DazeBlog

MILWAUKEE — It was the morning after the biggest buzzkill of Glenn Youngkin’s political life — but the Virginia governor was bounding into one hotel ballroom after another, chipper as ever, sharing his vision for the commonwealth and the country with South Carolinians, Californians and yes, Virginians.

Youngkin had been the subject of frenzied vice-presidential speculation the day before at the Republican National Convention. Never mind that he hadn’t been vetted. That by all accounts, he hadn’t been on Donald Trump’s shortlist — or even his long list. Up until the moment the former president revealed that Sen. J.D. Vance (Ohio) would be his running mate, Youngkin was a rumored dark-horse pick.

As thousands of Republican delegates began the process of nominating Trump on the floor of Fiserv Forum, reporters swarmed around the governor’s conspicuously empty chair. Fox News did a live shot from the spot. For a while, it looked like all the 2024 talk that had swirled around Youngkin for three years was coming true. He’d long teased but never launched a White House bid of his own. Maybe, just maybe, the former private-equity executive who was a favorite of the donor class would be on the ticket as Trump’s No. 2.

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And then Trump went on Truth Social on Monday afternoon to announce Vance, popping the Youngkin balloon at its most inflated.

Youngkin said he was neither disappointed nor surprised. In recent weeks, he’d said repeatedly that he did not think he was under consideration. He did not appear especially eager to fully hitch his wagon to Trump, meeting and appearing in public with him for the first time only last month and sidestepping when asked if he’d take the nomination if it were offered.

While all the last-minute drama churned around his empty chair — the first to star at a GOP convention since Clint Eastwood interviewed one in an odd shtick in 2012 — Youngkin and an adviser were backstage, furiously reworking the speech he was due to give that night upon learning he could have eight to 10 minutes, up from five.

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“I was doing speech prep when they came in, grabbed me and said, ‘Governor, it’s time, it’s time for us to cast our delegate votes for president,’” Youngkin said in an interview with The Washington Post. “It was exciting because as we came out, one of the team members leaned over and said, ‘He’s just announced J.D. Vance.’ And so when it was my turn, I had a chance to, in fact, cast our delegates’ votes for Donald Trump for president and J.D. Vance for vice president.”

So the next day, with the 2024 talk fully behind him, the 74th governor of Virginia started anew — by appearing to lay the groundwork for a potential run in 2028. At least that’s how political analysts saw his speeches Tuesday to party activists in South Carolina and California over breakfast at their suburban Milwaukee hotels. He also did a roundtable on American manufacturing Monday with Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and was scheduled to introduce himself Wednesday morning to delegates from another important primary state, New York.

In between, Youngkin was set to host an enormous party Tuesday night under a tent on the lawn of the Marcus Performing Arts Center downtown. More than 1,200 Republicans from across the country RSVP’d to attend the event, billed somewhat modestly as the “Virginia Delegation Celebration.” Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC partly picked up the tab, supplemented with in-kind donations.

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With Virginia oysters, ham biscuits and Virginia Beach-canned Coastal Cocktails, Youngkin was set to woo guests, including Republican National Committee leadership, all 50 state Republican chairs and grass-roots activists from some key states, including Iowa, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Texas.

He’s done all that with his own filmmaking crew from Richmond in tow, and on top of more than two dozen one-on-one meetings with party donors and about a dozen radio and TV interviews.

“Elected officials and governors, there are no accidents to their schedules,” said Nathan L. Gonzales, editor and publisher of Inside Elections. “So it’s no accident that the governor is using the convention as an opportunity to make himself known and familiar to Republicans around the country.”

He added that Youngkin, who is due to leave office in January 2026, needs to get his name out now while he still has “governor” in front of it.

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“Staying relevant is tough when you’re in office, let alone staying relevant when you’re not in office,” he said.

Youngkin political adviser Matthew Moran called 2028 speculation “premature.”

“The governor is entirely focused on helping President Trump and J.D. Vance compete in Virginia in 2024,” he said.

In a brief interview with The Post on Tuesday, Youngkin, 57, said he is focused on flipping Virginia — which has largely reverted to its blue-leaning ways in elections since his 2021 win — back to red.

“We are working to win 2024,” he said, noting that recent polls show the presidential race tied in Virginia, a state that Trump lost by five points in 2016 and 10 in 2020. Youngkin said that his own record on the economy, jobs, public safety and schools is part of why the race is competitive.

“I believe we have a real chance to win,” he said.

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Youngkin is barred from seeking reelection next year by the Virginia Constitution, which prohibits governors from seeking back-to-back terms. He said he is not focusing on what’s next.

“I’ve still got 18 months left,” he said. “I love my job. I really do. It is a great job.”

Youngkin vaulted from political obscurity to lists of top 2024 presidential contenders the moment he flipped Virginia in 2021. Part of what kept his name in the mix: He has a tremendous personal fortune, easy entree into the donor class and appeal to evangelicals as someone who founded a church in his basement.

More than anything, Youngkin initially drew attention for his ability to walk a tightrope with Trump — bundling K-12 culture wars and other hard-right issues in a cozy, sweater-vested dad persona.

His high-wire act has not always endeared him to Trump or the MAGA base. Some Trump loyalists are highly annoyed by the idea that Youngkin would explore a 2028 bid, especially since the more populist Vance would seem a likely successor to Trump should they win.

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“This is Trump’s convention,” said John Fredericks, a conservative radio host who was Trump’s Virginia campaign chairman in 2016 and 2020. “Why are you spending money and spending time worried about 2028 instead of 2024? The guy’s unbelievable and insufferable.”

Youngkin is hardly the only potential 2028 hopeful making the rounds in Milwaukee this week. Vivek Ramaswamy, a wealthy entrepreneur who threw his hat in the ring for 2024, beat Youngkin to the Embassy Suites in Brookfield, Wis., serving as the South Carolina delegation’s breakfast speaker earlier in the week. Two South Carolinians who were 2024 contenders were also slated to appear: Former U.N. ambassador and governor Nikki Haley was lined up to address the convention Tuesday, while Sen. Tim Scott was set to speak at his state delegation’s breakfast Wednesday.

“It’s not too early to start in terms of just getting your name … out there,” Dino Teppara, a 51-year-old lawyer from Columbia, S.C., said after hearing Youngkin’s speech.

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He said party activists are eager to hear from “a slightly younger class of people” who will lead the party into the future.

He left the gathering with Youngkin impressed.

Harleen Grewal, a dentist from Santa Clara, Calif., listened closely as Youngkin addressed her delegation over chicken and waffles at a nearby Sheraton.

She is all in for Trump. But she was also won over by Youngkin, despite his lower-key style.

Grewal figured Youngkin could appeal to moderates more than Trump does if the governor runs for president down the road.

“He seems to be on a different likability level,” she said.

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