Maryland Governor Wes Moore recently said on a podcast that Democrats shouldn’t be thinking about 2028 right now. Focus on the present, not the next presidential cycle, he urged—going so far as to suggest that even eyeing 2028 is “disqualifying.”

I admire Governor Moore. He is one of our party’s best leaders. I agree with his instincts for urgency but I think we can get to work right now and also prepare for the future. Urgency also means preparing the next generation to lead—starting today.

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The Democratic Party brand is in crisis. And one essential part of fixing it is to elevate the next generation of leadership—not in 2027, not after the midterms, but right now. We will not win without it. 

Let’s start with the bad news: in poll after poll, the Democratic Party is losing the perception war. We're increasingly viewed as the party of the status quo—of aging leadership, of elite institutions, of technocratic detachment from the everyday struggles of the people we aim to serve. Ask voters under 40 what Democrats stand for and........

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