Have you heard that former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and California Governor Gavin Newsom are currently seen as top contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028?
Honestly, I don’t know any Democrats who engage everyday people interested in real political discussions.
According to recent polls from Echelon Insights, Harris leads the Democratic pack with 26% support, followed by Buttigieg at 10%, and Cory Booker also in the mix.
In my conversations with numerous Democrats involved in politics recently, it seems like Harris isn’t convinced she’ll actually run. Interestingly, there’s a feeling that none of the top candidates will represent the party in November 2028.
As people often say, a skilled lawyer can indict anyone, even something as innocuous as a ham sandwich, and the same logic applies to polling. The way you vote and what questions are asked can really shape opinions, especially among partisan groups like Democrats and Republicans.
A recent example of polling inaccuracies—or perhaps intentional skewing—comes from the entertaining yet puzzling Des Moines Register Mediacom Iowa polls conducted by Seltzer & Company during the 2024 election cycle.
While Trump faced accusations of dominating the state, a surprising poll suggested Harris was ahead of him at 47% to 44%. However, Trump, in reality, ended up beating Harris by a stunning 13 points. That’s a pretty significant 16-point disparity.
This made me curious—how could polling be so off? Some, including Trump himself, have even speculated that it might have been a strategy to suppress Republican turnout.
Trump was so frustrated by the poll results that he threatened legal action against the polling firm and the Des Moines Register. Although the lawsuit was eventually dropped, Seltzer chose to retire from polling altogether.
It appears that many in the polling field are increasingly skeptical of these surveys.
Nonetheless, it’s likely that at some point, a few Democrats will emerge as frontrunners and possibly candidates.
After Trump’s decisive win in 2024, many Democrats I spoke with thought their party would reassess its strategies and move back toward a more centrist approach.
Yet, rather than shifting, the party seems to have doubled down on its “woke” rhetoric since 2024, which is, well, interesting.
The strategy of simply opposing Trump hasn’t done much to tackle the pressing issues faced by working-class Americans or those feeling marginalized. Yet, voices like Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett continue to push for attention with those strategies.
It’s worth asking—why not focus on supporting minorities and disenfranchised communities as represented by leaders like Ocasio-Cortez? After all the talk against Trump, what tangible solutions are being introduced for people’s day-to-day struggles? How has their leadership truly impacted lives?
Most Americans want real solutions to fundamental issues. They aren’t sheltered within the circles of established elites. Many are just trying to make ends meet, focusing on feeding and caring for their families, regardless of political affiliations.
Still, Democratic leaders seem hesitant to take charge away from the far-left faction of their party.
Why is that? Are they genuinely afraid of a fraction of their base?
Meanwhile, the Republican roster for 2028 doesn’t seem particularly strong either.
Consider names like Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. What’s striking is how, like in 2024, the focus remains on the pressing “bread and butter” issues affecting working-class Americans.
So, who’s going to be the Democratic candidate in 2028? Amid the ongoing internal struggles within the party, I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being “none of the above.”
