Crime, homelessness, COVID dictatorship, the breeding ground of communist policies.....that's his state. It's not realistic for him to try to claim he inherited those or wasn't involved in creating the issues. If he wants to distance himself between now and 2028, he's going to have to spend some time addressing them directly with solutions and personally owning them as his/his party's mistakes.
I do think it's smart and savvy to have direct dialogue with Conservative voices. It's the only way for the left to capture more mainstream and working class votes.