# Frontrunners for Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 16, 2025, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036 "2025-01-16T06:50:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 79
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1561 "2026-02-22T02:03:35Z")
Personally I’m just thankful that I am never again going to have to hear about what a given candidate did or didn’t do in Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1562 "2026-02-22T02:39:13Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You want a candidate that’s electable, nominate someone with policies that people want to vote for instead of fretting over demographics and statistics and checking off boxes. Demographics? That I agree with, if you mean that we should ignore whether the candidate is Black, white, female, gay, etc. However, I do like statistics. As for “policies that people want to vote for,” the people we are talking about here are persuadable voters who went for Trump despite having voted for Biden or Obama. We would be looking at the policies of Democratic Party members of congress who represent districts that go for Trump, and repeatedly win, like Jared Golden and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. So bring up freedom to repair. Fine. I am for it. So probably are most other Democratic Party primary voters, at least if they have heard of it. But other ideas that are popular among the persuadables are not necessarily going to be acceptable to Democratic Party primary voters. It may well be that being a genuine hero veteran like Gallego is not going to sway millions. But I think it would sway some, and Democratic Party primary voters are not going to vote for an actual centrist like Gluesenkamp Perez who would IMHO win in a electoral college landslide if (as is impossible) she were nominated. So instead the best chance of saving us from long-term MAGA dictatorship is a center-left candidate who has some personal characteristics indicative of being a normal guy. Yes, Trump won and is not normal. I think voters wanted excitement but have had enough. If I’m wrong, Vance wins and would have won anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1563 "2026-02-22T02:55:04Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > We would be looking at the policies of Democratic Party members of congress who represent districts that go for Trump, and repeatedly win, like Jared Golden and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. Glusenkamp-Perez’s district is next to mine. We absolutely should NOT be looking at people like her. She’s barely a Democrat even by the standards of the establishment. This is the kind of uninspired centrist thinking that got us John Kerry instead of Howard Dean, tried to push Hillary Clinton over Obama, DID push her over Sanders, and kept trying to force Cuomo to happen even after he lost the primary. Chasing after Republican voters doesn’t work, because if people wanted Republican policies they’d vote for a Republican. > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > So bring up freedom to repair. I doubt “freedom of repair” is a top priority even for people who care about it. You know what IS a top priority for a majority of Americans? Abolishing ICE. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1564 "2026-02-22T03:05:51Z")
Here are the current issues Americans are concerned over- > **[Americans Predict Challenging 2026 Across 13 Dimensions](https://news.gallup.com/poll/700448/americans-predict-challenging-2026-across-dimensions.aspx)** > > Americans expect a difficult 2026, expressing pessimism about most economic, political and global matters — with the stock market a notable exception. Employment, taxes, the economy, china, inflation, the budget/deficit, crimes rates, etc. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1565 "2026-02-22T03:11:23Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I doubt “freedom of repair” is a top priority even for people who care about it. You know what IS a top priority for a majority of Americans? Abolishing ICE. I have seen recent polling – linked to, earlier in the thread, by yourself – saying that [46 percent of Americans](https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/53939-more-americans-support-than-oppose-abolishing-ice-immigration-minneapolis-shooting-poll) at least somewhat support abolishing ICE. But if you have evidence that this is a top priority for a majority, please share. Assuming you have have it, consider that opinions change. By Labor Day 2028, swing voters will have been convinced that ICE should be reformed, but that some ICE functions are good, and, abolition is too far. The Democratic ticket will then have boxed themselves into a position insisted on by the base – abolish ICE – that the GOP will be able to characterize as extreme, and there’s not much the Democratic Party can do about that. So let’s hope someone is nominated who is sufficiently non-threatening that the inevitable charges of being a radical left lunatic, who opposes all customs enforcement, creates only a moderate amount of harm. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2026, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1566 "2026-02-22T03:11:27Z")
Yeah, I’m a big fan of freedom to repair. I’ve even written to legislators about it. I can’t imagine it’s going to be on my mind in the next presidential election. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1567 "2026-02-22T03:20:38Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > some ICE functions are good …such as? > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > The Democratic ticket will then have boxed themselves into a position insisted on by the base – abolish ICE – that the GOP will be able to characterize as extreme The Republicans will characterize ANYTHING the Democrat supports as extreme. The key is to not concede to their framing. