Why so many Democrats are asking the wrong question

On a daily basis, I read stuff from all over the Internet that ponders this basic question: Do Democrats needs a more liberal or a more conservative nominee to win the White House again in 2028?

Democratic pollster

Margie Omero

thinks that is the wrong question to be asking.

“I think it's that people want to see candidates that show that they're going to fight for them,” she told me in an interview Wednesday for my “Out of the Wilderness” Substack Live show. “They're going to be tireless in their fight to help people that they represent. And that doesn't have to be liberal or conservative.”

I think that is exactly right. While the political class endlessly debates whether Democrats need Alexandria Ocasio Cortez or Andy Beshear as their next nominee, I think the average person doesn’t think in those terms at all.

(Sidebar: The average person is not thinking about 2028 — like, at all — right now.)

Rather than examining whether a candidate’s voting record or policy positions are conservative or liberal, most people simply assess the person. Is this someone who gets me? Who will fight for me? Who will always keep me and people like me top of mind?

For proof of that concept, look no further than Donald Trump’s electoral success. Trump’s entire persona is centered not on ideology — he has been all over the map on any number of issues — but on a persona of toughness.

It’s why Trump’s invocation to”fight, fight, fight” after the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania was so powerful for so many people. It was proof that this guy was willing to put it all on the line to fight for them.

Whether or not Trump was a “real” conservative was never a part of most peoples’ calculations.

I think Omero is onto something here. It’s not an accident, I don’t think, that the wildly-successful campaign swings by AOC and Bernie Sanders were dubbed the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.

My full conversation with Margie — we talked for about 45 minutes — is FREE for any subscriber.

I would ask two things in return:

1. Sign up for

   Margie Omero
   ’s Substack. It’s ALL FREE.

2. Consider becoming a paid subscriber to my Substack. The only way I can keep bringing you conversations like this one — as well as all of the other content I create on a daily weekly and monthly basis — is with your financial support. It’s $6 a month or $60 a year to become a paid subscriber.