Biden left Democrats with too much baggage to overcome

2026 midterm elections will indicate how much their popularity recovers after more than a year of Trump 2.0 in office, but Democrats need to begin strategizing now.

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• The Democratic Party is facing low popularity following the failed Kamala Harris campaign and revelations about the cover-up of President Biden’s decline.
• Potential Democratic presidential candidates like Pete Buttigieg and Gavin Newsom face challenges due to their association with the Biden administration and progressive policies.
• Republicans have a clearer path to 2028 with potential candidates like JD Vance, Marco Rubio and Ron DeSantis.
• Democrats’ best hope for 2028 lies in a fresh candidate, distanced from the Biden administration and holding more moderate views.

Despite the busy news cycle of President Donald Trump’s young second administration, I can’t help but look to 2028, which looks to be the first election where both parties have a new presidential candidate since 2016. 

Republicans seem to have some form of succession plan, with Vice President JD Vance looming in the wake of Trump’s final term. But Democrats are in a much more difficult position, with numerous baggage and imperfect candidates. 

Democrats will need new voices, free from the baggage of Joe Biden’s presidency and the woke era, to win America’s trust. 

Democrats will have a ton of baggage to deal with in 2028

The Democratic Party as a whole is facing a record low in popularity in the wake of Kamala Harris’ failed presidential campaign and more information about the cover-up of Biden’s decline.

The 2028 midterm elections will indicate how much the Democrats’ popularity recovers after more than a year of Trump presidency 2.0, but the party needs to begin strategizing now.

The people who were complicit in, or at the very least ignored, Biden’s decline are the most politically stained. Anybody affiliated with the Biden administration is going to face questions of why they didn’t speak up when they knew the president was not capable of fulfilling his duties. 

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As people like former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and California Gov. Gavin Newsom attempt to scramble to the center on cultural issues, they are bound to experience different sets of barriers that keep their electability in check. 

Buttigieg, due to his involvement with the Biden administration, is going to have to answer whether he knew about Biden’s decline, and either how he could have missed it or why he didn’t speak up. There is no good answer to any part of that line of questioning.

For Newsom, he and other governors have the benefit of distance from the Biden administration, so they have plausible deniability as to what exactly they knew.

Newsom also has a long-established record of very progressive policies. During his time as governor of California, he presided over violent racial riots in 2020, as well as higher rising violent crime rates than the rest of the nation. The more recent protests and riots in the streets of Los Angeles under his governorship won’t help him to leave that image in the past.

Newsom also has baggage on other social issues, including taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants and his past full embrace of transgender ideologies, both of which he has attempted to walk back in recent months. 

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Harris’ troubles on the campaign trail of differentiating herself from Biden’s decline and her own progressive record should be a warning to Democrats. These are going to be difficult mistakes to overcome as a presidential candidate.

I know Republicans have issues, but Democrats need a new voice

Republicans have a similar predicament in 2028, but they have politicians at the ready who are capable of winning the presidency. Vance represents a continuation of the MAGA movement, but if Republicans decide they are a bit tired of full-blown MAGA politics, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are both likely to eye a presidential bid.

Regardless of how the second Trump administration ages with voters, the GOP has options for 2028. Republicans have a clearer chain of succession than Democrats, even if Vance and Rubio will have to answer for any issues with the second Trump administration.

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Still, Democrats have some hope. 

The Democratic Party is ripe for a surprise candidate to emerge in the next two years to pursue the presidency. While the political climate is different, Democrats need to look for an emerging candidate, similar to the one they had in 2008, when Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton in the primary and went on to win the White House twice. 

Somebody as dissociated with the Biden presidency as possible has a strong advantage, as does someone with a more moderate record. Governors, or newly elected senators, are the best chance for the Democrats. 

I predict that the Democrats’ nominee in 2028 is someone not yet on people’s radars, and that would be the best possible outcome for them. The baggage that Democrats have will weigh them down in 2028. It is best if they find someone without those ankle weights. 

Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.