Perhaps no politician in modern American history has had more success defining themselves through memetic policy proposals than Zohran Mamdani.
Freeze The Rent. Universal Childcare. Fast & Free Buses. The now-Mayor’s flagship promises were emblazoned on supporters’ homemade campaign swag and shouted out synchronistically by thousands of rallygoers – shit straight out of the nerd-dreams of bespectacled policy staffers everywhere. (Sorry pals, but nobody is chanting about your means-tested refundable tax credits for first-time homebuyers!)
It wasn’t an accident. In a recent interview with Crooked’s Jon Favreau, Mamdani’s creative director Andrew Epstein explained:
“We knew [from the outset] we were going to run relentlessly on this affordability agenda. We knew we were going to lead with three bold but achievable, digestible policies that spoke directly to the conditions of people's lives.”
That quote stuck with me. Because after a year of obsessively monitoring top Dems, I can’t really name a single big, bold, digestible, defining new idea. Which is bad, since people continue to strongly dislike our party and have no idea what we stand for beyond opposing Trump.
That’s not to say there haven’t been worthy entries in the affirmative vision department! Some even get close to what I’m talking about. RO KHANNA has a compelling short list. AOC was already tied to memetic policies like Medicare For All & Abolish ICE. There have been sweeping policy proposals on key issues, like RUBEN GALLEGO’s on housing, energy, & immigration, and MARK KELLY’s on AI. There are one-off proposals that stand out as effective rebukes of our broken system, like ELISSA SLOTKIN’s call to end the presidential pardon, and RAHM EMANUEL’s proposed age limits for top gov’t officials. There are flagship initiatives from governors that will be touted as national models, like WES MOORE’s public service year program and JOSH SHAPIRO’s elimination of college degree requirements for state jobs.
But remedying the Democratic Party’s prevailing deficiencies – the toxic brand, the credibility gap, the attachment to the status quo, the purposelessness (to name a few!) – demands Dem leaders breaking through with BIG IDEAS that speak directly to working people. Not vague ~affordability~ handwaving, or recycled laundry lists, or 100-page white papers, but BIG IDEAS that tell people who we are & what we’ll do for them.
And nothing has really passed my (admittedly nebulous and entirely subjective) BIG IDEA test. Nothing, that is, until I heard CORY BOOKER propose this:
No American should pay any income tax on their first $70,000 of earnings.
That’s it. That’s the policy. No income tax on your first $70,000.
It’s a policy he’s still road-testing & running the numbers on – the first pillar of a forthcoming plan to “redeem the dream” that also includes measures to make raising a family & starting a business far more affordable – but it would be paid for by some combination of boosting the top marginal tax rate for the highest earners, reversing some cuts to the corporate tax rate, and closing loopholes.
Now, I’m not gonna pretend to be an economist. If I were good at money, I probably wouldn’t spend all this time writing a free newsletter. But I LOVE this proposal.
If you want to help working people afford life, let them keep more of their hard-earned dollars. It’s the kind of thing everybody can immediately understand – that you can feel in your bones. And it feels fair, and possible, and life-changing. It feels like somebody actually gives a shit.
FAIR cuz it’s universal & it’s your money; not some targeted handout, but a long overdue unrigging of the system. POSSIBLE, cuz it’s a straightforward (and surely popular) change to the tax code; not some massive new gov’t program. LIFE-CHANGING, cuz it would swiftly lift working people up by thousands of dollars.
So I can’t tell you what the long-term budgetary effects of this policy are, or whether $70k is the ideal threshold. But what I can tell you for sure is, Cory Booker has a big fucking idea. More of that, please.
The week 2028 started to get real
Friends, I regret to inform you that the 2028 primary is now undeniably underway. Don’t shoot the messenger. (Whatever, you sickos signed up for this.)
But this week felt like a turning point – the week 2028 got real. The real-ification. Here is an incomplete snapshot of 👀 things that happened this week…
MARK KELLY, campaigning in Georgia, told CNN he’s starting to think seriously about running for president – and has been sending boatloads of cash to state parties around the country, including in all the likely early nominating states.