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1568 "2026-02-22T03:41:57Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > I have seen recent polling – linked to, earlier in the thread, by yourself – saying that [46 percent of Americans](https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/53939-more-americans-support-than-oppose-abolishing-ice-immigration-minneapolis-shooting-poll) at least somewhat support abolishing ICE. But that was a bad poll. Other polls show more Dems want to reform ICE. > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > But if you have evidence that this is a top priority for a majority, please share. I could not find anything- the polls i found mostly talked about the economy as the priority. > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > and there’s not much the Democratic Party can do about that. In the Senate the Dems, led by Schumer, are leading as filibuster that should result in a ICE reform. Let us not try to do another “defund the police”. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1569 "2026-02-22T03:43:58Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > …such as? While I like low tariffs, unilateral zero tariffs are mistake. There needs to be some customs enforcement. I linked before to animal import enforcement that sounded reasonable. As for trying to deport the worst of the worst, I have some objections to that. The worse of the worst should go to prison here, and then we should not necessarily be dumping them on a poor unstable nation they may have come from. However, I am pretty darn sure that what I just wrote would go over poorly with swing voters. My views on the desirable scope of immigration amnesty, and the lightness of immigration enforcement, would be, in a national Democratic politician, a political mistake. Checking AI, the only Democratic presidential nomination front-runner, or even middle runner, who has clearly come out for abolishing ICE is AOC. Another reason why nominating her would be political malpractice. Pritzker has said to [“abolish Trump’s ICE”](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/us/politics/democrats-illinois-senate-ice-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.OFA.hrCd.sLKx8UZNPYEy&smid=url-share). Maybe that’s good enough. The problem will come when a moderator asks the primary candidates to raise hands as to whether they want to abolish ICE. They’ll lose primary votes with a hand raise, but hurt themselves for November. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1570 "2026-02-22T03:44:56Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > There needs to be some customs enforcement. We had customs enforcement in this country for 227 years before ICE existed. We don’t need masked goons in unmarked vans shooting unarmed women in the face to do it. > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > The problem will come when a moderator asks the primary candidates to raise hands as to whether they want to abolish ICE. They’ll lose primary votes with a hand raise, but hurt themselves for November. They’re chanting “Fuck ICE” at PRO WRESTLING SHOWS. Your insistence that abolishing ICE is some extreme fringe position and that most Americans think keeping them around is a good idea is just plain not the case. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2026, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1571 "2026-02-22T04:13:36Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > While I like low tariffs, unilateral zero tariffs are mistake. There needs to be some customs enforcement. > > I linked before to animal import enforcement that sounded reasonable. And neither of those is an ICE function. They’re supposed to be ICE functions, but the agency as it actually exists doesn’t give a good goddamn about either of them. The one and only ICE function, as it actually exists, is terrorizing people. So let’s abolish ICE, and use the money we save from that to create an agency that actually collects import duties and manages ecological controls. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1572 "2026-02-22T12:15:32Z")
Never mind, had second thoughts. I like Shapiro, but I’d prefer he stay in PA to blunt Trump’s nonsense here. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1573 "2026-02-22T13:13:56Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Your insistence that abolishing ICE is some extreme fringe position and that most Americans think keeping them around is a good idea is just plain not the case. I apologize if I said it was a fringe position. It may be a close call, but it does appear to me that most Americans think keeping them around in some form is a good idea. And [only a few months ago, they were looked on favorably](https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2026/1/22/a-majority-of-voters-are-unfavorable-of-ice-are-divided-on-what-abolish-ice-means), something that could easily happen again. No frontrunner for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination clearly favors ICE abolition except for AOC, who represents a congressional district out of step with the purple states needed to win in November 2028. Abolishing ICE is not a fringe position. It is rather a polarizing position when we need a candidate who can gain a solid majority. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2026, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1574 "2026-02-22T14:10:43Z")
Most Americans favor border controls and want us to have the capability to remove undocumented aliens. “Replace ICE” would be much less polarizing than “abolish ICE” . Looking at other polarizing positions, i note that Mamdani initially tried to “abolish the police” from homeless encampments, and that proved problematic. So he went with replacing the police with people whose job is to deal with the homeless. > **[Mamdani's Approach to Homeless Sweeps, And What Else Happened This Week in...](https://citylimits.org/mamdanis-approach-to-homeless-sweeps-and-what-else-happened-in-housing-this-week/)** > > Mamdani said his administration will handle "sweeps" of public homeless encampments differently from previous Mayor Eric Adams. It’s too early to know if it will work, but it seems like a promising idea. Campaigning to replace people who were hired to be domestic terrorists with people hired to protect the border would be a win, IMHO, and not sound like giving in to lawlessness. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1575 "2026-02-22T20:57:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And neither of those is an ICE function. They’re supposed to be ICE functions, Not ICE, but a related agency- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Most Americans favor border controls and want us to have the capability to remove undocumented aliens. “Replace ICE” would be much less polarizing than “abolish ICE” . Yep. or Reform ICE. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1576 "2026-02-22T21:38:21Z")
