Given 2028 some thought

[angrychair]

If I were to pick an early choice I am completely into a Pete Buttigieg/AOC ticket.

Tired of everyone trying to appease the middle or concede anything to Republicans.

Let's have candidates that are unapologetically deep blue liberals. Plus we need smart, serious people to fix the government.
I would also still consider VP Harris as well but to be clear people like Booker or Newsom or Schiff are permanently off my list.

[surfered]

1. I agree, both are exceptional candidates. How would they do with Independent voters?

[TnDem]

11. This

This is the question to be asked

[cadoman]

18. that is why allowing the primary process to play out is so important

Trust Democracy. Allow the voters to weigh in. The question of whether AOC & Pete can win independent minds & votes will easily be answered by that. We can also put to the test the question of whether our next candidate has to be a white, cis male, by letting the voters decide.

I think they are our best, natural political talents, but admit they haven't been tested in hostile waters. I'm excited to see how they do and hope they resonate in ways beyond our highest hopes.

The DNC needs to learn to stay out of the process till candidate selection is completed. They are completely oblivious to how much they screw things up when they lean full-body into the irony and distrust Democracy.

[anciano]

2. Agreed ....

it's time to pass the torch.

[Fiendish Thingy]

3. Love them both, however...

Unless something at the DNC changes significantly before primary season, the 2028 nominee will be a straight white male not named Shapiro or Newsom.

If I had money to wager, I’d put my money on either Murphy or Beshear.

Neither would be at the top of my wish list, but right now, I’d say the odds favor them.

[angrychair]

5. Not in favor of either

Newsom for obvious reasons. Shapiro because our Party spent an incredible amount of time, money and effort in Pennsylvania only to lose it and he has to bare some responsibility.

I don't have anything bad about Murphy or Beshear but the last small state Democrat to win the WH was Clinton and that was a very different time.

[BannonsLiver]

24. Delaware is a pretty small state.

[yorkster]

30. Sen. Murphy is CT and Beshear is KY.

[BannonsLiver]

37. I'm aware of that.

The OP said it had been a long time since someone from a “small state” had been elected president. Not true. Joe Biden, from Delaware, was elected president in 2020.

[yorkster]

39. Aaahh. Sorry about that. Read the OP, but

missed your intended connection, which is a pretty clear one. Mea culpa.

[pinkstarburst]

6. I think if the DNC manipulates things

and forces a straight white christian male down the throats of democratic voters when there is no enthusiasm for this choice, they will see a repeat of 2024: low turnout at the polls and another republican victory.

2024 saw lots of issues. Due to the timing of when Biden withdrew, there was no one but Harris who could have run. However, the result of this was that some voters may have felt they had no buy in, no ability to cast their votes and have their voices heard in a primary process. Voters do not react well when they feel like they have no choice in the matter. This is why we are losing young voters in the democratic party. They don't want to vote republican, but they don't feel like we represent them or stand for them or will fight for what they care about either. Forcing a straight white christian male down their throats will not get these voters to the polls in the numbers we need to win. We need to get over this idea that we must let the republicans pick both their candidates and ours. This is lunacy. We are not going to flip conservative right voters to our side by running a straight white christian male. Those voters are still voting republican. I don't get why we can't figure that out...

[SocialDemocrat61]

7. You overestimate what the DNC can do

So whatever changes that may occur there will be irrelevant.

[Fiendish Thingy]

12. The DNC has huge influence over the primary process

They can arrange for a coronation, create a narrative that a particular candidate is “inevitable”, or is the only one who is “electable” in the general, all via surrogates in the media and punditry.

In addition, they can create a primary schedule that favors some candidates over others, especially regarding fundraising.

The DNC can create an obstacle course for certain candidates, and clear a path for preferred candidates.

We have seen it before; we shall see if the same machinery will be active for 2028.

[SocialDemocrat61]

14. None of that is true

They set basic ground rules, host some of the debates and coordinate between state organizations and certain campaign committees. Their influence on the actual primary process is overblown.

