There is something to be said for saying nothing sometimes.
As my friends and family would tell you, it is not an art I’ve mastered.
But if you are, say, an opposition party in a midterm that will be a referendum on a historically unpopular president, you can see the upside of existing simply as an amorphous, anodyne alternative.
Hence, when asked last week what the agenda would be if Democrats flip the Senate, Chuck Schumer — who is running for another term as leader (yes, really) — responded, “Well, stay tuned.”
A charitable reading of this approach is that it gives red state Dems room to run their own races — which they are doing quite effectively — unburdened by the toxic party brand and whatever one-size-fits-all proposals its leaders might put forward.
An uncharitable one might suggest it’s the leadership vacuum that made the brand toxic in the first place – that even Dems’ cultural alienation is partly attributable to this hollowness, which allows The Right to fill the space with loony leftist randos held up as Democratic Party mascots.
A measured one might conclude that being inanimate and invertebrate is a fine midterm strategy, but it’s a hard habit — and reputation — to shake. And it’s a really bad way to build the actual political power needed to deliver meaningful change.
The Democratic Party cannot continue to exist only in the negative — defined not by any articulable agenda, but by absence or antithesis of Trumpism.
And, it won’t. Which is the whole reason I started this very important LiveJournal.
We are on the brink of a generational fight over the very form, function, and future of the party – a wide-open battle of ideas for remaking a rusting democracy.
I’ve spent much of the past 14 months chronicling this battle of ideas, and I have to say, there have been fewer ideas than you’d think.
To be fair to the quasi-candidates, it’s very hard to pretend you are simply campaigning for Dems in critical midterm races while championing your own revolutionary policy platform.
But as we enter the post-pretending portion of the shadow primary, the ideas contest is budding – and early entries nod toward something more interesting than a new front in the endless factional policy wars that have been raging since 2015.
In the post-Obama era, the Dems who have best articulated their worldview have primarily been of The Left – Bernie, and acolytes like AOC and Zohran. But there are, in fact, other coherent narratives to weave, and compelling policies that don’t begin with Abolish, or end with For All.
And we are starting to see them. For example:
RAHM EMANUEL has been a human firehose of ideas. And despite his (well-earned) reputation for punching at the DSA wing of the party, most of his proposals eschew the left-right construct: age limits for federal officials; banning social media for under-16s; diverting new ICE funding to community colleges; a grand bargain for higher education that includes free tuition for families making under $200k. (There are dozens more.)
PETE BUTTIGIEG has leaned into big structural reforms, pitching proportional representation for the House, in addition to overhauling the courts, campaign finance laws, and much of the federal bureaucracy.
CHRIS MURPHY has a piercing diagnosis of the spiritual erosion wrought by unregulated capitalism, and an expansive platform to restore the common good. Last month, he introduced the IRL Act – a novel bill that would tax social media giants’ ad revenue at 50% and send the money to a new Social Capital Fund for communities to invest in third spaces.
And one of the biggest swings yet just landed this week…
On Wednesday, Sen. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-AZ) unveiled a sweeping reimagination of the American economy — one that would make corporate CEOs play by the rules instead of writing them, and allow families to breathe again.
We can debate the merits of doing campaign policy in the attention economy via 32-page white paper — and Gallego has now done five of these — but there is a lot to like in this one.
It starts with the fact that Ruben is an actual working-class kid who has lived the American Dream and is genuinely angry that it has slipped away. And I mean that literally; this is how the white paper begins:
Sharing that visceral fury so many Americans feel over this rigged system – and the theft of their agency — is essential. The remedies flow downstream from there. Here are a few that jumped out at me:
a New Deal-style public service jobs program funded by taxing AI
a corporate “robot” tax to discourage job displacement and support impacted workers
a 10% excise tax on data centers
a $20 minimum wage
requiring companies to pay double for overtime work, and offer paid sick leave, vacation leave, and family and medical leave
an excise tax on large companies that pay low wages
banning megamergers for companies with market caps over $100 billion
The platform also includes proposals to significantly strengthen unions, overhaul trade policy, bolster antitrust enforcement, and rein in private equity, among other things. There is little in it that trips intraparty fault lines, and plenty with bipartisan appeal.
It turns out, there is something to be said for saying something after all. Or after the midterms, at least.
We are still just scratching the surface of the possible, particularly given the infinite scroll of new challenges and opportunities that AI presents.
In 25 days, the Democratic Party will win a referendum on Donald Trump. What will it stand for? Stay tuned!
Quick Hits
SURROGATE PETE continues to crisscross the nation to boost Dems in the midterms; after a packed weekend in NH, Adam Wren reports Buttigieg will hit 3 more early states – VA, MI, & NV – along with NC, NJ, & GA down the stretch.
On 10/19, BUTTIGIEG will campaign for Shannon Taylor (VA-01), Elaine Luria (VA-02), & Tom Perriello (VA-05) – 3 of the 4 districts Dems tried to redraw as blue ones this cycle.
RAPHAEL WARNOCK embarked on a 9-leg pre-midterm tour beginning with stops in NH, NV, & SC – notably, the states that will hold the first three 2028 primaries. Additional stops include MS, NC, MI, WI, & OH.
CHRIS MURPHY made a trip to the Middle East to take stock of the Iran war’s damage and meet with regional partners, including the Saudi Crown Prince; the Pentagon apparently denied him access to the US military base in Doha after learning about his trip.
KAMALA HARRIS appears to have more pieces in place for a potential run than previously known, as Zohreen Shah at The Donor Class named about a dozen staffers – most of whom are senior aides – currently on her payroll.
Trump’s DOJ subpoenaed RUBEN GALLEGO’s leadership PAC as part of their ongoing probe into his use of campaign funds.
GALLEGO & RO KHANNA made appearances at a Symposium on Young American Men held recently in DC, the Washington Sun’s Sam Fortier reports.
JB PRITZKER will hit the road with the South Carolina Democratic Party on Saturday, with stops in Columbia and Manning, SC.
PRITZKER has now spent $38M of his personal fortune on fellow Dems this cycle, per Puck’s Peter Hamby, including another $1M in support of Gina Hinojosa (TX-Gov).
RO KHANNA continues to take direct aim at fellow ambitious Californian GAVIN NEWSOM, telling ABC News’s Juhi Doshi that the governor opposes the CA wealth tax initiative because he’s beholden to the donor class.
This is a trend: Last week, RO whacked GAVIN for saying he’d forgo 2028 if KAMALA runs. He has gone after him on fraud in CA, on trans athletes, and more.
AOC unveiled the Ban Flock Act with Sens. Sanders & Merkley, which would prohibit the federal government from using automated license plate readers or providing grants to state or local gov’ts that use them. (AOC & Bernie also introduced…” The Strokes, at a concert in Queens.)
Continuing her AI populism, AOC teamed up with Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday, finding common cause in touting their support for data center moratoria.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, RAPHAEL WARNOCK, ELISSA SLOTKIN, RUBEN GALLEGO, CHRIS MURPHY, & RAHM EMANUEL will be among the 2028ers attending Majority Democrats’ What’s Next summit in Denver on Nov. 12-14.
AP has a new triple-byline rundown of activity in the shadow primary.
I spoke to Pluribus News’s Reid Wilson about how governors are navigating AI & data center politics.
Highlights from the Big, Beautiful Tracker
[I am behind on the tracker this week, but will catch up this week and make sure the next newsletter is brimming with hot podcast gems for ya!]
