President AOC? Democrats Need Star Power to Win in 2028

The election autopsy industry is thriving. Democrats and pundits are arguing over whether Kamala Harris should have appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast; who deserves blame for losing Pennsylvania; and how Harris could have definitively distanced herself from President Joe Biden. All worthy debates. And they all miss an enormous lesson to be learned for 2028: The Democrats need their own demagogue.

A good kind of demagogue, of course—not the Donald Trump kind who stokes racist, sexist, anti-government rage as a campaign tactic. And yes, I’m twisting the definition of demagogue just a bit. But hear me out: Trump, twice now, has demonstrated the importance of choosing a compelling character as your party’s nominee. Yes, the substance of what that nominee is selling matters. But being able to generate attention in an ever-more-fragmented media world and reaching the crucial, growing population of low-information voters matters more all the time. That’s something Trump, a 78-year-old creature of old media, grasped in 2024. More...