Young voters demand authenticity as Democrats face 2028 transition

2028 might feel like a distant horizon for most Americans, but for Democrats craving fresh leadership, it feels like tomorrow. In recent months, potential contenders have quietly ramped up their profiles. Governors like Andy Beshear and Gavin Newsom emphasized working-class values in recent trips down to South Carolina. Newsom has also been engaging voters through conservative podcasts and YouTube channels, and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has followed suit. The list grows when you include other dynamic governors, Wes Moore, J.B. Pritzker and Josh Shapiro, each nationally known and respected in their states. 

But amid these forward-looking moves, few voices illustrate establishment irony like former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel. I caught his interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, where he urged Democrats to refocus on economy, housing and affordability, decrying “elitists” and lamenting the party’s waning popularity. He even quipped that Democrats are less popular than Elon Musk — an attention-grabbing soundbite that both sides have circulated.  

Here’s the catch: Rahm is the establishment he now criticizes, and voters under 40 aren’t easily duped. We’ve followed Rahm’s tenure with the Clintons and Obamas, the very administrations that defined the Democratic brand for our generation.

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And the party should remain aware that for Black voters, our most consistent base, Rahm’s record in Chicago still resonates. I haven’t forgotten LaQuan McDonald, the 17-year-old fatally shot by a police officer in 2014; has Rahm? Did anyone ask Chicago residents about Rahm’s record before anointing him as the voice of strategic change? Watching him critique elitism is a case study in gaslighting and reinvention. 

This trend extends beyond Rahm. Former President Barack Obama’s recent call for Democrats to toughen up flies in the face of the entire ethos he championed during his era — “When they go low, we go high,” as former First Lady Michelle Obama said. But many of us have been asking the party to toughen up for years as the party focused more on identity politics.  

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We respect inclusivity and representation, but we also need solutions to skyrocketing rents, crushing student debt and rising healthcare costs. When people struggle to afford groceries or gas, rhetoric about values rings hollow. We’ve shifted from helping Americans thrive to teaching them how to survive. 

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Recent polling has shown Democratic satisfaction among 18-to-34-year-olds has dropped significantly, driven by concerns over affordability and economic opportunity. And yet, a small group of insiders continues to serve as kingmakers, treating voters like extras in a story already written. I’m tired of watching affordability slip year after year while leadership rotates among the same inner circle. 

As a young Black woman, I represent demos the party must either hold onto or win over. And I’m also guilty of playing along to the establishment game as well. I knocked on doors for Obama’s first run, but I wasn’t old enough to vote. By the time his second campaign came around, that choice was obvious.  

In 2015, I proudly said, “I’m with her,” when Hillary Clinton ran because she was the anointed one. And when 2020 came, as a Black woman from the South, I knew Joe Biden was the only real pathway for Democrats to win. And of course, we all knew the lore that he had waited his turn. It felt like his time. But all of that — those expectations, those signals from party elders — is part of our problem. 

As the 2028 field takes shape, Democrats have a chance to regain trust. For many of us, this will be the first presidential contest without an anointed heir. No kingmakers, no predetermined favorite — just an open field and voters who demand authenticity. Let’s insist that candidates honestly own their past decisions and commit to real solutions on housing, healthcare, education and economic fairness. No more revisionist history. No more hollow critiques. Some of these folks built the house we now live in, and we should all be paying close attention to what rhetoric they use as they inspect it. 

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