The calendar says it’s 2026, so why does it suddenly feel like 2028?

Getty Images/Reuters

Summer’s swampy heat released its grip on Washington Tuesday as if someone had flipped a switch.

Fall is not the only new season stirring.

The 2028 presidential race, which has long felt like a distant hypothetical amid the wrenching turmoil of President Donald Trump’s early second term, has suddenly sprung into life.

Possible Democratic and Republican contenders are hitting the midterm trail in states that just happen to hold early presidential contests . They’re wading into top policy issues. A few openly yearn for the White House. Some make cryptic comments to keep a door open. Others wonder whether they have a lane.

The sense that a clock is ticking even drew in Trump, who is loath to admit he’s only leasing power. In a UN General Assembly address Tuesday, he reminded his foes in Tehran: “I’ll be here for two and a half years.”

It’s normal for possible presidential candidates to become more visible around this time. Midterm elections offer them cover to engage base voters. They can test new stump lines, assess the political mood, lay down informal early state infrastructure and bank favors with grateful candidates.

But the 2028 campaign suddenly seems more tangible, perhaps because Trump’s fragile political state is inducing end-of-an-era vibes and Democrats have finally stopped mourning the 2024 presidential election.

That debacle was fresh on minds Tuesday when former Vice President Kamala Harris , the party’s last-minute nominee, showed up in Michigan to try to unite Democrats behind Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

David Guralnick/Pool/Getty Images

She’s not the only possible 2028 Democrat making noise. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a progressive juggernaut rolling. Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff hasn’t even won reelection, but 2028 buzz is building. Govs. JB Pritzker, Andy Beshear and Josh Shapiro are also on maneuvers.

On the GOP side, every word and gesture by Vice President JD Vance takes on extra meaning as he steels himself for the unfathomable task of a possible presidential run under Trump’s nose. And Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Paul and other potential GOP candidates are also openly mulling a run. Even 74-year-old Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy told the Washington Post in an article published Tuesday that while he’s planning on running for reelection, he might take a tilt at the top job “if a bunch of goobers” run for president.

It’s that moment in a nascent presidential season when countless politicians look in the mirror and wonder why not them. At a testing time for US democracy, it’s reassuring that presidential spring training is near.

The 2028 election, with two open national party tickets, will mark a new political era.

The eventual Republican nominee will have to decide whether there’s a future for MAGA or if the party’s dormant, traditional conservative roots should be revived.

Democrats need someone to unify progressives and moderates. An anti-Trump platform may work in the midterms. But polls show an electorate still sour on a party that lost their confidence when Joe Biden was president.

Adam Gray/Pool/Getty Images

The White House rumor mill slipped into higher gear Tuesday with an intriguing New York Times interview with Ocasio-Cortez. The New York Democrat’s midterm travels are positioning her as the inheritor of Bernie Sanders’ progressive movement. She’s adept at creating splashy viral moments that define Trump-era politics, like her August announcement that she was freezing her eggs.

Ocasio-Cortez, soon to turn 37, told the Times she’s wrestling with the intangible question that can define a presidential campaign. “There’s an argument that some make that this is a very unique political window and, oftentimes in politics, you do only get one shot,” she said. But after two of the last three Democratic nominees were women and both lost, Ocasio-Cortez also seemed to question her ceiling. “I happen to be a woman, and I, you know, happen to be Latina. And I think that there’s a lot of conversation about electability,” she said.

Harris epitomizes such questions. She made her fall debut in one of seven swing states that she lost to Trump in 2024. She has not decided whether to run again.

Hannah Beier/Reuters/File

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/File

But other Democrats are pre-positioning, including a number of governors. Shapiro, who seems to be cruising to reelection in Pennsylvania, last week addressed a pressing national question — whether to place guardrails on artificial intelligence — and condemned Trump’s claim that concerns about the technology’s destructive potential are a “hoax.”

Beshear on Tuesday published a new book, “Go and Do Likewise: How We Heal a Broken Country” — using a classic tactic of heartland leaders who need to build a national profile. “We need to show up in places that we haven’t been in far too long. We need to show up in coal mining communities, in farming communities, and listen to the needs of people,” the Kentucky governor told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Monday. Asked whether he’d run in 2028, he insisted: “I haven’t made any decision on that.”

Pritzker, of Illinois, has shown Democratic voters he can stick it to Trump. But he’s in the news for a more personal reason after revealing he’s shed 80 pounds on GLP-1 medication. He told CBS News he’s concentrating on his reelection bid and has “not made any decisions about what I might do in the future.”

Another Trump foe, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly , said at last week’s Atlantic Festival of a possible presidential campaign: “The answer is I might, I just haven’t decided.”

Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

Trump has seemed to enjoy jokingly playing off potential heirs like Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. But the game will be less fun when he’s a lame duck. The veep is widely seen as a Republican front-runner, and there has been no sign from Rubio that he plans to run. Vance Friday traveled to Iowa, a GOP early state that shows the perils of a presidential campaign. Trump’s unpopularity in a reliable red bastion has left Senate and gubernatorial races surprisingly close.

The vice president’s balancing act and thin record of winning elections in his own right — he was in the Senate for only two years before his current job — explain why he’s unlikely to clear the field.

Former GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz, who won 11 state contests as runner-up to Trump in the 2016 Republican nominating race, seems to be itching to run again. “It’s no secret that I want to be president,” Cruz said on Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick’s podcast in August. He’s not yet made a final decision.

Other possible GOP candidates include Texas Gov. Greg Abbott; outgoing Florida governor and defeated 2024 GOP candidate Ron DeSantis; and Florida Sen. Rick Scott.

Antranik Tavitian/Getty Images

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who lost to Trump in 2016, is calling for a free market, anti-tariff candidate to balance Trump-style populism. Will it be him? Paul told the Post he’s 50-50 on making the race.

But maybe there’s a lurker candidate no one has thought of. After all, Trump was regarded as a joke before his anti-establishment takeover of the GOP in 2016. And Democrats seem primed for their own populist takeover.

The name of the next president may not currently be the biggest issue — the midterm endgame and the war in Iran matter more right now.

But when America awakes on November 4, after a late night watching John King call congressional races on CNN’s Magic Wall, the next presidential election will truly begin.

And both parties will increasingly look to a future beyond Trump.

盖蒂图片社/路透社

周二，华盛顿仿佛被按下了开关，夏季的闷热天气突然消失了。

秋季并非唯一一个正在酝酿的新季节。

在唐纳德·特朗普总统第二个任期初期令人痛苦的动荡中，2028 年总统大选长期以来一直感觉像是一个遥远的假设，但现在它突然变得生动起来。

民主党和共和党的潜在候选人正在那些恰好提前举行总统初选的州展开中期选举竞选活动。他们纷纷就一些重要政策议题发表看法。一些人公开表达了入主白宫的渴望。一些人则发表了一些模棱两可的言论，试图为自己保留参选的机会。还有一些人则在思考自己是否还有胜算。

就连不愿承认自己只是暂时掌权的特朗普也感受到了时间紧迫的紧迫感。周二在联合国大会上，他提醒德黑兰的对手们：“我还会在这里待两年半。”

总统候选人在这个时候更加活跃是很正常的。中期选举为他们提供了一个接触基本盘选民的契机。他们可以借此机会测试新的竞选策略，评估政治氛围，建立早期阶段的非正式支持网络，并与心存感激的候选人建立联系。

但 2028 年的竞选似乎突然变得更加切实，或许是因为特朗普脆弱的政治地位引发了时代终结的氛围，而民主党人也终于不再为 2024 年总统大选的失利而感到惋惜。

周二，民主党最后一刻提名的候选人、前副总统卡马拉·哈里斯出现在密歇根州，试图团结民主党人支持参议院候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德，当时人们对那场惨败记忆犹新。

David Guralnick/Pool/Getty Images

她并非唯一一位可能在2028年民主党总统候选人中崭露头角的人物。纽约州众议员亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯（Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez）正带领着一股进步派的强大力量。佐治亚州参议员乔恩·奥索夫（Jon Ossoff）甚至还没能赢得连任，但关于他2028年参选的呼声已经越来越高。州长JB·普里茨克（JB Pritzker）、安迪·贝希尔（Andy Beshear）和乔什·夏皮罗（Josh Shapiro）也在积极备战。

在共和党方面，副总统万斯的一言一行都显得格外重要，因为他正为可能在特朗普眼皮底下竞选总统这一艰巨任务做好准备。参议员特德·克鲁兹、兰德·保罗和其他潜在的共和党候选人也公开考虑参选。就连74岁的路易斯安那州参议员约翰·肯尼迪也在周二发表于《华盛顿邮报》的一篇文章中表示，虽然他计划竞选连任，但如果“一群蠢货”竞选总统，他也可能尝试一下。

在总统竞选季伊始，无数政客都会审视自身，扪心自问：为什么自己没能当选？在这个美国民主面临考验的时刻，令人欣慰的是，总统竞选的“春季训练营”即将到来。

2028 年的选举将有两个开放的全国性政党候选人名单，这将标志着一个新的政治时代。

最终的共和党候选人将不得不决定“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）运动是否有未来，或者该党沉寂已久的传统保守主义根基是否应该复兴。

民主党需要有人来团结进步派和温和派。反特朗普的纲领或许能在中期选举中奏效。但民调显示，选民对民主党仍然抱有不满，因为在乔·拜登担任总统期间，他们已经对民主党失去了信心。

