‘Trump proofing’ begins as Democrats face power vacuum

Washington: Several Democrats are positioning themselves for a battle to head the party’s national committee and help lead the resistance to president-elect Donald Trump over the next four years.

A number of governors have begun efforts to “Trump-proof” their states from his policies, moves that will also have the effect of raising their profiles in Democratic circles.

Some Democratic House members are also wondering aloud whether their party should be led by a person not on the usual list of nationally recognised political stars after legislators with blue-collar backgrounds outperformed Vice President Kamala Harris on election day.

Donald Trump and Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a rising star who came from a working-class background.Credit: AP

Following Harris’ defeat, Democrats are grappling with a question that is both symbolic and pragmatic: who should lead them?

It’s a daunting question for a party bracing for Trump’s second term, as Republicans will control the US Senate and could retain their majority in the House, giving them vast power to remake America. Democrats must appeal to a country that sent them a strong message of disapproval on election day, and whoever emerges as the face of the party will be charged with convincing Americans that Democrats offer a better path.

“For the party that didn’t make it to 270 [electoral votes], this is not just about trading horses or changing donkeys. This is really about what fundamentally the American people have told us,” said Donna Brazile, a former Democratic Party chairwoman. “It’s not just about focusing on one person who may or may not have their own ambitions. I’m not pretending that this is an easy fix. I see a party that is going to have to struggle with how to move forward.”

After the election, the party suddenly faces a vacuum at the top. President Joe Biden has seen his bully pulpit shrink since he announced in July that he would not seek re-election. Harris, in her concession speech, encouraged supporters to continue fighting for their beliefs, but she is unlikely to be the one leading the charge; political parties rarely give a starring role to defeated White House aspirants, with Trump a notable exception.

Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer will become Senate minority leader in January.Credit: AP

Current Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison is not seeking a second term. Senate majority leader Charles Schumer will be in the minority party come January. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries could become Speaker if Democrats manage to win the House, but strategists and legislators say he is not yet battle-tested to lead the entire Democratic Party and would have to remain heavily focused on pushing back on Trump’s agenda in Congress.

A formal party leader will not emerge until a presidential nominee emerges from the 2028 Democratic primaries, leaving the scene somewhat muddled before then. Those primaries are likely to include an array of Democratic governors, some of whom have quickly announced plans to inoculate their states from Trump’s policies.

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has called for a special legislative session, convening on December 2, to strengthen legal protections around abortion access, climate, immigration and civil rights.

“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack, and we won’t sit idle,” Newsom said in a statement announcing the special session. “California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond. We are prepared, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and resources they need to thrive.”

‘You come for my people, you come through me.’

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, in a message aimed at Donald Trump

In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul announced last week that her state was designating staffers “to address potential federal legal threats to reproductive freedom, gun safety laws and other key issues”.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said that while he would seek common ground with Republicans, he was prepared to resist them as well. “As we respect the peaceful transition of power, if there is any attack on the Garden State or any of its communities from Washington, I will fight back with every fibre of my being,” Murphy said.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker was less restrained: “You come for my people, you come through me,” he said in a message aimed at Trump.

As Democrats look to their future, one of their first tasks will be selecting a new chair of the Democratic National Committee, or DNC, the party organisation charged with fundraising and setting the strategy for the 2026 midterm elections. The DNC leader will also oversee the 2028 Democratic primaries, potentially including another overhaul of the nominating process. Biden moved South Carolina’s primary to the front of the primary calendar, pushing aside Iowa and New Hampshire, but many Democrats will be eager to revisit the order in four years.

No one has formally declared their candidacy in the race for DNC chair. Ken Martin, chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and Ben Wikler, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, are both seen as potential candidates and would likely pitch themselves as voices from the Midwest who could help Democrats recapture the “blue wall” states they lost to Trump in 2016 and 2024.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has received outreach from party operatives and donors to gauge his interest in running, according to people familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal manoeuvring. Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, who is now commissioner of the Social Security Administration and ran for president in 2016, and Michael Blake, a former DNC vice chairman and New York State Assembly member, might also launch bids for the job.

Some Democrats will look to the DNC chief to navigate the party’s factions, mediating between those who say the election showed the party must move to the left and those who insist it demonstrated the party must shift to the right. But others say the party leader should not be viewed through an ideological lens.

Rather, they say, the chair should be someone who can fundraise to support a robust party infrastructure, lead an “autopsy” process to figure out what went wrong, and modernise the party for a new era. Democrats, they say, cannot simply focus on resisting the Trump administration, though that will undoubtedly be part of the job.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has moved to strengthen legal protections around abortion, climate, immigration and civil rights.Credit: Bloomberg

Congressional Democrats will also wrestle with who should lead the party and how, even as their numbers and their power are diminished.

But in the few days since the election, a general sentiment has emerged among many Democratic lawmakers that the party must strive to win back the working class with a more populist approach.

Vulnerable House Democratic candidates in swing districts generally outperformed Harris, according to several campaign strategists, and Democratic leaders may look to them for a road map on how to reach out to once-reliable constituencies. Democrats did retake three competitive districts in New York, and early data from Long Island shows that voters there split their ticket, voting both for Trump and the Democratic House candidate.

Several Democrats have said the party must run more candidates who have never held political office, such as Washington congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who owns a car workshop and represents a district won by Trump. According to this thesis, such “relatable” Democrats can help normalise the party in the minds of those who view it as too politically correct.

Others noted that New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Florida’s Maxwell Frost, two liberal rising stars, had working-class backgrounds before being elected to Congress.

“Our problem isn’t just the policy issues listed on our websites. It’s about how voters feel and whether they believe that we’re willing as Democrats to stand up to the powerful and fight for them,” said Texan congressman Greg Casar. “If we show up with a policy tool kit to a gunfight, we’re going to lose.”

Casar, who is running to become chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said the party should seek guidance from people such as congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and Senator Sherrod Brown, Ohio Democrats who excel at running populist campaigns in their blue-collar state. Kaptur appears on track to narrowly hang onto her pro-Trump district, while Brown lost his re-election bid this year after serving three terms.

“We have examples of people who do this, and that don’t fit neatly on the left-right spectrum,” Casar said. “It’s not about being more or less progressive. It’s just about focusing on those popular economic issues that Republicans only talk about but then never do.”

The Washington Post

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