Democrats are down in the dumps this inauguration weekend, and their hopes are not being lifted when they look at their prospects for winning back the White House in 2028.
As President-elect Trump prepares to enter the Oval Office for a second time, plenty of Democrats looking at a potential field that includes Vice President Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer give this answer when asked who they think can put the party back on top: None of the above.
“We need a political exorcism,” one top Democratic strategist said.
Two months of introspection and analysis have left party operatives feeling the best-known hopefuls could suffer the same fate as Harris. They say their party needs to find a candidate who better appeals to not only Democrats but the electorate as a whole.
“They all talk out of the same playbook and that same playbook has failed again and again and again. We have a major f‑‑‑ing problem,” the strategist said of the list of potential candidates being bandied about. “And we’re headed to a multi-cycle wilderness if we think any of those people can fix it.”
One major Democratic donor agreed with that assessment. Asked who was most appealing among the top contenders, the donor replied, “Honestly, none of them.”
“How are any of them different from what we’ve had before?” the donor added. “It’s like the old expression, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting it to be different.”
In the days following Trump’s stunning victory — in which he won not just the Electoral College but the popular vote — and an election that saw the Senate flip and Republicans retain control of the House, some Democrats maintain they need not only wholesale makeover of their party but a new messenger at the top.
Democrats acknowledge that in the last two months, they feel demoralized and lost, almost the opposite feeling of the one they had on the heels of Trump’s surprise win against Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons conceded that Democrats in Washington are “rightfully worried about the future of the party in a macro sense” and that Democrats have “got to burn down our image.”
“Our vibe is off,” said Simmons, who served as communications director for Harris until 2023. “The whiff of us is that we don’t live life like most Americans. It doesn’t feel as culturally familiar as the Republican vibe.”
More specifically, when it comes to the top contenders for 2028, Simmons said it’s still early.
But he cautioned, “everything is possible and nobody is safe.”
Other Democrats point to President Biden and his administration, which they say was not only completely out of touch with what voters wanted but unsympathetic to the struggles of Americans. And when Biden announced he would no longer seek reelection, Harris, while more energetic, didn’t offer anything different.
In recent weeks, Democrats — even would-be hopefuls like Newsom — haven’t offered much in the way of change, some in the party say.
Several Democrats interviewed by The Hill highlighted the California governor’s response to the wildfires in the Los Angeles region by promising to launch investigations but refusing to accept any responsibility for the devastating loss in his state.
“Instead of saying ‘I cant believe there was no water in the reservoirs’ and taking action, it’s just excuse after excuse,” the Democratic strategist said. “And somehow we don’t think this will bleed into the presidential election. Mark my words, no one will forget this.”
At the same time, Democrats are casting doubt on other contenders including Whitmer, Harris and outgoing Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, saying they represent the status quo.
A second strategist predicted that the next few years during the Trump era would be “a race for who can be the chief Trump critic.”
“I don’t know, man,” the strategist said. “I think voters spoke pretty loudly about what they wanted. And their response was ‘f‑‑‑ them.’”
Whitmer, in recent days, has taken steps to show she wants to come together with Republicans, including Trump, something other Democrats have considered in the weeks since the president-elect’s win.
“I have shared with some of my colleagues from some of the very blue states that my situation here in Michigan is very different than theirs,” Whitmer said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I’ve got a Republican House of Representatives — majority Republican House — now to work with.
“I’ve got to make sure that I can deliver and work with folks of the federal government, and so I don’t view myself as the leader of the opposition like some might,” Whitmer said, adding that she suspects she and Trump can “find common ground on some things.”
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has also carved a unique path since November, moving toward the center on some issues and signaling a desire to work with Trump and some of his appointees. He represents a swing state that Trump won in 2024.
While some Democrats say there needs to be a wider net cast for potential candidates, Democratic strategist Eddie Vale said the 2028 race is already different from past cycles because there isn’t a clear front-runner for the nomination.
“With the caveat of course who knows who will get in, if you’re tired of the same old folks, the 2028 field is actually probably one of the most wide open and youngest possibilities in decades,” Vale said.
