NEW YORK – The fear of losing again is already shaping how Democrats think about 2028.
Chants of “run again!” echoed through a packed room as Kamala Harris spoke Friday at the National Action Network conference, a gathering of Black voters, lawmakers and administration officials who saw a turnout from a steady stream of presidential candidates. But several Black attendees openly questioned whether anyone but a straight white man could win the White House.
“Democrats, you’re going to have to consider … who can win? Who can win, black, white, who can win?” Pastor Kim Williams, 63, a citizen of New York and registered independent said in an interview.
“I don’t think (the country is) ready for another kind of person,” said Annette Wilcox, a 69-year-old New Yorker.
It’s an obvious question the party is grappling with after Harris’ 2024 loss to President Donald Trump. Conversations with a dozen people on the sidelines of the Reverend Al Sharpton’s meeting found some concern that America is still biased – and that as a result, the desire to change the highest places of government is in tension with the desire to win.
In interviews, some of the 2028 Democratic candidates themselves argued the sameanyonehe can win. They flocked to downtown Manhattan venues throughout the week to build their relationships with Black voters in what became an undisclosed primary election.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, a first-term Democrat who won Arizona statewide despite Harris losing the state, told POLITICO on the sidelines of the convention that the party should not let fear limit who will ultimately run.
“If you get stuck in this idea of what the best behavior is … you can miss out on really good talent,” Gallego, who leaned in his identity as a Latino veteran in his 2024 campaign.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore, another possible 2028 candidate, said that he “doesn’t know many people back in 2022 who thought that an African American who had never held political office in his life would be the next governor of Maryland.”
“People want to know, is your message coming across over time,” he added.
On stage with Sharpton on Friday, Harris seemed to agree. He did itmore transparent presentationin running for president again, telling the audience that he was “thinking about it” – to loud cheers and applause. His appearance at the assembly intensified the unusual event.
But even Harris, the first Black and South Asian woman to be vice president, has been silent on the country’s borders.
In his latest book,he divulgedthat former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg – another 2028 contender who also dusted off NAN – was his top choice for vice president in 2024. But he didn’t pick him because he didn’t believe the country was ready for women of color and gays in the White House.
A spokesman for Harris declined to comment.
Some women, fromformer first lady Michelle Obamato various attendees who were disappointed by the loss of Harris 2024, they said that the United States is not ready for a female president.
“I believe the current climate of this country is not ready for a Black woman as president,” Aaliyah Payton, 30, a middle school teacher in the Bronx, said as she waited to see Harris speak on the third day of the convention in a long line outside the conference room.
“If Kamala Harris is running as a Democrat, and there’s another white person running as a Democrat, she’s going to have a hard time winning,” said Donna Carr, 60, who lives in New Jersey. “It’s a man’s world.”
“I’m not going to lie, it might be too early,” said 27-year-old Justina Peña of New York when asked if Harris should run again.
The same handwritingran the 2020 Democratic presidential primaryand finally voters elected Joe Biden – a white moderate – to prevent Trump from winning a second consecutive term.
The debate within the Democratic Party about what kind of candidate to elect was played out again recently in Texas, where the Democratic Senate primary was defined bytension over the raceand concerns about which candidate can unite enough Democrats, independents and disaffected Republicans to turn the state red. Voterschose seminarian James Talaricowhite, on the political radical Jasmine Crockett, a Black woman, at the end.
“We saw it in the race with Crockett, and I saw a woman say she wanted to vote for Crockett, but she knew she couldn’t win against (a) white Republican man,” said Williams, the 63-year-old pastor.
Now, those talks are already emerging for 2028 before a single Democrat officially announces a White House bid. The question about the prospect of 2028 was on Moore, Gallego, Harris, Buttigieg, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and California Representative Ro Khanna this week – and although no one said it was official, no one denied it. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly are expected to speak on Saturday.
Buttigieg has dismissed concerns about his chances, including directly responding to Harris’ disclosure of why he did not choose him as his running mate in 2024.
“My experience in politics has been that how you gain the trust of voters depends more on what they think you will do for their lives, and not the category,” Buttigieg.he told POLITICO in an interview in September.“Politics is about the results we can get for the people and not about these other things.”
Some Black voters at the conference also expressed dismay at the idea that candidates’ identities should be considered in the upcoming 2028 primary.
“My concern — a big concern — is when we get into a crisis like this in this country, people want to go to the ‘center,’ which is usually right in my opinion. A lot of people get left out,” said Wilcox, a 69-year-old New York voter.
“In my experience, or the history that I’ve had with the Democratic Party, I feel like when that happens, black people get pushed aside.”
