If it’s to have a future, the Democratic Party must not only condemn Trumpism but explain why so many Americans are struggling and provide a credible way for most people to share in the nation’s prosperity.
That means forgetting about moving to the so-called “center” and instead embracing the passion, energy, youth, and big ideas of young Democratic candidates like Zohran Mamdani in New York and Senate candidates Graham Platner in Maine, Dan Osborn in Nebraska, Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, and Nathan Sage in Iowa.
Most Americans are justifiably angry that our political-economic system is in the hands of a bevy of billionaires and multimillionaires who have rigged it for their own benefit.
Trump talks as if he’s a tribune of the people but he’s cutting Medicaid, food stamps, veterans’ benefits, education, and much of what average Americans depend on so he can give another big tax cut to his wealthy backers.
Where are congressional Democrats in all this? Dazed, asleep, mum, frightened.
Trump has baselessly attributed America’s real problems — such as stagnant wages, insecure jobs, soaring food prices, and unaffordable housing — to immigrants, the “deep state,” transgender people, socialists, and communists.
Why don’t Democrats tell America the truth — that these problems are largely due to monopolistic corporations and robber-baron billionaires? Because too many Democratic politicians are afraid to bite the hands that feed their campaign coffers.
Hopefully, that’s beginning to change. A cohort of new, young, progressive Democrats appears willing to take on the moneyed interests.
They’re calling for higher taxes on the super-wealthy to finance what average working Americans need. And they want big money out of our politics.
Mamdani’s remarkable win in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary was based on the simple message that New York has an affordability crisis and that the wealthiest New Yorkers must help respond.
Mamdani’s three main proposals to help working families cope with it are to make city buses free, freeze the rent for stabilized apartments, and expand free child care.
Under Mamdani’s plan, the financial burden of paying for these policies would largely fall on wealthy taxpayers and businesses.
Other young progressives now running for U.S. Senate are sounding similar themes. They include Maine’s Graham Platner, a 40-year-old veteran and oyster farmer who’s challenging incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins.
Platner describes his candidacy as a referendum on wealth and power. He’s pledging to “topple the oligarchy.”
As he pilots a fishing boat in his launch video, Platner rails against billionaires, corrupt politicians, unattainable housing, and decades of stagnant wages.
“People know that the system is screwing them. No one I know around here can afford a house. Health care is a disaster, hospitals are closing. We have watched all of that get ripped away from us, and everyone is just trying to keep it all together.
Why can’t we have universal health care like every other first-world country? Why can’t we take care of our veterans when they come home? Why are we funding endless wars and bombing children? Why are CEOs more powerful than unions? We’ve fought three different wars since the last time we raised the minimum wage.”
Nebraska’s Dan Osborn — a union president and former machinist who organized Nebraska workers during a nationwide strike at the cereal giant Kellogg’s — invokes a similar message. He’s attacking CEOs who care more about wealthy shareholders than workers and politicians who are more loyal to donors than voters.
Osborn captured national attention during his independent Senate run in 2024 against Republican Senator Deb Fischer. Although he lost that race, he narrowed Fischer’s margin of victory to single digits in a state that Trump won by 20 points.
Now he’s back, challenging incumbent Republican Senator Pete Ricketts in a contest Osborn characterizes as a struggle between the working class and the wealthy.
Osborn contrasts himself with Ricketts, whose father founded stockbroker TD Ameritrade and whose net worth is estimated to be $184 million. “Our government doesn’t look like me,” says Osborn, “so that’s certainly what I want to get in there and change.”
Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed is the former director of Wayne County’s Health and Human Services and the Detroit Health Department and a former professor of epidemiology at Columbia. His background in public health is a big reason why he’s so dedicated to Medicare for All and abolishing medical debt.
El-Sayed has become one of the Democrats’ most cogent citics of RFK Jr. El-Sayed also has a strong political track record as runner-up to Gretchen Whitmer in the 2018 Democratic primary for governor and as part of the Biden-Bernie Unity task force in 2020.
Iowa’s Nathan Sage is challenging Republican incumbent Senator Joni Ernst. He’s a military veteran, mechanic, and longtime sports radio personality whose campaign emphasizes his working-class identity and the needs of Iowa’s working class.
The Democratic establishment doesn’t particularly like any of the people I’ve named.
Mamdani is making corporate Democrats cringe. Hillary Clinton endorsed Andrew Cuomo for New York mayor. Trump may, too.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is eschewing the progressive Senate candidates I’ve mentioned in favor of so-called “moderates.”
That’s a mistake. The Democratic establishment is looking in the rearview mirror.
What about the Democrats’ presidential candidate in 2028?
My personal favorites are Representative Ro Khanna of Ohio and former senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who’s now running again for the U.S. Senate. I’ve also been impressed by three governors who are effectively standing up to Trump: California’s Gavin Newsom, Illinois’s JB Pritzker, and Maryland’s Wes Moore.
I’m also hearing from young people across the country — not only in the Democratic strongholds of New York, California, and Massachusetts but also in Texas (where I spent some time in August) — that they’re moved and excited by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In 2028 — assuming Trump doesn’t call off the next presidential election — AOC will be the ripe old age of 38, and eligible for the presidency.
A new day is dawning for the Democratic Party — if it’s able to see the sunrise.
Robert Reich is a professor at Berkeley and was secretary of labor under Bill Clinton. You can find his writing at https://robertreich.substack.com/.