2028 presidential hopefuls seek to make their mark at Republican National Convention

DES MOINES – With the party faithful all on hand at the 2012 Republican National Convention celebrating Mitt Romney’s nomination for president amid pomp and confetti, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and his staff quietly made off-screen introductions to the delegations from Iowa and New Hampshire.

Rubio had delivered a stirring prime time address that ratcheted up speculation about his future prospects.

“We were all hopeful that Romney was going to win and be seeking reelection four years later,” said Republican political strategist Alex Conant, who was working for Rubio’s Senate office at the time. “So he wasn't working the convention with the thoughts of running (for president) four years later. It was more that this is a big opportunity to raise your national profile and gain some political capital.”

The groundwork had been laid.

When Romney lost the 2012 election to Barack Obama and an open presidential primary presented itself in 2016, Rubio was ready to seize the opportunity – campaigning hard for the Republican nomination before ultimately bowing out to Donald Trump.

The Republican National Convention kicks off once again Monday, where the next generation of GOP stars will take advantage of one of the biggest political stages in the country, providing an early peek into the future of the party. And after Saturday's assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, the attention trained on this year's convention will be all the more intense.

The convention’s high-profile primetime speaking roles are coveted opportunities that can help catapult politicians into national prominence.

But longtime party leaders say it’s far more common — and often more fruitful — for ambitious politicians to focus their attention off-camera and do the less glamorous work of making the rounds to state delegation events, shaking hands and making introductions that will pave the way for future runs.

The 2028 presidential cycle is “absolutely” going to be in full swing at the convention, said Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann, who oversees the consequential first-in-the-nation nominating contest for Republicans.

“But it will be very subtle and very hidden,” he said.

Particularly after the attempted assassination, 2028-minded politicians must be sure to keep their focus on the task at hand — nominating Trump for president and showing they can be good ambassadors for the party — lest they alienate delegates and party leaders.

More: What is the RNC, anyway? What to know about speakers, 2024 Republican party platform

‘Nobody seeks out the Iowa delegation by accident’ at RNC convention

Looking for those with future ambitions? In addition to scrutinizing the speaking list, keep an eye on politicians who, like Rubio in 2012, lavish time and energy on the Iowa and New Hampshire delegations this week.

“Nobody seeks out the Iowa delegation by accident,” said Conant. “I think any politician that takes time to visit with the Iowa delegation or the New Hampshire delegation clearly has higher ambitions.”

New Hampshire and Iowa traditionally have led off the Republicans’ presidential primary process and, as a result, receive outsize attention from White House aspirants at the convention and beyond.

The Iowa delegation plans to host Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at off-site events during the week. Both men competed in the 2024 Iowa Caucuses and were mainstays in the state for months, and they remain possible contenders going into 2028.

And Kaufmann said Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked him to help host a small panel discussion.

More: 2024 RNC speakers to include celebrities, GOP officials and former Trump rival

Chris Ager, New Hampshire’s GOP state party chair, said he’ll be watching for those who ran in 2024, like DeSantis and Ramaswamy, as well as those who have been on Donald Trump’s VP short list, such as Rubio and U.S. Sens. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and J.D. Vance of Ohio.

Governors such as Youngkin, Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas and Doug Burgum of North Dakota are also worth watching this week, he said.

Ager, along with party leaders in Nevada and South Carolina, is hosting a panel discussion focused on the early-voting states that he believes will draw an ambitious audience.

“We’re not overlooking Nov. 5,” Ager said. “But while we’re here together at the convention, it’s a very convenient time to meet some of the players for 2028 — potential players — and some of their staff to get the relationships so that, should they want to campaign in New Hampshire later, they’ll have some of those relationships.”

Kaufmann said everyone is playing the "long game" when it comes to laying the groundwork with early state leaders. He pointed to someone like Ramaswamy, who, at 38 years old, was the youngest person to run for president in 2024.

"There's an example of somebody, I mean, he could be looking at '28, '32, '36 and '40," Kaufmann said. "And I think being a household figure, or a household name for Iowa Republicans at least, is a strategy. … So I'm hoping we have people here that maybe have a dream of '28 but in reality, maybe it's '32 and '36."

'Awkward dance' for would-be 2028 contenders as focus must stay on Trump

The convention is primarily about celebrating and nominating Trump for president, early state leaders cautioned. Although everyone is aware of the early 2028 jockeying, it’s important to keep the focus on Trump, Republicans said.

That's even more important following Trump's attempted assassination, which has refocused attention even more firmly on the former president.

“There's an awkward dance between wanting to do everything you can to promote yourself without distracting from the nominee,” Conant said. “I think all these potential candidates, they're going to want to be with the Iowa delegation. They're also going to want to do some Iowa media. They're going to want to do a lot of national media. And, you know, they just need to make sure they're not spending more time promoting themselves than the ticket.”

Delegates from Iowa and New Hampshire are looking for someone who can be a good ambassador for the broader Republican message, not just for themselves, the party chairs said.

“I think number one, first and foremost, is the mission for this week is to nominate our presidential candidate. And that really has to be the focus,” Ager said. “And if everything that a leader does, remembers that and keeps that front center, that will go a long way towards engendering positive views from delegates from across the country. Because that's why everybody's here, is to help nominate Donald Trump for president and then win in November.”

Kaufmann said it can be a win-win for ambitious politicians and for Trump.

“President Trump gains from all this, because (it should be) indistinguishable if a person is thinking about 2028 and if they're campaigning for Donald Trump,” he said.

What does a post-Trump GOP candidate look like in 2028?

At the start of the 2024 presidential primary cycle, there had been rumblings that Republicans were ready to move beyond Trump and find a new standard-bearer. That sentiment gave rise to candidates such as former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and DeSantis, both of whom failed to last beyond Super Tuesday.

Now, heading into the Republican National Convention, where the party establishment is fully enveloped in the trappings of Trump’s MAGA brand, it’s clearer than ever before that Trump is the Republican Party.

So, will the candidates of 2028 represent a generational shift beyond Trump, or will they embody the continuation of a party remade in Trump’s image?

“The question becomes, what are caucusgoers looking at?” said Steve Scheffler, a longtime RNC member and Iowa Republican. “They sort of want them to pass the smell test on different issues. But the big question will be: Are they looking for a Trump-style candidate, which, of course, they'll never have a carbon copy of that. Or (are they) going back to the traditional mold of a Bush?”

For Scheffler, it’s clear that Trump has fundamentally altered what Republicans across the country, but particularly those in Iowa, are looking for in a candidate.

“They're not going back to the days when Republicans were kind of rollovers, you know, where they maybe caved in and just didn't try to deliver,” he said.

Kaufmann said Trump has gotten the party “back to our blue-collar” roots.

“It happened more completely and more rapidly than I ever dreamed. I think we don't lose that. I think we would be politically crazy to lose that,” he said. “If that's Donald Trump's party, then I think this remains Donald Trump's party.”

But what if Trump loses in 2024? Is the party open to seeing him once again topping the ticket at 82 years old in 2028?

“I mean, at that point he'll be older,” Scheffler said before pausing. “Let me just put it this way, I think Trump's gonna be reelected.”

Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She is also covering the 2024 presidential race for USA TODAY as a senior national campaign correspondent. Reach her at [email protected] or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Rising stars will test their mettle at Republican National Convention