3 Paths Democrats Could Take for a 2028 Comeback

After Donald Trump’s defeat of Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, the Democratic Party is still in the early stages of figuring out what went wrong and where to go next. Its rebuilding process could take years and, with Republicans more popular than any time in decades, there’s no guarantee of Democratic success next time.

But the party’s time in the wilderness might not last as long as many expect. The paths to a comeback are out there — and recent history offers three clear examples.

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[jimslancio]

One thing the Democrats will not do, is listen to Bernie Sanders. Their owners in the oligarchy won't permit it.

[Anti-Identity-Entity]

Romney kinda felt like Kamala Harris in a lot of ways

[ColonelSmiles]

The democrats need to pick someone who thinks for themselves and not candidates who invent a persona and have their speeches and policy be created by pr "experts" and party insiders

[hypyman]

it all depends on how the republican party performs in the next 4 years

[freemantle]

First and foremost, the Democrats need to have a proper primary contest, they did in 1992 and 2008 got excellent candidates. 2016, 2020, and 2024 were coronations and it two of the three turned out really badly. Biden and his team needed to realise they didn't win the 2020 election, Trump lost it because he mismanaged the pandemic. I personally believe Trump would have won the 2020 election if the pandemic never happened.

[anticitizenokapi]

Democrat voters: *We want Bernie or someone like Bernie with his character and beliefs!*
Democrats: *Do you all hear that? Must've been the wind, anyways here is a totally irrelevant candidate, who most people disliked that we have randomly chosen!*

[tarden]

they should focus on the 2026 midterms instead of of 2028 because it's much closer

[lukinnesbit]

The best way that the Dems can win in 2028 is to run a Bernie-esque candidate.

[mr.cheese]

I don’t get why you say Trump “doubled down” on Republican values. He didn’t. Republicans had been pro immigration and laissez-faire since Reagan. He was a new approach for Republicans, not a double down, and proved to appeal to more people.

[Thiscooldude]

This comment section is going to be "peaceful"

[noahmocettini]

People thought the Republican party was dead in 1932, 1964, 1976, 1992, 2008, and 2020. Yet here we are

[JTDPSN]

Democrats need to stop talking about trump. These debates or interviews was always attacking trump. It was exhausting. They need to stick with pushing progressive policies.

[majesticpictures]

Americans vote for charisma, not policy. Politics is a sport. If you make Americans think too hard, they will not vote for you. They want an entertainer above all else. This has been the case since 1980.

[jamesedrof]

Britain provides a good example, here. The morning after the 2019 General Election, Britons awoke to the first Conservative landslide victory in decades. Pundits spoke about how ten years of Tory dominance was all but guaranteed. Boris Johnson had built a new electoral coalition, reaching out to voters who, five years before, would have never been considered Conservative targets. Yet, five years later, all this lay in ruins and the Tory Party had been reduced to a rump. To quote Harold MacMillan, “events, dear boy, events” change the political landscape dramatically. Four, five years in politics is a long time and the honeymoon that the Republicans enjoy now won’t last forever.

[KilloreTroute]

1992, 1996, and 2000 were elections where no candidate received more than 50% of the popular vote. They also featured strong performances by 3rd party candidates.

[rebeccawinter]

Would be great if the US actually had a multi party democracy. Blue and red aren’t the only colours.

[socialdemocratjl]

Easy, embrace some left wing nationalism. Economically, go into mainstream social democracy, actually promote european style welfare without damaging the free market.
Socially, embrace common sense and nationalism. Be inclusive, but also be strong on national pride and tough against illegal immigrants, as legal immigrants like it that way as well. If uou really can't do that, you can still aggressively agree on liberal values but just at least appear to be pro-family or christian etc.

The problem of the democrats now is that they're too Right on economics and too Left on social matters. They need to go slightly left on economics and quite a bit right on society, this way will attract the ordinary people, who probably would long for better welfare but also has traditional values.

[jonathanfoster]

one thing that helped Trump in 2016 and moreso this year was the proliferation of the internet. you no longer had to rely on the party line pushed out by the MSM to see what your candidate was for. This year the vast majority of news consumption was from online independant sources which gave voters a clearer picture of what was actually happening.

[that_odd_guy]

"We have Vox at home."
Vox at home:

[mysteryjunkie]

I agree a Washington outsider is the best hope for Democratic candidates