I have my own take on ICE, CBP, and immigration policy. It’s not completely on-topic here, because it doesn’t have to do directly with any Democratic candidate. But there’s been a lot of topic drift already, and it’s something I wish some candidate would address, or at least consider. In my opinion, the core problem isn’t ICE or CBP, it’s the fact that we have a class of people in this country who can be scapegoated and used as targets of racism and xenophobia, and that their undocumented status makes it easy to oppress them. For decades, the U.S. has had millions of immigrants who aren’t here legally. For the most part, their presence is a benefit to the country. They fill a lot of important jobs like farm labor, construction, housekeeping, etc. They pay taxes without receiving a lot of benefits, and they provide a counterbalance to our aging native-born population. For quite a long time we’ve been looking the other way while reaping the benefits of having large numbers of undocumented immigrants in the labor force. Trump has used the presence of these immigrants to whip his followers into a frenzy, and to justify the brutality and cruelty of ICE and CBP under his leadership. It’s a standard tactic of fascists (and authoritarians in general) to fix blame and hatred on an out-group, and decades of neglect of immigration policy have made this easy for him. As I see it, having a large immigrant labor pool is the reality in this country, and it’s not a problem that needs to be fixed. What we need is for the law to recognize the reality. A guest worker program would be a step in the right direction. If we’re going to have millions of immigrant workers, they should be here legally, and with a recognized and protected status. Such a program would help law enforcement, and would let immigrants live their lives here without constant worry about being deported. I’d also like to see a well-defined threshold for what types of crimes can lead to deportation. I think most Americans want to be able to deport people who do things like, say, aggravated assault or armed robbery, but wouldn’t have a problem with not deporting immigrants who commit minor crimes like speeding or public drunkenness. I think a policy like this would be hard to get into law, and if it did become law, it would probably be hard to get immigrants to sign up for it. Trump has poisoned the well. But I wish it were a part of the conversation. I’m not aware of any Democratic presidential candidate who is proposing something like this (am I wrong?). It’s something I could get behind, and I think it would do a lot more to solve the problem than just abolishing ICE. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2026, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1577 "2026-02-23T01:22:04Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > For decades, the U.S. has had millions of immigrants who aren’t here legally. For the most part, their presence is a benefit to the country. They fill a lot of important jobs like farm labor, construction, housekeeping, etc. They pay taxes without receiving a lot of benefits, and they provide a counterbalance to our aging native-born population. For quite a long time we’ve been looking the other way while reaping the benefits of having larg > [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > I’m not aware of any Democratic presidential candidate who is proposing something like this (am I wrong?). It’s something I could get behind, and I think it would do a lot more to solve the problem than just abolishing ICE. This is all true, but maybe in a different thread? Unless one of the current Dem possible candidates comes up with a solution that isnt “Abolish ICE!” (which is _not_ a solution to the problem? of undocumented immigration) ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2026, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1578 "2026-02-23T09:45:59Z")
Call it Retask Ice and then you can do whatever you want after the election. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2026, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1579 "2026-02-23T13:54:48Z")
In real policy a future admin could always purge and retask what is now ICE-ERO (enforcement and removal operations) and separate away what is ICE-HSI (the proper criminal investigations branch that goes after human trafficking, overseas fraud/cybercrime/etc.). The administration powered up ICE-ERO under the premise they have broad authority to intervene beyond just the “border zone” with anyone who “doesn’t belong”. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2026, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036/1580 "2026-02-23T17:48:21Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > _Gov. Gavin Newsom is demanding immediate tariff refund checks for Americans after [the Supreme Court ruled](https://abc7.com/post/trump-tariffs-supreme-court-ruling-today-scotus-strikes-down-trumps-sweeping-upending-central-plank-economic-agenda/18624810/) that most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal._ > > I dont see the difference. You missed my point. The most important thing we need from the Democratic candidate is someone that can consicely articulate their position in a way that connects with people. Today’s voters expect to hear directly from the candidate – not a team of PR people. I thought JB’s soundbite did that very well. I wasn’t commenting on Newsom; I don’t have strong opinions about him. But since you raised it, I do think his comment is trash: > [@Newsom](#): > > _“Time to pay the piper, Donald. These tariffs were nothing more than an illegal cash grab that drove up prices and hurt working families, so you could wreck longstanding alliances and extort them. Every dollar unlawfully taken must be refunded immediately — with interest. Cough up!”_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036.md?page=78) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frontrunners-for-democratic-presidential-nomination-in-2028/1013036.md?page=80)