17/12/2025
Do you think it would be wise or unwise for the Democratic Party to run Michelle Obama in 2028?
Coming from someone that leans right wing, I’d say it’d be a bad idea.
now this answer goes on a tangent but I swear it has a strong message, one that’s very relevant to understanding how our population changes its mind on the leaders they will support.
The end of Biden’s Presidency is a lot like the end of Bush’s when you think about it, a country that is just exhausted of the same message, the same way of running the country, the same personality and the same brand of person.
Barrack Obama ran back in 2008 and won by a massive popular margin, this was a lot like trumps 2024 comeback in which the winning party had a LOT of enthusiasm and the party that had lost basically lost its steam and loyalty to the running leader.
Think about it, John McCain was very much like bush, more on the war figure side, conservative but not combative- at least not as much as the guys we have today. At one point, people just stop wanting to drink the kool-aid so to speak, they see the message isn’t as good as they wanted it to be, and the party people don’t vote and the independents get flipped.
going back to the democrats this “political dynasty” was obvious-
Obama 2008:
Obama identified that the Clinton way of running things wasn’t indestructible, so when he ran in 2008 he beat the primary’s against Hillary Clinton. Partially because of massive black support but also from the party in general- the left and most of America wanted drastic change- from both democratic leadership as well as change in America.
Obama 2008–2012
The first term of Obama had much more enthusiasm because people could feel it in the air- change was. coming. I would go into detail about his presidency but if I did it for everyone here this answer would get rough to read. But basically the 2008 recession really broke this country, from here on basically America never truly economically recovered- it showed on the 1%, but the average person was permanently more broke, credit cards ran up faster than Usain Bolt on Coke. 2010 and past you really start to hear the criticism.
Obama 2012–2016:
This is when i remember the “Thanks Obama” meme happening. Now let’s be real- presidents don’t have nearly as much control over the economy as people think. They have a lot of influence, sure, but in a capitalist democracy nobody has the type of influence that one person can truly be blamed. 2008 was caused by tens thousands of people and their reckless choices.
that didn’t resonate with voters though. Obama still won his reelection but with half of the winning margin he had back in 2008.
you get the credit and the blame for everything that happens when you’re the president. That’s why you will hear a lot of emotional based debate on the presidents but when you ask someone who both of their senators are, you’ll often get hit with head scratches.
people love a scapegoat, and even though Obamas presidency was flawed, I think he took the scapegoat blame more than most politicians today.
Pause from Trumps 2016–2020 presidency:
The democrats put up Hillary Clinton, they chose her because they thought she was “safe” experience, influenceable to the party, but much less excitement from her voters. This was the start of a cycle of voters viewing elections from a “2 evils” standpoint that has happened often through our history but it comes in waves.
I’m not gonna go into too much detail on Trump, because this is a Democrat party type of answer but I do want to draw a parallel:
2016–2019 were solid years for Trump, like obama people felt change- he never shaked his controversial brand but he got begrudging acknowledgement of a good economy from the republican skeptics in his party. then 2020 happened.
Like it or not whoever would become president in 2016 wouldn’t have got reelected in 2020. Like Obama Trump was ultamitely a scapegoat where people blamed him for Covid.
I’m sure I’m gonna get immediate pushback on this one but the fact is the pandemic was brutal on every country on earth- from the dictatorships of Latin America and Asia to every country in Europe. The USA got its ass kicked just like everyone else and the people were pi**ed. They kicked Trump out when the truth is he only had so much influence on how the pandemic turned out.
Biden 2020-Now:
Biden was far more of a Obama persuasion than Hillary Clinton because everyone knew him because of Obama. The two men worked very closely and they both developed a deep friendship.
the obama political dynasty wasn’t dead but nobody really liked the message anymore. This 2020 election was essentially “I voted for Biden because I don’t want Trump”
though i do lean Right wing I have an extremely diverse family and friend group politically, including a communist, MAGA types, old school republicans, old school democrats, and progressives.
I never heard any positivity surrounding Biden from his supporters- it was all just guns on Trump- for fair reason, but if the republicans got rid of Trump this election would have been very close. Biden even in 2020 was so diminished that we were all worried about his mental state.
and rightly so.
This is the part I’m gonna lock in: Kamala Harris is the end of this “Obama dynasty” losing like she did odds are we won’t see her again- and why the Democrats NEED to prop up a radically different type of left wing politician that isn’t tied to Obama’s nearly 20 year old legacy.
Kamala Harris:
Democrats were right about pushing Kamala instead of Biden because she at least acted and appeared new and able of change, but they did it in the worst ways possible:
they didn’t do a primary or any kind of introduction for her (no time when they made the call, but they could have ousted Biden earlier) this also lead to a big problem- nobody knew anything about Kamala. What is her husband’s name? I’m sure I got a few people there. No brand against a guy that is the definition of a human brand- horrible political strategy. They could have done a lot, putting her in the spotlight more, gave her more control
because of 1, Kamala was very underdeveloped, it was like asking a preschooler to run a marathon, 3 months to convince tens of millions of people to back you is a tall order. She often dissapointed in interviews because she only got the green light weeks ago, no strong vision of her campaign. People were in pain and when she was asked “what would have done differently if you were the president compared to biden” she replied with roughly: “nothing comes to mind at this second” the absolute opposite of what anyone wanted to hear- especially her supporters
Kamala herself did not command the left, the left commanded her, and much of the talking was from people that weren’t her. I was impressed by her debate against Trump (she *was* a DA and if she had a strength from her career it was drilling holes in people and not letting up) but besides this I can’t say I saw anything else remarkable from her, and at the end of the day most people had their choices months before the election anyway.
all this led to Kamala getting 7 million less votes than Biden even though in my opinion she was a much better candidate than Joe Biden. People were completely fed up with a brutal 2020–2024 economy. And those that voted for Biden in 2020 stayed home, and Trumps voters had the loyalty to get the most controversial political figure in Americas history the electoral and popular vote.
