Is Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer running a shadow campaign for the Democrat nomination for president? Much like California Governor Gavin Newsom, she’s everywhere these days. Her particular style of aggressive ambition is a little more subtle than Newsom’s but it’s becoming clear – Gretchen wants to run for president.

The new Barbie movie has provided Whitmer with an opportunity to show off “Little Gretch”, a Governor Barbie that looks like her. Allegedly her staff came up with the idea to show a Governor Barbie going about the work of the governor. Women Democrats and the NeverTrump former Republican grifters who support her swooned over how empowering and bold Governor Barbie is.

This is what her staff came up with – Michigan tax dollars at work.

It’s the best day ever! ✨

This Barbie is getting things done for all Michiganders. 💪 pic.twitter.com/gOHtJdf1vQ

— Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) July 20, 2023

Role models matter! Gov Whitmer grew up watching her lawyer-mom, Sherry, wear fuchsia blazers to court shouting “fuchsia is my power color!” Love to see all of this. https://t.co/4bWDd619Uk

— Jennifer Palmieri (@jmpalmieri) July 20, 2023

Whitmer is wearing Barbie fuschia, not Barbie pink, because her mother wore it, or something. It’s pink.

If a top Lincoln Project grifter thinks it is “sharp”, it must be, right?

Oh, this is a very sharp social media play right with the zeitgeist.

Well done! https://t.co/pHaXF5Mkwk

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 20, 2023

Former White House press secretary and current MSNBC host Jen Psaki thinks the social media campaign is cool and empowering.

Cool and empowering Barbie https://t.co/n2IQWuIK61

— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) July 20, 2023

It’s all very interesting. I’m old enough to remember when leftist feminists savaged Barbie as the worst toy ever for little girls. Now women in powerful positions embrace Barbie as a feminist hero (shero?).

Gretchen Whitmer was on the short list to be Joe Biden’s vice president. She is a white woman, though, so she didn’t make the cut. Joe promised that he’d pick a woman, probably a black woman, so Whitmer didn’t check the most important identity box. Black women got Biden elected as president so they were rewarded with Kamala Harris as vice president. Seems more like a punishment to me, given her horrible performance and low favorability numbers, but it’s what happened.

“Big Gretch” Whitmer has the support of Planned Parenthood. They love a governor in pink.

We love a Governor in PINK! Especially ours, because Big Gretch knows that reproductive rights and gender equity are essential components to a thriving economy filled with opportunity for everyone 💖 #Barbie https://t.co/CrMYTH3mME

— Michigan Planned Parenthood Advocates (@mippadvocates) July 20, 2023

Whitmer said she knew some people wouldn’t “get it” about the social media campaign with Governor Barbie. She said that’s ok because they just want to have fun. Hey, maybe her social media team can get permission to use Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” with Governor Barbie videos. Big Gretch just wants to have fun with Little Gretch.

It’s all cringey. The New York Times did a feature on Whitmer’s social media campaign with Barbie and they love it. If a Republican woman, say, Nikki Haley, who is officially running for president, came up with such a way to lean in to the Barbie movie opening on Friday, she would be mocked and ridiculed by her Democrat feminist betters all day long. But, it’s not Little Nikki, it’s Little Gretch, so it’s empowering and cool and all that good stuff.

Earlier this summer, staff members working for Ms. Whitmer — the Democrat who surprised pollsters with a double-digit win in the most recent race for her office — started to appreciate the sheer force of Barbie mania to which the world is currently in thrall. Among many, many other marketing stunts: Crocs has produced a custom Barbie shoe. Burger King made pink sauce. The Whitmer team members wondered whether their boss might benefit from a tie-in of her own.

It’s a bit of a gamble to intentionally compare a female politician to a doll once programmed to despair that “math class is tough” and who has been such an avatar for sexist clichés that feminists spent the 1970s brandishing posters that declared “I am not a Barbie doll.”

But Barbie has also worked as a robotics engineer and has run for president seven times. With the help of a Dreamhouse-size marketing budget, she has found herself in the middle of a cultural resurgence.

Still, she has never been a governor. So the Whitmer team decided to give her some statewide executive experience and get a bump of attention for their boss in the process.

Whitmer’s strong win in her re-election campaign captured the attention of Democrats. Michigan is a solid blue state right now, thanks to that victory. Her win helped turn both chambers of the State Legislature blue for the first time in four decades. She developed a reputation with her handling of pandemic mandates. She took them to the extremes – remember her insistence that stores rope off some sections, even banning the sale of packets of seeds for gardens? Democrats ate that authoritarianism up. She didn’t even suffer in her re-election bid when her husband was caught opening up their lake house when Michiganders were told to stay home, even during the holidays. And she was one of the Democrat authoritarian leaders who was caught out in a restaurant, maskless, with friends, at the height of the pandemic. You know, just like Gavin Newsom when he was seen at the fancy restaurant during a time when he mandated that the people in California stay home. Rules don’t apply to Big Gretch and Gavin. Girls just want to have fun.

The Barbie will be released in celebration of the movie. It costs $50. There are symbolic references in the social media campaign that political junkies may notice but everyday Barbie consumers won’t care about.

Politicos and public relations experts have fawned over the campaign, which was the brainchild of Whitmer’s digital director, Julia Pickett. Whitmer advisors told MLive the scene-setting in the pictures was deliberate. Barbie in a Chevrolet Corvette, a model historically made in Flint, is placed in front of cones meant to symbolize Whitmer’s emphasis on road infrastructure. The doll seated at a desk depicts Whitmer signing legislation, which is, of course, pink.

“We meet people where they are and use cultural moments to make change in policy, government, and politics,” Kaylie Hanson, Whitmer’s chief communications officer said in a statement. “This campaign will hopefully help show people that yes, girls can embrace who they are and do what girls do best: lead.”

Whitmer may not get her chance in 2024 to run for president, as it looks like Joe Biden is going to have to be carried out of the Oval Office feet first in order to get him to step aside, but she’s definitely raising her profile for 2028. The same is true with Newsom. Just in case something happens to Biden, as we all watch his rapid mental and physical deterioration, Whitmer and Newsom are ready to step in, if Kamala isn’t in the way.