Comparing Andy Beshear, Gavin Newsom as they eye White House

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gavin Newsom was moving and shaking among the rich and powerful in Davos.

He scolded European leaders for allegedly cowering before President Trump.

He made a derogatory warning during a presidential address and made headlines after he was prevented from giving a high-profile speech, allegedly at the behest of the White House.

Meanwhile, another governor and Democratic presidential candidate was mixing and mingling in the rarefied Swiss air—though you probably didn’t know that.

Flying well under the heat-seeking radar, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has pivoted to the role of economic ambassador, focusing on job creation and other crazy, bold things that don’t get much attention in today’s performative political climate.

Like Newsom, Beshear is running for president but not quite a candidate. He wasn’t looking to create a stark contrast to the California governor, who is the presumed front-runner for the Democratic Party in 2028. But he still does it.

Want someone to match Trump’s insult with insult, exaggerated meme instead of exaggerated meme, and howl when the president commits a new outrage? Look at Sacramento, not Frankfurt.

“I think by the time we get to 2028, our Democratic voters are going to be worn out,” Beshear said during a speech in his state’s snowy capital. “They’re going to be worn down by Trump, and they’re going to be worn down by Democrats responding to Trump like Trump. And they’re going to want some stability in their lives.”

Each candidate enters the contest with a backstory and a record condensed into a summary that serves as a calling card, strategic foundation and justification for their candidacy.

Here’s Andy Beshear: He’s the popular two-term governor of a red state that voted overwhelmingly for Trump three times.

He speaks the language of faith fluently, is well-liked by rural voters who have abandoned Democrats in droves, and at 48, he offers a fresh face and relative youthfulness in a party that many voters view as stale and entrenched.

It doesn’t hurt either that he’s from the South, where Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton emerged the last time Democrats experienced this kind of existential madness.

The fact that Beshear is not yet a candidate and is still in the early stages offers a mix of both desire and advice.

He said Democrats need to talk more like regular people. Addiction is not a substance use disorder. It’s not food aid, it’s hunger.

And he suggested they should focus more on the things ordinary people care about: jobs, health care, public safety, public education. Things that aren’t theoretical or abstract, but that materially impact their daily lives, like electricity, car insurance, and food costs.

“I think the most important thing we need to learn from 2024 is this: [Democratic voters are] I’m going to look for someone who can help them pay the next bill,” Beshear said.

He was sitting in the Old Governor’s Mansion, now a historic site and Beshear’s temporary office, while the nearby Capitol underwent a years-long renovation.

Built in the Federal style and completed in 1798, the red-brick residence was Beshear’s home from ages 6 to 10, when he lived there while his father, Steve, served as lieutenant governor. (Steve Beshear served two terms as the state’s chief executive and built a brand and brand name that helped Andy win his first public job, attorney general, in 2015.)

It was 9 degrees outside. Icicles hung from the eaves and snowplows prowled Frankfurt’s narrow, winding streets after an unusually cold winter storm.

Inside, Beshear sat in front of an unlit fireplace, legs crossed, shirt collar open, looking like the pleasantly unassuming Baba in a store-bought picture frame.

He boasted a bit, touting Kentucky’s economic success under his watch. He talked about his religiosity — his grandfather and great-grandfather were Baptist preachers — and spoke at length about the optimism that undergirds his vision for the country, a political rarity these days.

“I think the American people think the pendulum swung too far under the Biden administration. Now they think it swung too far under the Trump administration,” Beshear said. “What they want is for the shaking to stop.”

He continued. “Most people don’t think about politics when they wake up. They think about their job, their next doctor’s appointment, the roads and bridges they drive, the school they drop off their kids at, and whether they feel safe in their community.”

“And I think they desperately want someone who can move the country forward, not ideologically to the right or left, but actually in those areas. And I think that’s how we heal.”

Beshear does not shy away from his Democratic roots or stray from much of the party’s orthodoxy.

Trump, who is seeking re-election in 2023, is using the abortion issue and Roe vs. Supreme Court to beat and defeat his Republican opponent. Wade considered overturning his case.

He marched on picket lines with striking auto workers, signed an executive order making Juneteenth a public holiday, and routinely vetoes anti-gay legislationHe became the first Kentucky governor to attend LGBTQ+ celebrations in the Capitol Rotunda.

“Discrimination against our LGBTQ+ community is unacceptable,” he told an audience. “It’s holding us back, and with my Kentucky accent, that’s not right.”

Despite all this, Beshear has no qualms about challenging Trump, which has essentially become a job requirement for any Democratic officeholder who wants to remain a Democratic officeholder.

After the president’s rambling Davos speech, Beshear called Trump’s remarks “dangerous, disrespectful and unreasonable.”

“From insulting our allies to telling struggling Americans that he has fixed inflation and the economy is great, the President is harming both our families’ financial security and our national security,” Beshear said on social media. “Oh, Greenland is so important he calls it Iceland.”

But Beshear hasn’t turned attacking Trump into a 24/7 occupation or a weight-lifting contest where the winner is the critic wielding the heaviest stick.

“I stand up to him the way I think a democratic Kentucky governor should. I speak out when he does things that harm my state,” Beshear said. “I think I filed 20 lawsuits and we won almost all of them, bringing in dollars that they were trying to keep from flowing into Kentucky.

“But,” he added, “when he does something positive for Kentucky, that’s what I say because that’s what our people expect.”

When asked about towel-throwing Newsom and his task force of Trump trolls, Beshear defended the California governor — or at least jumped at the chance to take a dig.

“Gavin is in a very different situation than I am in. I mean, the president attacks himself and his state almost every day,” Beshear said. “That’s why I don’t want to criticize the approach of someone who is at a very different point.

“But your approach also has to be unique to you. For me, I bring people together. We’ve been able to do that in this state. That’s my approach. And in the end, I have to stay true to who I am.”

And when – or do this if – If both Newsom and Beshear launch a formal bid for the presidency, they would present Democratic voters with a clear choice.

Not just between two different personalities. They are also two very different approaches to policy and winning back the White House.