ignorant she proves herself to be. The Republican National Committee can just keep pulling clips from her speeches for campaign ads. And imagine her giggling her way through a debate with either JD Vance or Marco Rubio. That brain cell of hers is going to have a rough time of it.

So, you go, girl. I may even send your campaign a few bucks now and then.

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POTUS Press Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
02/16/26

DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2026

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