DENVER – Thousands of Democrats gathered here for a conference sponsored by Majority Democrats were supposed to answer the question posed by the gathering’s title: “What’s Next?”
For those rumored to be considering a White House bid, answers were not exactly forthcoming.
The extremely well-attended cattle call of 2028 presidential candidates gave even those with the faintest aspirations toward the White House a chance to test the earliest versions of their stump speech, begin floating ideas which could form the basis of their campaigns and collect the resumes of potential staffers — all valuable for a primary predicted to be so stuffed with candidates the 2020 cycle will seem sparse in comparison.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and former U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo were among the rumored hopefuls who spoke at the event that ran from Thursday to Saturday. As attendees and reporters filed into the venue, they were greeted by concert-style posters of several marquee speakers, a not-so-obvious nod to their outsized profiles.
Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), the chair of the group, opened the conference by daring the speakers to be thoughtful and thorough in their pitch on why they, over anyone else, would be best to lead the newly buoyed Democrats, without all the policy proposals that distract.
“My challenge to everyone running in 2028, which might also be every person in this room, is: Tell us which ideas you’ll stop giving permission to, the ones that defy common sense or don’t work. Tell us which privileges you’ll confront, even if your donors or allies object,” said Auchincloss. “Voters did not tell Democrats, ‘We get it.’ They told us we get a chance. If we use it to show them a better future, they will help us build it.”
Few of the speakers took him up on it. Few hard lines were drawn on policy minutia or a firm platform by the ’28 hopefuls. Instead, those speakers stuck to broad strokes in individual speeches urging riskier agendas, pushing back on the billionaire class, lowering the cost of living, holding the Trump administration and its allies to account, and emphasizing just how big the party’s big tent had bloated into.
“America has to get back in the future business. Research and cures. Skills training and innovation. We cannot be limited by the status quo. Laws will need to be changed. Investments will be necessary. And if we have to amend the Constitution to make it happen, well, so be it,” said Shapiro.
While Khanna delivered a notably more left-leaning speech than the other attendees, little was ultimately done to draw actual distinctions or highlight the dividing lines that will define the battle for the party’s nomination, which is looking more valuable than ever after Democrats won the largest midterm victory in 50 years.
The lingering good vibes from their victory permeated the conference. While Majority Democrats, as a group, leans towards moderation, many of the speakers seem to have little interest in inflaming the never-ending war between progressives and centrists within the party. The Searchlight Institute, a think tank which shares some financial backers with Majority Democrats, was handing out shirts labeled “Our Get Along Shirt.”
In a gaggle with reporters, Khanna suggested core principles that could unify the party’s factions.
“I think that there are things that can unify the wings. I believe I can be one of those bridge figures, as someone who admires President Obama, worked in the Obama administration, and was a co-chair for Bernie Sanders’ campaign. Medicare for all, taxing billionaires, increasing the minimum wage, stopping foreign wars can be a winning message.”
Slotkin, who told reporters Friday she wants “to be a part of the next generation of leaders going forward,” urged her party to move past factional divides.
“If you have elected officials who are spending all their time fighting progressive versus moderate, then they have missed the plot of the election,” said the Michigan senator during her mainstage speech. “That new generation is not going to be defined by progressive versus moderate. That new generation quite simply is, ‘Are you on team fight or are you on team flight?’”
Gallego, who has pitched Democrats on his “big-ass-truck politics” (his pitch for a down-to-earth brand of populism he believes helped secure election night wins), argued that Democrats are best when they aren’t “playing hall monitors” or “imposing these purity tests.”
“For too long, we’ve been afraid to talk like normal people. This big-ass-truck politics is what unites Democrats like never before,” said Gallego, who pointed to the dual success of progressive Randy Villegas in California and Bobby Pulido, a Blue Dog Democrat, in Texas.
“They ran for the Americans who measure their wealth by how many hours they work in a week. Winning movements believe in addition and not subtraction. The answer is not Randy or Bobby. It’s Bobby and Randy together. That’s how we have a winning coalition,” said Gallego.
“We need to think bigger now. We need to call left and right together to show them that the lines that divide us are not nearly as strong. strong as the ties that bind us. We are one nation under God,” pitched Booker.
Indeed, the talk of intraparty division at the conference focused not on 2028 but on Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s (D-Md.) decision to challenge Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for the majority leader role in the new Congress. Van Hollen, who appeared at the event, said his bid for leadership meant he was ruling out a presidential bid.
When Van Hollen took the main stage, several in the audience leaped to their feet and cheered, some hollering out “leader!” in support of his challenge to Schumer. That sentiment seemed to extend outside of the venue walls. In fact, HuffPost spotted a banner over a highway bridge on the drive into Denver begging Democrats not to “coronate” Schumer. A few protesters interrupted Jeffries’ appearance as well, one screaming that Jeffries is a “fucking traitor” before being escorted out (and counter-heckled by other attendees). Jeffries is currently running for Speaker of the House unopposed, despite intra-party grumbling about the desire for new leadership.
And while who will be the next nominee was no longer the conversation du jour, some candidates were more honest about their plans when pressed than others, with Gallego, Khanna, Slotkin and Shapiro telling reporters over the course of the conference that they were openly considering a run and have yet to come down firmly.
“I want to be a part of the next generation of leaders going forward that does things differently and understands who they serve, and I think we had an amazing election night that elected a whole bunch of new folks who represent that. I’m looking at it. I’m looking at it seriously, but I haven’t made any decisions whether it’s me or somebody else. I just want to be a part of that next generation,” Slotkin said.
Khanna, whose allies recently launched a draft committee urging him to run, seems to be gearing up.
“I think after the reception here, I’m more likely to consider it,” Khanna told reporters Friday.
Gallego said he had to consider his three young children. Neither he nor Shapiro set a firm deadline for when they’ll decide.
“Well, that will be a personal decision my wife and my kids and I make. When we’re ready to say something, we’ll let you know,” Gallego said.
Raimondo was more sheepish about her plans, focusing instead on her artificial intelligence innovation group RAISE US.
“The midterms were great. I couldn’t be more excited. It was just a huge repudiation of President Trump, but I’ve started a new organization. I’m chair and CEO. It’s called Raise Us, and that’s where my focus is,” Raimondo told HuffPost.
Warnock, a preacher, gave a speech marked by poetic biblical lessons and grand ideas of good conquering evil — but no clear promise that he’ll take that battle head-on as a presidential candidate.
“Let me tell you this: evil always goes too far. Therefore, it contains within itself the seed of its own destruction. We just have to stand up at this moment,” Warnock declared.
Booker (also similarly rumored) was impassioned, but vague: “This is not a moment for small thinkers. This is a moment for bold doers.”
Buttigieg was even more noncommittal about his political future. When HuffPost asked when he’ll decide whether he’ll run again, he said he “won’t have any news to make about that anytime soon.”
At least Khanna seemed thrilled at the prospect of many of his fellow Democrats (even if most of them remain in the mulling stages) jumping into the ring.
“We got a very talented field. I mean, many of them are here. I think it’s going to be great. I mean, imagine this: we’ve had three 80-year-old presidents in a row, and suddenly you’re going to have a new generation on both sides. I think that’s fantastic for this country, and I’m excited about it. I’m excited about even some of the people, if I do run, who would be competitors. It’s going to be great. It’s going to showcase America’s talent.”