Democrats face persistent internal discord, unresolved strategic debates, and voter skepticism that threatens to complicate their path toward unity and success in the 2028 presidential election.
As Democrats begin 2026 with renewed optimism about flipping the House, the underlying fractures within the party have not healed. A Hill report published this week highlights how, even amid growing discontent with Donald Trump’s second term, Democrats continue to struggle with deep divisions, conflicting ideological strategies, and questions about leadership — raising serious concerns about their ability to coalesce ahead of the next presidential cycle.
“Democrats are finding their way out of political wilderness,” noted Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett, “but I don’t think we should mistake this for Democrats becoming, overnight, a lot more popular, or having fixed the tremendous failures that got us into this position.” Democratic strategist Michael Ceraso added, “I’m not quite sure if there’s a message that Democrats have proposed and driven that’s created the results we saw in November.”
The Hill report emphasized that Democrats entered 2025 in a state of confusion and infighting after their 2024 defeat. Donors were angry, leaders were divided on messaging, and primary disputes within the Democratic National Committee added to the chaos. Progressive candidate and former House hopeful Cheyenne Hunt described the first half of 2025 as marked by “a party deeply in confusion and disarray.”
While some on the left see recent electoral outcomes, such as victories by progressive candidates like Zohran Mamdani in New York City, as a sign of rising support for left-wing policies, others within the party are pushing back. Matt Bennett of the center-left think tank Third Way warned that mimicking New York’s progressive model could backfire in swing states, arguing that “sensible moderates” were rewarded in 2025, and the trend is likely to continue in 2026.
Those strategic debates mirror broader signs of disunity. A Saint Anselm College poll in New Hampshire revealed a fractured 2028 Democratic primary field, with no candidate commanding majority support. Pete Buttigieg leads with 28 percent, followed by Gavin Newsom at 24 percent. Kamala Harris, once seen as a likely successor to Joe Biden, is mired in single digits. In contrast, Republicans appear increasingly consolidated around Vice President JD Vance, who leads the GOP field with 57 percent support.
Julian Epstein, a former Democratic House counsel, told Fox News last month that the party remains out of step with most voters, blaming its continued embrace of “welfare state and identity politics” for sagging approval numbers. He contended that while 70 percent of Americans are moderate or conservative, Democrats have allowed progressives — who represent a much smaller share of the electorate — to dominate the party’s direction.
Chuck Todd, formerly of NBC’s Meet the Press, echoed this assessment, stating on CNN that Joe Biden’s single term “did a ton of damage to the Democratic brand” and set the party back among independents and centrists. He maintained that Democrats will likely find more success running against Trump than campaigning on their own policy platform, which he said, “doesn’t have credibility with the voters.”
The divisions within the Democratic Party are not merely ideological — they also stem from growing frustrations over transparency and internal accountability. One flashpoint is the Democratic National Committee’s refusal to release its long-awaited autopsy of the 2024 election, a decision that has fueled discontent among strategists and activists seeking clarity about the party’s missteps.
“The Democratic Party still has not learned its lessons from the past,” said strategist Sawyer Hackett. “We’re finding a ton of success in the era of Trump because of how chaotic and corrupt and incompetent he is. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ve found our way out of the many failures that our party had in the last election.”
Adding to the controversy is the late 2025 House rebuke of Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García over a maneuver that positioned his chief of staff as the only Democrat on the 2026 primary ballot in Illinois’ 4th District. The bipartisan reprimand, backed by 23 Democrats, centered on concerns that the move undermined the process of a free and fair election.
Breitbart News has covered voter realignment in key states. In Pennsylvania, for instance, Democrats have seen their once-dominant registration lead shrink to under 50,000 — a drastic decline from over 900,000 in 2016. The GOP recently netted over 12,000 new registrations in a single week, signaling continued erosion of Democratic support even in traditionally blue-leaning areas.
While Democrats attempt to rally around tangible local issues — such as Abigail Spanberger’s Virginia jobs plan or Mamdani’s push for free public buses — there remains no consensus on a national message. Ceraso observed that the current momentum “may not have come from a message Democrats have proposed and driven,” and warned that party leaders must “be very, very careful … to not have any sense of hubris.”
This sentiment is echoed by voices on the campaign trail. Axios has noted that several Democratic candidates are calling out national leaders for their passive posture toward Trump’s presidency. Kat Abughazaleh, an Illinois progressive, stated the party must “show the people that you’re angry” and take action, while Texas candidate Jolanda Jones insisted, “If they go low, I’m going to the gutter.”
Meanwhile, Republicans continue to leverage gains in economic messaging and cultural issues. Trump’s policies in states like Pennsylvania — advancing job growth, investment, and executive orders on topics like women’s sports — have contributed to improving approval numbers. A December Harvard‑Harris survey shows Trump leading former President Joe Biden on several key issues — 51 percent approve of his handling of crime, 49 percent approve on immigration, and 48 percent approve on reducing the cost of government.
Looking ahead to 2028, Democrats remain without a frontrunner, a unified message, or a clear direction. Party figures agree that building coherence will be essential, but the path there remains uncertain. “We will need a unified message going into ’28,” remarked Bennett. “And inevitably, parties don’t cohere around such a message until they move towards having a nominee.”
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