Governors can make good presidents. COVID-19 pandemic is a slap-in-the-face reminder
Upset about being upstaged and outmanaged by state governors in the thick of the national COVID-19 outbreak, President Trump lashed out this past week in a manner that was shocking but not surprising.
He portrayed governors who’ve gotten under his skin — including Washington’s Jay Inslee — as insurgents unwilling to submit to his self-appointed “total authority.” Or, to borrow the president’s bizarre analogy, as mutineers ready to overthrow their ship’s captain.
“Tell the Democrat Governors that ‘Mutiny On The Bounty’ was one of my all time favorite movies,” Trump tweeted Tuesday. “A good old fashioned mutiny every now and then is an exciting and invigorating thing to watch …”
If the president knows the Constitution as well as classic movies, he knows that America’s governors can’t set him adrift in a rowboat, ala the villainous Captain Bligh, and sail the ship of state without him. Only voters can do that, come November.
No, governors can’t seize the presidency by mutiny or coup d’etat. But right now it’s tempting to ponder how our country would be doing if a governor occupied the White House, and to look back longingly at times in our history when many did.
The skills and the buck-stops-here accountability needed to lead a state are largely transferable to leading a country. The mix of budget-writing, political negotiation, constituent service and overall public-sector expertise makes many governors uniquely well prepared to be president.
More than most members of Congress. Definitely more than a real-estate billionaire turned reality-TV star.
Oh, and the ability to make tough, unpopular decisions in the face of a once-in-a-generation crisis — say, a global pandemic? That also stands out on a resume.
It’s too bad Washingtonians won’t have a chance to vote for a governor presidential candidate in 2020. They even missed out in the March 10 primary.
We hope the nominating process, which made short work of Inslee and two other Democratic governors last year, returns to its senses and advances leaders with proven public executive experience.
Not long ago, candidates with a governor background were a force to be reckoned with in presidential politics, winning all but one election between 1976 and 2004. That force cut across party lines: Two Democrats held the office (Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton) as well as two Republicans (Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush).
American history books are filled with the extraordinary deeds of other governors who rose to the presidency, including a pair of towering figures named Roosevelt.
That we’ve gone 16 years and counting since a governor was elected president, and eight years since we’ve even had a viable governor presidential candidate, is an unfortunate anomaly. Perhaps it takes a global moment of truth — like a world war or a pandemic — to restore governors to national prominence.
Under the circumstances, we’re not surprised that America’s darling Democratic presidential candidate of the moment is Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York. His performance at press conferences, showing empathy and charisma while his state’s staggering death toll mounts, is second to none. The hashtag #PresidentCuomo recently trended on Twitter.
Cuomo isn’t running and has voiced no interest in a far-fetched wild-card bid. And yet the coronavirus has crowned him Trump’s leading foil, eclipsing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden on the national stage, for now.
Inslee’s profile has risen in the last month, too, as our state’s early COVID-19 adversity foreshadowed what would slam New York on a catastrophically larger scale.
My, how things have changed in 15 months. Late last winter, Inslee entered the crowded race as a longshot for the Democratic nomination. Before the summer was over, he would drop out.
He fell out of contention early, just like the two other governors in the field — Steve Bullock of Montana and John Hickenlooper, former governor of Colorado. All three failed to catch fire in polls or fundraising.
How would Inslee fare if he were running today? We suspect he’d get more buzz for his hands-on management of an immediate, in-your-face crisis than he did as the climate-change candidate. Whether or not you agree with his shutdown orders, Inslee’s consistent messaging and poise are a daily contrast to Trump’s volatility and hollow bravado.
None of this should be taken to mean Inslee is a slam-dunk presidential candidate in 2024, nor that we’d necessarily endorse him. Assuming he wins a third governor term in November, voters have a right to expect him to serve four years without distraction. And politically, he might lack what it takes to win a national race.
But make no mistake, if you look strictly at the ledger of executive skill and experience, governors have some of the strongest qualifications for the White House. West Coast or East Coast, Democrat or Republican.
President Trump says a mutiny is an “exciting and invigorating thing to watch.” We say it can’t hold a candle to a competitive presidential election featuring a few top-notch governors.
This story was originally published April 19, 2020 at 7:00 AM.