I regularly speak with current and former high-level Democratic political operatives. To a person, they believe their own party to be leaderless, lost and out of touch with its own voter base.
They also believe that President Trump successfully poached a significant percentage of their formerly loyal base by actually addressing the bread-and-butter issues they found most troubling — something former Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), seemed to avoid like the plague.
For those paying attention, three issues emerged over the last four years that have shaken many Democrats to the core.
The first is that Joe Biden was apparently a “shadow president” for much of his administration, as various aides and allies went out of their way to hide the signs of his clearly diminished mind while also stage-managing him and parts of his presidency.
Next — as the Democrats work themselves through the five stages of presidential election grief — comes the acceptance that Harris was not only a bad candidate, but was never a good candidate and will never be a good candidate.
Last, we have the “adult in the room” Democrats taking a long hard look at the professional politician bench that is left after Harris’s embarrassing loss. They realize there is not one major-league hitter in the bunch.
Who is still on the bench from the 2020 spring training season? We have the likes of Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.); former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg whose highest elected position was as mayor of South Bend, Indiana; former HUD Secretary Julian Castro; and perennial candidate Marianne Williamson.
Next, let’s look at some of the new names being bandied about for 2028. In Congress, we have Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). In the states there’ are’s Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D); Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D).
Could any of those names excite the base? Never say never, but many of those names are spot-welded to the very policies, personalities and problems that drove millions of Democrats and independents into the arms of Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
For the Democrats I speak with, those names are the equivalent of political leftovers approaching or past their “sell-by” dates. The main reason is that all are politicians, with many seen as a part of the entrenched-elite Democratic machine.
Knowing that, and still hoping to win a presidential election, what are Democratic Party movers and shakers to do? One possible answer: Give up on the politicians altogether and turn to an “un-politician.”
Could such a formula work? Trump proved twice that it can. But within Trump’s earth-shaking political success is a cautionary tale for the Democrats. There is only one Donald Trump.
Democrats may scoff at such a statement or instantly dismiss it, but as it relates to an outsider or “un-politician” winning the White House, it is a truth carved into granite. Trump did and does have that all elusive “It” factor. With his decades-old iconic brand, he established a cult of personality that appealed to tens of millions. For any Democrats who still doubt that, I suggest they look at the wreckage of what was once the very-good-on-paper presidential campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
Trump created “lighting in a bottle,” which is all-but-impossible to replicate. After Trump’s jaw-dropping victory in 2016, there were multiple billionaires who seemed to think, “If Trump can get himself elected president, then so can I.”
But in most of their cases, I doubt it’s true.
Look at the 2020 Democratic primary campaign of Michael Bloomberg, the multibillionaire former mayor of New York City. He put in upwards of $100 million of his own money, only to have his campaign crash and burn against a weak Democratic field. Why? Because Bloomberg did not come close to having Trump’s “It” factor.
Also in the recent past, we had the likes of Mark Cuban, Disney’s Bob Iger and J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Dimon huffing and puffing about running for president. They have billions at their disposal and could hire the best campaign team money could buy, but guess what — they were and are lacking Trump’s “It” factor.
Does that mean that there are no Democratic “un-politicians” out there with that all-elusive quality? Not necessarily. I believe that ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith at least checks an awful lot of boxes. So does Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Many also believe Michelle Obama couldchecks those boxes, although I think her time has already come and gone.
That said, an “un-politician” stepping up to the plate as a last-minute designated hitter might be the best shot Democrats have, considering the minor-league or severely-compromised politicians lining their current bench. Vance is already proving himself to be a very formidable speaker, debater, leader and candidate. More than that, he will be riding the long coattails of Trump come 2028.
Has the time come for Democrats to bench their bench and seek out the strongest “un-politician” out there who could create his or her own populist wave? The evolving metrics of the modern presidential campaign game say yes.
Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official.
