One of the critical conversations that is just beginning to happen in American politics is this one: What should Democrats be going forward?
As in, does the party need to change? Shut out of power at the White House, Senate and House levels, do Democrats change what they are talking about and how they talk about it?
Or, in political shorthand: Do Democrats need to move more to the ideological left, the ideological right or stay right where they are?
We got a very interesting data point in that conversation recently from new Gallup polling of Democrats.
The question Gallup asked was this: “If you had to choose, would you rather see the Democratic Party become more liberal, stay the same or become more moderate?”
A plurality — 45% — of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said the party needed to become more moderate while 29% said it had to move more liberal and 22% said it should stay the same.
Which is interesting! But even more revealing is when you compare how Democrats see where the party needs to go in 2025 versus what they said about the direction of the party in 2021:
As you can see, there has been a double-digit gain over that time in the percentage of Democrats who believe the party has to move to the ideological middle; those advocating a more liberal push and stasis have both lost ground over that same time.
This is, of course, a single data point. But, I think it is reflective of the broader sense that smart Democrats I have talked to since the 2024 election have about what went wrong in that race: That Kamala Harris and the broader party were regarded as WAY too far to the left — particularly on cultural issues — for the average American.
It reminds me of that line from Woody Allen in “Annie Hall”:
Don't you see the rest of the country looks upon New York like we're left-wing, communist, Jewish, homosexual pornographers? I think of us that way sometimes and I live here.
As I have written before in this space, I believe Democrats have a MAJOR brand problem in big swaths of the country. People simply do not think that the Democratic party is aligned with their values.
Is the answer to that problem moving more to the middle — and elevating voices like, say, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear? And will the liberal base of the Democratic party be ok with that?
Like I said above, it’s a hugely important conversation for the future of the Democratic party — and politics in America more broadly.
I am going to be spending a lot more time debating this question in this space. Stay tuned for details of a special project I am working on!
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