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After a crushing defeat in November and another election coming up next year, it’s increasingly apparent that the Democratic Party is in real trouble. They have several issues inside the party that need to be addressed, but their biggest is the lack of leadership.
Political consultant Jake Novak says that as of right now, there’s a massive vacuum at the top of the party. He said, “Who’s the most up-and-coming person? Is it Gavin Newsom? He’d usually be a strong candidate, but after the LA fires, he’s also weakened.”
Currently, there aren’t any other Democrats who stand out on a national level, and despite Newsom’s popularity with California Democrats, his record in the state is likely to make it difficult for him to win over crucial moderate voters if he were to run in 2028.
He also says that the top-down control of DNC elites over the party is going to prevent any rising Democratic star from really making a name for themselves. He pointed out that, “They don’t have any real freedom in the party. It’s clear that the DNC is telling every elected Democrat, from mayor on up, what to do and what to think. There’s very little deviation from it.”
But that’s just one issue of many. As Novak pointed out, the Democrats don’t really have any popular issues that they can campaign on in 2026, let alone in 2028. He said, “They don’t have anything that they’re for. Are they for the environment? Open borders? Not having any tariffs? These things don’t really resonate with enough people to really get them anywhere.”
According to Novak, these two issues combined are enough to give Republicans a massive head start in the upcoming midterms. He thinks it’s likely that the GOP gains much stronger majorities in the House and Senate.