[Fiendish Thingy]

15. That is a quite naive and trusting opinion.

We have seen DNC’s thumb on the scale numerous times over the past decades.

It may not be obvious to some, but DNC narratives are constructed and disseminated via surrogates every cycle.

[SocialDemocrat61]

17. No it's reality based

How have we seen the DNC with their thumb on the scale over the past decades? What narratives have they constructed and disseminated? And please provide links to credible sources that provide verifiable facts.

[cadoman]

19. let me guess, you don't believe that the DNC assisted either Hillary or Biden?

I see this same form of argument form my Realtor when they say they act in my best interests on the price of a house...

Let me put it to you this way, if the DNC were neutral, as you suggest, they would determine matters like debate criteria, superdelegates, and the primary calendar once, and leave it that way. Because if none of those things mattered, they'd have no motivation to change them, so they'd just set them once and be done and move on to fighting Republicans.

But they don't. They change it every election in ways that just happen to align with certain candidates. And everyone who calls them out is gaslit and not "credible". And of course none of this can ever be "proven" because a person's motivation is only known to them, but of course certain candidates clearly benefit from these changes and others--who perhaps assumed the rules wouldn't change--don't.

And this next election, when the DNC almost inevitably changes the rules to benefit some established candidate they're clearly fond of, and to the detriment of some outsider candidate that young voters & independents clearly prefer, we'll each apply the same reasoning and come to the same conclusions.

[SocialDemocrat61]

26. Show me concrete evidence

instead of just spouting unproven accusations from supporters of candidates who lost.

[EarlG]

38. Um, the DNC's post-2016 rule reforms were made at the behest of Bernie Sanders

In 2017, following a bitterly contentious Democratic National Convention and the defeat of nominee Hillary Clinton, representatives of the Sanders, Clinton, and Obama camps came together as a Unity Commission and negotiated reform of the party rules. The unity reforms are a credit to the work of Larry Cohen representing Sanders and then-chair Tom Perez, as well as Keith Ellison, the Sanders-backed candidate for party chair who Perez narrowly defeated for the job.

(snip)

The 2017 reforms were a testament to the influence of Sanders forces, who had enough delegates at the 2016 convention to get 25 percent representation on all committees and pushed relentlessly for a more open party.

(snip)

On July 30, the Democratic National Committee’s Rules Committee voted unanimously to keep the reform rules in place for 2024. Had this not been done, it would have been up to the new DNC to make the 2024 rules.

The Rules Committee acted partly thanks to a letter sent by 39 state party chairs, urging the committee to leave the reform rules in place. The letter was partly the work of Sanders people but also reflects the desire of most state party chairs to have a more open process with more participation.

https://prospect.org/politics/sanders-continuing-influence-party-rules-stay-reformed/

In 2020 and 2024, Democratic primary candidates were playing by rules which had been rewritten with the strong influence of Bernie Sanders. These were the rules that were in place when Sanders lost the primary to Biden in 2020.

[Fiendish Thingy]

33. Not going to do 40 years of research for you

If you choose to remain blissfully oblivious to the obvious, and believe the DNC is completely neutral in all matters related to the primaries, that’s your choice.

[SocialDemocrat61]

36. So you can't prove what you claim

And I’m not the one being blissfully oblivious. I just require actual evidence before believing anything accusations.

Plus I never claimed that everyone at the DNC is completely neutral, so nice straw man. What I do know is that the DNC is not some all powerful monolithic that some claim it is nor have I ever seen any evidence that the DNC has ever taken any concrete actions to throw a single primary from one candidate to another.

[Demsrule86]

22. We need to consider electability...

and what you say is simply not true. I will vote for the candidate that has the best chance to win,

[Fiendish Thingy]

34. In the primaries?

I will support the candidate who best reflects my values and policy positions, and who is the most likely to enact them.

“Electability” is exactly the myth I was talking about - narratives are crafted and amplified via media surrogates to sway voters that the DNC-desired candidate is the most “electable”.

