# Frontrunners for Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, {DO NOT rehash past candidates} **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 16, 2025, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036 "2025-01-16T06:50:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 117
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2332 "2026-08-30T03:12:05Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > As much as I like AOC, I just don’t see her having the cussedness for that. Out of the commonly-discussed candidates, I think she’s the one with the most cussedness for that. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2333 "2026-08-30T03:28:38Z")
Maybe Pritzker. He’s got fuck you money. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2334 "2026-08-30T03:57:35Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > I want a Democratic candidate who is going to get into office, stomp MAGA unmercifully until it crawls away, broken and bleeding, and ensure no one even whispers the name “tRump” for the next three generations. He’s running for Senate rather than President but today was the first time I listened to a speech from Abdul El-Sayed. He seems like he’s very much a straight talker and he doesn’t hold back when he’s describing his opponents. I’m pretty sure in the speech I saw (a recent one about the trade dispute with Canada) he called the current Senator an idiot. I was impressed by what I saw and I think he’s got that sort of meanness that is necessary to break through MAGA lunacy. I hope he wins the Senate seat and I look forward to seeing what he does beyond that. Has his name been brought up as a potential Presidential candidate? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2335 "2026-08-30T04:03:26Z")
Whereas I am less interested in revenge than in making MAGA irrelevant and Trump a footnote of failure. Undoing his stupid shit, healing the harms, getting the country and the world moving forward in a better direction … I want _that_. Damn there is a lot of hard work to do! I am still open to being convinced who can best deliver it … ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2336 "2026-08-30T11:03:29Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Whereas I am less interested in revenge than in making MAGA irrelevant and Trump a footnote of failure. Undoing his stupid shit, healing the harms, getting the country and the world moving forward in a better direction … I want _that_. Damn there is a lot of hard work to do! Same. It’s not practical to get revenge on nearly half the population. If you want things to change, you need to change people’s incentives. I want to live in a country where the winning move is to treat each other with respect, have predictable rules and regulations, and support those who need help. I also want to find someone who can move us in that direction. (And get elected. I’m really interested in who can get elected.) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2337 "2026-08-30T12:38:53Z")
Mamdani can’t be president, but good god is he showing how to be an executive: 1. Focus on making government work. 2. Sweat the details more than the grand scheme. 3. Keep talking about it with a first-rate PR team. Of course we’ll need to clean up the horrific mess left by Trump. But I want the focus to be on making lives better, not on squishing the enemy. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2338 "2026-08-30T13:00:56Z")
Hopefully the next Democratic candidate and president learns from his example! ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2339 "2026-08-30T14:30:42Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > I want a Democratic candidate who is going to get into office, stomp MAGA unmercifully until it crawls away, broken and bleeding, and ensure no one even whispers the name “tRump” for the next three generations. Literally broken and bleeding? Sounds worse than what the Trump administration has been trying to due to those in its enemies list, but, except for migrants, failing at. Now, if you go all in on the blood and gore and, say, literally bomb MAGA areas of the U.S. as Germany and Japan were bombed in World War II, it could destroy Trumpism for the desired three generations. I am thankfully happy that will not occur. As for leaving them figuratively broken and bleeding, such as putting, say, as half dozen in a safe and fairly clean prison, I cannot see why this would hurt MAGA politically. There is no practical way to “ensure no one even whispers the name “tRump” for the next three generations.” Or one generation. The risk cannot be eliminated. But if the Democrats become known as the more effective party when it comes to vengeance against its enemies, a lot of Americans will decide that the GOP is the lesser of the two evils. Maybe even me. There is a good chance that JD Vance will win the presidency in 2028 pretty much fair and square. But if he does lose, it will because a lot of American are fed up with the no-mercy approach. If the public mood is still on the no-mercy side, Americans will go for the GOP. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2340 "2026-08-30T14:58:38Z")
