Wes Moore tells Democrats to act with ‘impatience’ amid 2028 chatter
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) advised Democrats to act and learn from President Trump’s “impatience” during his speech at the annual South Carolina Democrats’ Blue Palmetto Dinner Friday night in Columbia, S.C.
“I want to be clear: We can and we must condemn Donald Trump’s reckless actions. But we would also be foolish not to learn from his impatience,” Moore, a first-term governor, said during his roughly 30-minute speech to the state party’s officials and activists. “Donald Trump doesn’t need a study to dismantle democracy or use the Constitution like a suggestion box. Donald Trump doesn’t need a white paper to start arbitrary trade wars that raise the cost of virtually everything in our lives.”
“If he can do so much bad in such a small amount of time, why can’t we do so much good?” he pondered.
Moore, an Army veteran and the nation’s only Black governor, said the Democratic Party needs to present itself as the coalition of “action” that can deliver for working-class Americans.
“Gone are the days when we are the party of bureaucracy, multi-year studies, panels, and college debate club rules,” he said Friday night. “We must be the party of action. Because right now, the people of this country are calling on us to act.”
“The people want a growing middle class. And they cannot wait,” he continued. “The people want access to work, wages, and wealth. And they cannot wait.”
The Maryland governor, who is seen as a rising star within the party and has been floated as a candidate in 2028, said at the beginning of May he will not run for the Oval Office next election cycle.
But Moore is one of the few Democratic governors, along with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and ex-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who have been mentioned as the party’s potential nominees in 2028.
Democrats are still soul searching after a series of election defeats last November, where they lost the majority in the Senate and the White House to Trump. The party is looking for its next leader after former Vice President Harris was defeated in the general election six months ago.
Harris’s running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D) delivered the keynote address at the convention on Saturday morning. .
South Carolina was paramount in the then-Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden’s nomination at the top of the ticket in 2020 and ultimately beating Trump.
The Palmetto State has traditionally played a key role in the Democratic presidential primary process. The official 2028 primary calendar is not expected to be released until next year.
Walz, who will travel to California’s Democratic convention to speak later Saturday, has said he would consider running for president next cycle.
Both the Minnesota governor and Moore have made trips around the country, traveling to battleground, red and blue states alike.
Given this, some party observers have argued that Moore is not doing much to tamp down 2028 speculation, while others have said that securing reelection as governor would offer a springboard to better position himself as the top Democrat.
“The best way for someone like Gov. Wes Moore to create a path for the presidential race in 2028 is to have a strong reelection campaign. If he can win resoundingly, and he can win key demographics, that will only increase the calls for him to get into the race,” Democratic strategist Fred Hicks told The Hill earlier this month.
“There’s one thing for you to want to get in the race. It’s another thing for people to recruit you into the race,” Hicks said. “So for any real, viable candidate, you want to be recruited into the race, and that starts with how you govern and having a strong reelection in your own state.”