Adam Gray/Pool/Getty Images

周二，《纽约时报》对奥卡西奥-科尔特斯的专访引发了白宫内部的猜测热潮。这位来自纽约的民主党人在中期选举期间的奔走，让她被视为伯尼·桑德斯进步运动的继承人。她擅长制造引人注目的网络热点，这些热点也定义了特朗普时代的政治，例如她八月份宣布冷冻卵子的消息。

即将年满37岁的奥卡西奥-科尔特斯告诉《纽约时报》，她正在努力应对一个可能决定总统竞选走向的无形问题。“有人认为，这是一个非常独特的政治窗口，而且在政治中，你往往只有一次机会，”她说。但鉴于过去三位民主党总统候选人中有两位是女性，而且都落败了，奥卡西奥-科尔特斯似乎也对自己的上限产生了质疑。“我碰巧是一位女性，而且，你知道，我碰巧是拉丁裔。我认为，关于我的当选能力，有很多值得讨论的地方，”她说。

哈里斯正是这类问题的典型代表。她在2024年大选中输给了特朗普，而此次秋季档的初次亮相正是在七个摇摆州之一。她尚未决定是否再次参选。

汉娜·拜尔/路透社/档案照片

凯文迪奇/盖蒂图片社/文件

但其他民主党人，包括几位州长，都在提前布局。沙皮罗似乎在宾夕法尼亚州连任无虞，他上周谈到了一个紧迫的全国性问题——是否应该对人工智能设置限制——并谴责了特朗普关于人们对这项技术潜在破坏性的担忧是“骗局”的说法。

周二，贝希尔出版了一本新书《照样去做：我们如何治愈一个破碎的国家》，这是美国中西部地区领导人提升全国知名度的经典策略。“我们需要出现在那些我们很久没去过的地方。我们需要走进煤矿社区，走进农业社区，倾听人们的需求，”这位肯塔基州州长周一告诉CNN的凯特兰·柯林斯。当被问及是否会参加2028年的竞选时，他坚称：“我还没有做出任何决定。”

伊利诺伊州州长普里茨克已经向民主党选民证明，他有能力对抗特朗普。但他最近成为新闻焦点却是因为一个更私人的原因：他透露自己服用GLP-1药物后成功减重80磅。他告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻网，他目前专注于竞选连任，“还没有决定未来要做什么”。

另一位特朗普的反对者，亚利桑那州参议员马克·凯利在上周的大西洋节上谈到可能参加总统竞选时说：“答案是可能会，但我还没有决定。”

Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

特朗普似乎乐于拿万斯和国务卿马可·卢比奥等潜在接班人开玩笑。但当他成为跛脚鸭总统时，这种游戏就没那么有趣了。万斯被广泛视为共和党总统候选人的领跑者，而卢比奥方面也没有任何参选的迹象。周五，万斯前往爱荷华州——共和党早期票仓之一，这也凸显了总统竞选的风险。特朗普在这个传统的共和党堡垒中支持率低迷，导致参议院和州长选举的选情出人意料地胶着。

副总统在平衡各方利益和自身赢得选举的记录不佳（在担任现职之前，他只在参议院待了两年）的情况下，不太可能赢得选举。

曾在2016年共和党总统候选人提名战中位列特朗普之后，并赢得11个州初选的前共和党总统候选人特德·克鲁兹，似乎渴望再次参选。“我想当总统，这已不是什么秘密，”克鲁兹在8月份做客德克萨斯州副州长丹·帕特里克的播客节目时说道。但他尚未做出最终决定。

其他可能的共和党候选人包括德克萨斯州州长格雷格·阿博特；即将卸任的佛罗里达州州长、2024 年共和党总统候选人罗恩·德桑蒂斯；以及佛罗里达州参议员里克·斯科特。

Antranik Tavitian/Getty Images

2016年败给特朗普的肯塔基州参议员兰德·保罗呼吁推出一位支持自由市场、反对关税的候选人，以平衡特朗普式的民粹主义。这个人会是他吗？保罗告诉《华盛顿邮报》，他参选的可能性只有一半。

但或许还有一位尚未被人想到的潜在候选人。毕竟，在2016年特朗普反建制地掌控共和党之前，他曾被视为一个笑话。而民主党似乎也做好了迎接民粹主义崛起的准备。

下一任总统的人选目前可能不是最重要的问题——中期选举的最终结果和伊朗战争才是当前更为重要的事。

但当美国民众在11月4日醒来，在熬夜观看约翰·金在CNN的“魔术墙”节目中预测国会选举结果之后，下一届总统选举才真正开始。

两党都将越来越关注后特朗普时代的未来。