Liberals are still reeling from the 2024 elections. Now they’ve got their eyes on another prize.
But Democrats leaked one backroom scheme that landed them in hot water.
Democrats are already eyeing the 2028 presidential race, scrambling to chart a path forward after President Trump’s landslide win left their party reeling. The stunning defeat has sparked a fierce internal showdown, with contenders jockeying to redefine the party’s identity and reclaim its footing.
A Party in Search of Direction
“The Democrats have a significant challenge right now in finding out what the party stands for,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington.
“That may be a debate that continues into the 2028 Democratic nomination contests.” Trump’s victory has unleashed a flurry of soul-searching, with some hopefuls opting for olive branches toward the White House while others paint his administration as a reckless, authoritarian mess trampling the Constitution and tanking the economy.
The field is shaping up fast. Rahm Emanuel, the battle-hardened former Chicago mayor who thrived under Presidents Clinton and Obama, is dipping his toes back in, betting his no-holds-barred style might ignite Democrats hungry for a win.
Pete Buttigieg, the ex-Transportation Secretary who surprised many in 2020, is mulling another shot at the top spot, sidestepping Senate or gubernatorial runs in Michigan. Meanwhile, 2024 nominee Kamala Harris weighs a bid for California governor, and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, hasn’t ruled out a run “under the right circumstances.”
A Crowded Field of Contenders
The roster doesn’t stop there. A slew of Democratic governors—Kentucky’s Andy Beshear, Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker, Maryland’s Wes Moore, California’s Gavin Newsom, Colorado’s Jared Polis, Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, and Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer—are all in the mix.
Sen. Christopher Murphy of Connecticut is stepping up his national profile, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York could pick up the torch from aging socialist icon Sen. Bernie Sanders, who defied doubters in 2016 and 2020.
For Democrats, peering toward 2028 offers a lifeline amid the wreckage of November’s loss. “The chattering class, the parlor, is in full tilt right now,” said Chris Walton, former chairman of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party.
“We’d rather be trying to figure out what ’28 looks like instead of trying to survive until ’28.” A CNN poll over the weekend emphasized the urgency: the party’s favorability has sunk to 29%, a new low, with voters clamoring for bolder resistance to Trump.
The recent clash over a GOP spending plan and Trump’s push with Elon Musk to shrink government have laid bare the party’s fractures—cracks that widened when leaders sidelined Biden in 2024 and crowned Harris. “The truth is a lot of people want to be president, and they start as soon as the votes are counted from the last presidential election,” Farnsworth noted. “You wait at your peril in presidential politics.”
Testing New Tones and Tactics
Emanuel stormed back into the fray with a biting take at The Economic Club of Chicago: “We just had the worst reading scores in 30 years, worst math scores in 30 years, and we are talking about bathrooms, locker rooms. We have failed the American people, and they are p*ssed off, and guess what? They earned the right to be p*ssed off at all of us.”
Newsom, the quintessential California progressive, has veered off-script, hosting MAGA figures Charlie Kirk and Steven Bannon on his podcast and calling transgender athletes in women’s sports “deeply unfair.”
Whitmer, meanwhile, has cozied up to Trump, meeting him at the White House to talk tariffs and the economy. Pritzker, a billionaire with deep pockets, is headed to New Hampshire next month for a key Democratic fundraiser, where he’s already taking swings.
“If we want to regain the trust of the voters that we stand for, Democrats have to deliver,” he said Tuesday at the Center for American Progress. “For sure, we have to call out the BS that Republicans have been selling, but meanwhile, Democrats have to make people’s lives better.” As the party braces to face Vice President J.D. Vance in 2028, the stakes—and the scramble—are higher than ever.