[RandomNumbers]

9. The top of my wish list is someone who will win the Electoral College

and be to the left of Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Joe Manchin ... you get the idea.

We had our chances to solidify truly liberal values on the Supreme Court and in Congress, and we blew it ... badly.

I don't want to see Trump-light winning in 2028 because we ran someone that can't possibly win the Electoral College.

I despise the Electoral College and the gerrymandering that has handed Congress and state houses to republicans.

But just because I despise something about reality, doesn't make it less real.

[pinkstarburst]

4. I see a lot of momentum for both of them on socials

I think we need candidates who get the democrats excited. I reject the idea that we have to stick to straight white christian males. We aren't going to get the conservative right vote. We need to stop pretending that if we run a straight white christian male, conservative voters are going to switch sides. They aren't.

We would do better to run candidates who get democrats excited to show up at the polls and vote.

I love Buttigieg and AOC. When I hear Buttigieg speak, I'm reminded of Obama in 2008. I love how direct AOC is.

[cadoman]

20. christofascists aren't going to vote for someone who just looks christofascist

I see this mistake all the time in red states. You can't just take a cis white male and dress him up with some x-ian trappings and have a candidate. Why? Well the chrisofascists will just ask where said candidate stands on choice and gun violence and when they answer that they are pro choice and in favor of ending gun violence, that'll be the end of it. A christofascist will even vote for a woman or g*d help them a "darkie" if they are in favor of guns and imprisoning women (see: Thomas, Clarence or Noem, Kristi).

It's better to run a genuine, sensible progressive who gets the Democratic base excited, and can pull in the necessary independents to win. Being appealing to independents is the key.

[Demsrule86]

23. I like Pete alot and I like AOC very much but I don't believe either of them can

win the electoral college.

[Demsrule86]

25. WE must win the electoral college...Walsh Beshear, Shapiro Pritzker etc.

could win the electoral college. There are others.

[SocialDemocrat61]

8. I won't waste my time

thinking about 2028 until December 2027. My advice for you is to do the same.

[Mountainguy]

10. The US isn't a liberal country

Liberals can't even win Democratic primaries, much less National general elections.

[Fiendish Thingy]

13. Most voters don't *identify* as liberal

However, most voters support liberal policies when those policies aren’t identified with a liberal/conservative label.

Health care, child care, student loan forgiveness, climate policy, minimum wage, voting rights, reproductive rights, etc. The majority of voters support liberal policies in these areas.

The only significant exception to this is immigration.

[andym]

32. Voters support the two Santas: liberal govt programs AND GOP tax cuts, there is less support for social issues

So it's a tossup for voters economically. The progressive social issues are what the GOP uses against Democrats because they are less popular-- it's why they were showing the ads about Kamala and democrats being "woke", supporting transgender restrooms, critical race theory, "defund the police", "open borders" etc. Of course they exaggerate these as mainstream Democratic positions, but there are a group of progressives who support some version of these who are sometimes used in the ads.

[Fiendish Thingy]

35. Reproductive rights and marriage equality are supported by a majority of voters, regardless of party affiliation.

It’s not just the “two Santa’s”, there are many progressive policies supported by a majority of all voters.

[Blue Full Moon]

16. If the big beautiful bill passes

There's a section that allows trump to stop elections. Another part keeps the courts from holding him in contempt.

[TheProle]

29. Can you post or link to these sections?

[BannonsLiver]

21. An excellent recipe for 4 years of Vance or Trump Jr.

[OLDMDDEM]

27. Josh Shapiro

[Polybius]

28. I don't mind two young Millennials

Two young Boomers worked in 1992. Sad they neither Party has even nominated a Gen Xer though. Would love one of my own one day.

[lees1975]

31. Agree. Since what we are doing now not only isn't working, it's getting worse.

Don't celebrate Trump being at 39% approval when Democrats hit 25%.

There are some people who know what they are doing, like Bernie, AOC and David Hogg. Time for major party reform, no more status quo.

[Clouds Passing]

40. Tim Walz