(Headline USA) Several Democratic governors have quietly indicated a willingness to work with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, even as others on the Left draw up new plans for Democratic resistance.
In a meeting of Democratic governors in Los Angeles this week, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer even acknowledged Trump’s mandate following his sweeping electoral victory last month, adding that she hopes to find “common ground” with him.
“People in Michigan, like a majority of Americans, voted for Donald Trump, and my oath is to Michigan,” Whitmer told CNN. “Obviously, I’ve got experience in this type of environment that will help inform how I continue to fight for Michigan. But I know Donald Trump cares about Michigan. And I’m hoping that because of that, we’ll be able to find some common ground in some important ways.”
Immediately after Trump’s win, Whitmer began distancing herself from other Democrats’ plans to “Trump-proof” their states.
“I’m not a part of the group,” she said last month.
She’s not the only one paying lip service to Trump.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul likewise informed her colleagues at their meeting in Los Angeles that she had already had a phone conversation with Trump about ways they might work together.
Trump is a “president who is a New Yorker, has been a New Yorker, would understand how important it is for the success of our state,” Hochul said.
Other Democrats, however, have committed themselves to trying to obstruct Trump in any way possible.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee urged his Democratic colleagues to copy his own work “embedding Trump-proofing to the extent humanly, constitutionally possible.”
When asked what advice he would give to Democratic leaders, Inslee said, “I think it’s a combination of two famous speeches: One, Churchill’s ‘We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them in the air, we shall fight them in the landing fields with growing confidence in our power, in the seas, in the air. We shall never surrender.’ That’s the No. 1 advice.”
He said the second speech comes from the comedy classic Animal House.
“No. 2 is Bluto Blutarsky in Animal House, which is: ‘Over? It’s not over till we say it’s over. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?'” Inslee continued. “The combination of those two speeches, I would say, should demonstrate our resolve.”