ANDY BESHEAR explicitly outlined his 2028 theory of the case to Politico, before joining GAVIN NEWSOM & GRETCHEN WHITMER in Davos, where the trio trumpeted their achievements (and bracketed Trump) before the global elite.
JOSH SHAPIRO, in excerpts of his new memoir shared with press, aimed sharp criticism at KAMALA HARRIS’s 2024 campaign and its vetting of him, refuting the unflattering portrayal in her book – which she continued promoting in massive campaign-like events before headlining Chicago’s MLK Interfaith Breakfast.
CORY BOOKER campaigned for Roy Cooper with NC Dems, made 5 stops across SC with party leaders, then delivered a stump-speechy keynote at the SC NAACP’s King Day rally – where RO KHANNA also spoke.
PETE BUTTIGIEG was in peak presidential form as he electrified a raucous crowd of 1,000+ at a WI town hall, and JB PRITZKER & RUBEN GALLEGO are set to headline a major NV Dems event in Vegas.
See what I mean?
The full-throated “I’m not even thinking about that” is evolving into, “Well, of course I’m thinking about it…” Deadpan explanations for out-of-state travel are giving way to wink-wink jokes about how beautiful New Hampshire is this time of year.
It is – unfortunately – so on. And just in time, with only ~725 short days until those first ballots are cast. Speaking of which…
Early applications
The primary calendar may seem like a niche process issue that I’m oddly preoccupied by, and it is, but that’s only because the order will have outsize influence over the shape of the primary & candidates’ paths to the nomination. The DNC’s early-state application window is now closed, and the 12 states that applied – 4-5 of which will ultimately be chosen – are: NV, NM, GA, NC, SC, TN, VA, IL, IA, MI, NH, & DE. The DNC’s rules panel meets next Saturday to evaluate those bids, though we likely won’t get a final decision for several more months.
FWIW, I’d be shocked if NH, NV, MI, & SC are not early states. NH, NV, & MI all have laws on the books that make them harder to move, and SC is not getting spiked. The big question is, does the DNC keep just those 4; allow IA back as the 5th; add GA & hope Ds win that SecState race this year (the DNC tried to move GA up in 2024, but the GOP SecState blocked it); or pick VA or some other 5th state that carries less drama. Here’s my best guess at the eventual early calendar:
NH (Late Jan.) → NV (Feb. 1) → SC (early Feb.) → MI (Feb. 22) → GA (late Feb.)
Quick hits
DHS funding tension: dissenter centers attention on detention centers. CT Sen. CHRIS MURPHY, the top D on the Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, has spent part of the Senate recess (do these people ever work? they just had a 43-day gov’t shutdown followed by a 3-week Xmas vacation!) in South Texas, attempting to conduct oversight of ICE detention centers – he was denied entry – and immigration courts, providing play-by-play of the grim scenes as he continues urging his Dem colleagues to block DHS funding unless major reforms are included. He seems to be making headway – particularly with fellow 2028ers.
So much Moore news. It’s been a wild week in Annapolis. Gov. WES MOORE released a new budget that aims to erase a $1.5 billion budget shortfall without raising taxes as MD reels from federal job and funding cuts. He got a huge boost as former Gov. Larry Hogan – the only R who could muster a quasi-serious challenge to his reelection bid – announced he won’t run. And Moore is facing an increasingly fraught redistricting situation, after his advisory commission put forward a haphazardly-drawn 8-0 Dem map that has only hardened opposition from Senate Leader Bill Ferguson.
Here it is, your moment of zen… JON STEWART – my top-ranked 2028 outsider candidate – was asked by a Daily Show audience member if he’d ever run for office. He responded by positing that the fact he’s getting this question speaks to the desperation and dissatisfaction people have with the status quo. What he didn’t say anywhere in that answer was, “No.”
