Dems weighing 2028 campaigns run from 2020 positions

Axios Axios —

Democrats weighing runs for the White House want to forget many of the positions they took inhttps://www.axios.com/2019/06/09/2020-democrats-centrists-progressives-attacks" target="_blank"> 2020 — and they're hoping voters will too.

Why it matters: Leaders and would-be leaders in the party have shifted their views on border security, DEI, crime, climate change, COVID-era lockdowns and more — all with an eye on this year's midterms and the 2028 presidential election.

  • Many Democrats believe they lost to Donald Trump in 2024 because voters didn't like some of their left-leaning policies, not just how they were communicated.

Driving the news: Several potential 2028 Democratic candidates have spent the past year finding ways to distance themselves from the Democratic Party of recent years — including some of their own positions.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been telling audiences and reporters that Democrats need to be more "culturally normal."

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro wrote in his recent book that Democrats "got the masking and vaccine mandates wrong" during the COVID-19 pandemic and that he would have "handled the state's response differently" if he'd been governor then.

  • Shapiro, however, was the state attorney general at the time and didn't express such feelings until he ran for governor in 2022.

    As AG he defended many of the policies in court, saying it was his "legal duty."

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/02/20/pete_buttigieg_the_way_democrats_talk_about_diversity_is_how_trump_republicans_are_made.html" target="_blank">said last year that when Democrats talk about diversity it can seem like they're "making people sit through a training that looks like something out of 'Portlandia.'"

  • And in his new book, "Stand," New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker wrote: "We cannot cancel everyone who fails a purity test."

Zoom in: Nearly all potential 2028 presidential candidates criticize Joe Biden's handling of immigration, and talk about the importance of securing the southern border.

  • Top Democrats are criticizing the Trump administration's dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the private and public sectors, but few are calling for such programs to be restored and expanded.
  • Many senior Democrats also are running away from calls to "defund" the police, and touting expansions of law enforcement.
  • Democratic leaders who once aspired to be viewed as "woke" are now wary of the label, shying away from the inclusive language they once used when talking about racial justice, transgender rights and more.

The shift among Democrats is evident in gubernatorial and congressional races too.

  • When Democrats talk about energy now, it's usually about bringing down utility rates rather than multitrillion-dollar investments in alternative energy.
  • In New York City's mayoral election last year, Zohran Mamdani spent months walking back his past calls to defund a city police department that he had said was "racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety."
  • When Republicans last month attacked James Talarico, Texas' Democratic nominee for Senate, for saying things like "God is non-binary," he told the https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/us/politics/talarico-christian-religion-texas-senate.html" target="_blank">New York Times he stood by his values but that "I probably would have said them differently."

Reality check: While moving to the center on such issues, the Democratic Party has moved to the left on others — clouding the party's messaging and its future.

  • Democrats have become increasingly hostile to tech companies and AI amid fears of job losses and anxiety that data centers will further drive up utility costs.
  • Opposition to Israel's actions has spread throughout the party.
  • Progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) remains one of the most popular figures in the party and draws enormous crowds.
  • And although Newsom has pushed Democrats to change their rhetoric, he's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5_tNkzX1yg" target="_blank">also argued that "all this anti-woke stuff is just anti-Black.

    Period.

    Full stop."

Flashback: The Democratic Party was changing even before Trump's 2024 victory.

Some mainstream commentators applaud the shifts to the middle as politically savvy, but others say the party is abandoning vulnerable communities and the party's principles.

Read full article at Axios →

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