Is it too early to talk 2028?

OPINION:

What can a columnist do when his deadline is Election Day and he doesn’t know who has won the presidency and other offices (and we likely might not know for days or more, if the polls are right about a virtual tie)?

Answer: He speculates about 2028.

Whether Donald Trump wins or loses, and if he does lose, whether he concedes or not, 2028 will be another open contest for the Republican nomination. If Kamala Harris wins, her leftist positions and foreign policy inexperience will likely disappoint or even anger enough voters to elect almost any Republican.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is most likely to run in four years. She has strong support from many Republicans, as shown in the GOP primaries. And at least one other politician could be a formidable candidate: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Virginia limits governors to one four-year term, so after next year, Mr. Youngkin will be free to devote his time to contemplating whether he should run for president and assembling a team should that decision be yes.

Mr. Youngkin is anti-Trump in personality, policy and relationships. He is a kind man, not full of himself. In his State of the Commonwealth address this past January, Mr. Youngkin repeatedly used the word “we” rather than the personal pronoun so favored by Mr. Trump. That was meant to share credit for accomplishments with legislators and voters, not to think more highly of himself than he should.

Mr. Youngkin listed some of what he believed to be joint accomplishments with the legislature and his supporters:

“233,000 more Virginians working than two years ago. Virginia has risen from [the] bottom third in job growth to number three in the nation during the past 24 months … a record $5 billion in tax relief, particularly benefiting lower-income Virginians who need it most. … We rebuilt law enforcement.”

There’s more, but you get his drift. It isn’t bragging if it’s true and credit is shared.

Last week, Mr. Youngkin won his case before the Supreme Court, allowing him to follow Virginia law and remove noncitizens from the voter rolls. Democrats complained, but Republicans love it.

The member of his administration who continues to impress me is Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears. Sears was born in Jamaica, so she cannot be president or vice president under the Constitution. Even so, Ms. Sears has not received the media attention she deserves, likely because she is a Black conservative. She is not shy about taking on what she sees as the left’s condescending attitude toward Black voters.

Speaking to a Labor Day crowd in Buena Vista, Virginia, Ms. Sears responded to some hecklers. As she recited familiar Republican talking points about abortion, race, the administration’s foreign policy failures and Democrats in general, some in the mostly supportive crowd started booing. She called them “weird” and accused Democrats of being “racist.”

Then there was this: “[Democrats are] telling a Black woman to get off the stage. Why didn’t you tell that to Kamala Harris? It was the Republican Party who nominated me, a Black woman, to be lieutenant governor of Virginia. And it was the Republican Party that voted for me, the first female Black immigrant Marine lieutenant governor of Virginia. God bless America.” Ms. Sears will likely run for governor next year.

While unable to hold the country’s two highest offices, Ms. Sears could serve in other capacities, such as in the Cabinet of a Republican president.

So, if not a Youngkin-Sears ticket, how about Youngkin-Haley, or the reverse?

The Republican bench is deep, and while four years is forever in politics, pundits like me are already thinking about the next election. It’s our calling, or perhaps it should be called an obsession.

I suspect I am not alone. Potential candidates are likely already looking in the mirror and hearing “Hail to the Chief.”

• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (Humanix Books).