Gov. Gretchen Whitmer a 'rock star' in Chicago as she revs up Democratic delegates

CHICAGO – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had kept the delegates, alternates and others North Carolina had sent to the Democratic National Convention here this week waiting for a wee bit Tuesday morning, when she was scheduled to speak to them in a hotel ballroom.

They didn't seem to mind.

As she and her entourage entered the room, delegates and others hastily put down cups of coffee and plates of breakfast food, pouring back into their chairs. And when she was introduced, the room exploded, the crowd − almost to a person − leaping to its feet in applause.

"North Carolina, my goodness!" Whitmer roared, bounding to the podium. "We've got to win this race!"

After a short but impassioned speech in which she bantered with the crowd, waved her hands exhortingly, declared the Democrats "a joyful party" and urged the North Carolinians to work as hard as possible to get Vice President Kamala Harris elected this fall, she stood for selfies, in many cases snapping the photos herself.

A line of more than two dozen seeking photos formed, stretching out the ballroom door.

It was just one indication of the energy and enthusiasm Whitmer, a two-term governor of a key swing state who is seen as having presidential potential of her own, brings to the Democratic Party, not just in her state, but nationally.

Her memoir, "True Gretch," has been a hit , not just for discussing serious issues of governing but her shark tattoo and her relationship with her ex-husband.

On Tuesday, she was on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and, the night before, on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," talking about getting her teeth knocked out at church camp as a kid and being the subject of rapper Gmac Cash's song, "Big Gretch."

On Thursday, she will be a featured speaker on the main stage of the Democratic convention as well.

"You can't diminish that light," said Nervahna Crew, a North Carolina delegate and former Wake County official. "The fact that she plays along with that (the rap song) is a great thing. … It's only up from here for women."

But it wasn't just women − or people from other states' delegations who got to hear her speak as she and other top Harris surrogates visited their Tuesday breakfast meetings − who were impressed by Michigan's governor.

Martin Frederiksen, a delegate from Emanuel County, Georgia, was upset he missed the governor's brief speech to their group, especially because he considers her such a rising talent.

"She's a rock star," he said. "I want to see more women in every elected office."

That enthusiasm surrounding Whitmer is expected to continue, especially in Democratic circles, with delegates talking about her toughness and the way she was targeted by former President Donald Trump.

The two sparred during the COVID-19 shutdowns, with Trump calling her "that woman from Michigan," as well as over her fight for abortion rights and leadership on a referendum fight that enshrined those guarantees in the state's constitution two years ago. As recently as last month, at a rally in Grand Rapids following his own convention in Milwaukee, Trump called Whitmer a "terrible governor" and said he'd like to run against her. And while Michigan Republicans have criticized her for being a liberal, she has retained a much-more moderate public issue with pragmatic promises to "fix the damn roads," as is her trademark statement. Her favorability ratings among Michigan voters have generally been much higher than Trump's or Biden's for that matter.

That also begs the political question, however, where Whitmer goes from here if, as she and other Democrats hope, Harris wins, beating Trump in his third presidential bid in November.

Whitmer, clearly, is all-in for electing Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who is a good friend of Whitmer's.

But if they win, a Whitmer bid for the White House — which she has downplayed despite all the media attention paid her recently — would have to wait until at least 2028, if Harris runs for reelection, as would be expected.

A run in 2032 is a long way off for a governor who is set to be term-limited from her current job in two years.

Whitmer, by the way, will celebrate her 53rd birthday on Friday, so there is no question she could still be in the mix, depending on how her political life unfolds from here.

"She's young," said U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township. "She's got a long future."

Part of that future will depend not only on where Whitmer goes after this election but whether she, as a co-chairman of the Harris-Walz campaign, can deliver Michigan as she helped to do for President Joe Biden four years ago.

Since Biden stepped aside as nominee and Harris secured the delegates to guarantee her the nomination, Democratic chances in Michigan have brightened. The RealClearPolitics.com average of polls shows Harris with a slim 2-percentage-point lead over Trump, who had a clear edge over Biden in the battleground state just a month ago.

Now the question is whether the Democrats can hold that lead, which Trump was trying to eat into as he held an event in Livingston County, Michigan, on Tuesday, even as Whitmer was circulating through Chicago.

Certainly, Whitmer was full of energy, talking to delegates, joshing with them, snapping photos.

She told the Georgia delegation, whose Republican governor is Brian Kemp, "Georgia needs a good governor, so until you get one, I'm just going to show up for you."

Reminding them of the key role their state played in flipping the election to Biden four years ago, she told them to get working, saying, "No pressure, but the whole world is counting on you, Georgia."

Before the North Carolina delegates, she shouted that Harris is leading a group of "happy warriors" and extolled them to knock on doors not just in Democratic areas but Republican ones as well.

"I'm here to remind you what it takes to win. We've got to outwork the other side," she said.

Kildee said he's worked with people all over, and they always ask about her.

"It's a phenomenon." he said. "I've never had people ask about a Michigan political leader the way they do Gretchen. There's a real curiosity."

Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer a 'rock star' in Chicago as she revs up Democratic delegates