We need someone who can heal the country. But as any doctor for the past few millennia can tell you, the first step in healing a wound is that you need to drain out all of the infected pus. Try to close up a wound without doing that, like we did in the “merciful” Reconstruction, or with Ford’s pardon of Nixon, just results in it festering and possibly going gangrenous. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2341 "2026-08-30T15:11:55Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Sounds worse than what the Trump administration has been trying to due to those in its enemies list, but, except for migrants, failing at. Good. “They bring a knife, you bring a bazooka. _That’s_ the Chicago way!” > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > But if the Democrats become known as the more effective party when it comes to vengeance against its enemies, a lot of Americans will decide that the GOP is the lesser of the two evils I’m willing to take the chance. The “they go low, we go high” approach _is not working._ Prison? Why spend taxpayer money from blue states to keep these traitors in some cushy Club Fed? Exile is much cheaper. And maybe if some of the complacent stay-at-home-on-Election-Day middle see we’ve taken the kid gloves off, they might voluntarily go along. > [@Chronos](#): > > Try to close up a wound without doing that, like we did in the “merciful” Reconstruction, or with Ford’s pardon of Nixon, just results in it festering and possibly going gangrenous. Finally, someone who understands. We need to “drain the pus” – deportations of some of the more vile elements of MAGA. Granted, any society is going to have its lunatic fringe, but let’s do out best to reduce it to background noise level. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2342 "2026-08-30T15:43:13Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Finally, someone who understands. We need to “drain the pus” – deportations of some of the more vile elements of MAGA. Given the title of the thread: do you think a candidate should campaign on that? ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2343 "2026-08-30T16:22:59Z")
Oh, dear me, no, they should campaign on unicorns in every garage and free puppies for everyone. Because the touchy-feely Kumbaya Great-American-Melting-Pot sunshine-&-flowers approach has worked _ **so goddam well for the past three decades that this country is ROTTING** _ **LIKE A CARTON OF MILK LEFT OUT ON THE SIDEWALK IN HUNDRED-DEGREE HEAT.** Yes, I would love it if a Democratic candidate would make Rousting The Deplorables And Throwing Them Out Like Last Week’s Spaghetti their main platform plank. But it is possible that I have lost any perspective I had left over the last few years, so what do I know? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2344 "2026-08-30T18:48:37Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Whereas I am less interested in revenge than in making MAGA irrelevant and Trump a footnote of failure. Undoing his stupid shit, healing the harms, getting the country and the world moving forward in a better direction … I want _that_. Yep. Whoever the next Democratic President is- his main job- IMHO- is to be **NOT LIKE trump.** No 'enemies list". No vindictive pettiness. Just fix things. > [@CaptMurdock](#): > > deportations of some of the more vile elements of MAGA. Deport American citizens? In other words- be just like trump? No, just fire all of the trump appointees- that is pretty standard anyway. Get a better budget. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2345 "2026-08-30T20:39:26Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Deport American citizens? As far as I’m concerned, they haven’t been American citizens since January 6. Giving them a pass is re-making the mistakes of the Reconstruction. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2346 "2026-08-30T20:42:55Z")
“Being like Trump” is attacking people just for opposing you. I agree that the next Democratic leaders, if there are any, shouldn’t do that. But what they should do, which is completely unlike what Trump did, is to fairly try, convict, sentence, and carry out sentence on Trump and his circle, for all of the actual crimes that they actually committed. There is not symmetry, here, because Trump and his circle are actually, in reality, criminals. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2347 "2026-08-30T21:23:22Z")
Sure, but most of the people who voted for him aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2348 "2026-08-30T21:34:30Z")
Nobody, on either side, has planned to lock up all of their political enemies, including the voters. Even if some might want to, it’s simply not feasible on that scale. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2349 "2026-08-30T21:48:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But what they should do, which is completely unlike what Trump did, is to fairly try, convict, sentence, and carry out sentence on Trump and his circle, for all of the actual crimes that they actually committed. With some sort of sense of urgency w/o becoming paralyzed by “OMG can’t look political” thinking and bending over backward to accommodate every pointless motion. You detect _A_ serious crime within the first 3 months of investigation? CHARGE IT AND TRY IT. Don’t wait 3 years to see what else comes up. You CAN prosecute aggressively without it becoming vengeful persecution. But you need to have the guts for it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2350 "2026-08-30T22:01:36Z")
Yeah, one mistake that our government has made over the years is that the right to a speedy trial is a right of all of us, not just of the defendant. Justice delayed is justice denied. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036/2351 "2026-08-31T00:21:38Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > I would love it if a Democratic candidate would make Rousting The Deplorables And Throwing Them Out Like Last Week’s Spaghetti their main platform plank. Okay. Do you see any of the likely contenders as folk who have both the ability and the predilection to do that? I can see a variety of them trying to redirect “blame the immigrants” into “blame the oligarchs” (Trump at the top of the list.) with a hard economic populism message? _Anger_ expressed and encouraged I suspect will be several candidates approach, and clearly that anger is very justified. It is important. But revenge? Don’t see it as a direction any of them will go. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036.md?page=116) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028-do-not-rehash-past-candidates/1013036.md?page=118)