I’m sure you see where I’m going with this:
Michelle Obama wouldn’t win in a million years mainly because like the bush, and clinton political “dynasties”, it has simply run its course.
What should they do instead?
I think the democrats should lean into their strengths- Bernie is too old but his ideology is what’s popular.
avoid the culture war hot button topics and completely abandon the term “democratic socialism” and instead be what the people want: hardcore economic reformers. A Democrat can’t win like a Republican can, democrats need to come to some kind of consensus on what they want instead of 20 different ideas on how the country should be run.
I say make the primary in 2028 be a big fu***ng deal- open it up to 20 candidate's, people we haven’t seen before, and let fate and the people decide, Hillary, Biden, and Harris were all just kind of inserted into the elections and it felt inorganic. Let the nobody’s have a chance and I think a really good candidate will come around whenever the inevitable end of the newest dynasty ends.
Trumps gonna develop his own political legacy, Vance is in his 40s and he chose him solely to do this- he’s looking at Vance as his surrogate and this 2028 election will largely come down to whether or not people become fed up with Trump- however long that dynasty will last is unknown, but I would not be suprised when it’s eventually usurped by someone that’s completely unknown today.
Sorry this ran on, but it’s a simple answer with a TON of context that if you don’t factor in the answer just sounds shallow: people want change, not what they’ve seen for 2 decades.
(End Of Original Answer)
Update 11/28/2024
Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I figured I’d add a bit more to this answer following comments on this post.
So I’ve seen a few comments on the reason Kamala Harris Lost, but none more silly than the “people didn’t vote for her because she was a woman”.
“Given how the only female presidential candidates BOTH lost to a piece of human garbage, I think it’ll be 50 years before either party tries to run a woman again.”
“If Hillary and Kamala have shown one thing it’s that the country is not yet ready for a female President. Trump has run for office 3 times, winning twice against women and losing against a geriatric white man.”
I think this train of thought is toxic and will be nuclear waste to the Democrat Party if this is internalized.
Some talking points around this:
In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the Popular vote, it was super close and it being that close means something: Enough people either want a female president or care about her gender, this sentiment is difficult to poll (Because people lie) but I would be completely amazed if even 5% of people would do this, and if this was true, it would be the super conservatives that would never vote for a democrat anyway.
When 52% of white women vote for Donald Trump something else is going on. Women barely came out to vote for Kamala even if you factor in non white women, you get 55%. You don’t win an election by backing a single gender, ethnic group, or religion in a country as Diverse as America. Donald Trump had the most diverse voter support for a republican in DECADES. Hispanic Men voted for Donald Trump more than not. Donald Trump Tripled the support from black people in general, 16% this year (Average republican support, 16% from men and women) Instead of accusing these groups of “Internalized Sexism” like Obama did, it’s vital for Democrats to modify their messaging.
Kamala Harris’ Campaign was crippled from the start. She was given 100 days to get tens of millions of votes, I’m already starting to forget what she was promising in her campaign because it was highly undeveloped, even compared to Trump’s simplicity and lack of detail when it comes to discussing his policies. Not only that, but every time she was put in front of a Camera or tried to introduce herself to the public she was drowned out by everyone, the media, her supporters, even Joe Biden and Obama talked about her campaign more than she did it feels like.
Where Kamala failed, Trump is. Kamala failed to brand herself- what kind of politician is she? It’s hard to even materialize what her presidency would be like, even sitting down and focusing on it. Trump is a brand, and people like Familiar. It’s very clear to the public what Donald Trumps economic goals are, regardless of who you support. He gets a insane amount of free advertising, the MAGA slogan, Memes, he leaned into the internet, he went onto Joe Rogan, he advertised and sold himself everywhere he possibly could, even going on to Liberal platforms that wanted to tear him down. In politics eyes on you is almost always good. The strong personality of Trump has created the most loyal fanbase of any candidate for over 100 years. That’s tough to be regardless of who you are.
This is a lot more subjective but I think Identity politics like these are the biggest reason. I think many people have rejected left wing culture because when you claim the reason the Democrats lost is because America is a sexist pile of garbage, who is supposed to enjoy or even respect that narrative? You can’t win over normal people with these narratives. I’m indifferent to the gender of the president, and even though this wasn’t a direct attack on me, it’s that thinly veiled allusion to the group I belong to having these ideals in vast numbers that does not sit right with me.
Oh and one Commenter mentioned she has no interest in running for president anyway, so I guess that’s the true end to that.
Anyway, the Democrats can absolutely put up another female candidate in 2028, it just needs to be someone that’s all of these things and they’ll have a good chance:
Someone that’s a Household name, at least in the public eye
Someone that loudly asserts themselves where it matters.
Someone that has the ability to garner widespread enthusiasm about their campaign vs negative vibes for the other guy.
