In the wake of the 2016 election, early polls showed that Hillary Clinton led the Democratic field for challenging Trump in 2020. As we all know, that didn't happen, and the country ended up with the Biden-Harris administration for four years. In 2017, there were clear options for the Democratic Party to follow - that's not true in 2025; the Democratic Party is leaderless, rudderless, and grasping for solutions.

Politico ran a story this week alleging that Kamala Harris still led the field of options in 2028. It lauded her as a great candidate with a bright future ahead in national politics, and I came away wondering what planet Politico's reporters are from. Kamala Harris doesn't have a dead political career, but she's also never shown she has the capacity for a national career.

Ironically, the best thing that could have happened to Harris would have been to go down with the ship with Biden in charge. If he never drops out, Biden takes all the blame, and Harris could have said hypothetically that she could have won. But that all got blown up by Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama's coup to oust Biden and install Harris.

Harris wants all the credit for running a Presidential campaign at the last second but none of the blame for why Democrats lost. In 2022, Republicans lost winnable races in the Senate and House because poor candidates ran for contested offices. Harris lost the 2020 primaries before a single vote was cast and was given the 2024 Democratic nomination.

It's quite simple: She's a bad candidate. Everything that plagued her failed 2020 run came back and haunted her in the 2024 campaign. Donna Brazile bizarrely opined to Politico, "You just got to let them marinate in their own success, their own failures, their own mistakes, or their achievements. This is personal."

What successes? Kamala Harris has the distinction of losing to Donald Trump, the man Biden beat, and Hillary Clinton lost to. She's in the same company as Hillary Clinton, and if you look at the exit polling, people viewed them through a similar lens: unlikable, extreme, and you can't believe a word either of them says.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is already working on endorsing replacement seats in Congress, where he is tapping people for cabinet positions. Additionally, Trump could weigh heavily on the results of the New Jersey and Virginia governor races coming up in 2025.

For comparison, what races and endorsements can Harris swing in the Democratic Party? She underperformed in nearly every state and demographic possible. What politician in the Democratic Party is begging Harris to come stump for them in 2025 or 2026?

Harris may want her options open, but it's unclear what possible path she'd have toward anything.

In fact, it's not just Harris; it's unclear what leadership exists in the Democratic Party. Neither Chuck Schumer nor Hakeem Jefferies commands a majority in Congress. Barack Obama watched as the last vestiges of his campaign core went up in flames from Donald Trump's victories.

There's no doubt that Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, Jefferies, and the rest wield real power. But none of them is running for President. They'll try to set up counters to the Trump administration from the outside. Still, there's no figurehead for the Democratic Party.

It's no joke to reflect on the fact that Donald Trump managed, in his two wins over three cycles, to completely empty the Democratic Party's bench. The old guard is gone, from Clinton to Obama, and no one knows who is capable of steppinginto the new role as party figurehead.

Suppose Kamala Harris runs again in four years. In that case, she'd have to actually win a national primary for the first time ever. She's shown no ability to do that or connect with enough of the Democratic Party's voters to have a base. I have no idea who will be able to take over in 2028.

Republicans face a different question: Who is the next step beyond Donald Trump? J.D. Vance is the obvious answer right now, but several governors and senators will want a say in that question.

On the Democratic side, outside Gavin Newsom and the also-rans of 2020, who can create a winning coalition for Democrats? They don't have anyone right now. Donald Trump's total victory in 2024, sweeping the battleground states and the popular vote, has Democrats with more questions than answers.

We'll eventually get those answers. In American politics, the pendulum always swings back in the opposite direction. But for now, the Democratic Party is in the wilderness, trying to figure out how to become a viable national party again.

Their prospects depend heavily on how well Donald Trump governs in his second term. If he does poorly, they have an obvious line of attack moving into 2026 and beyond. If Trump governs well, it could be a long four years for the Democratic Party, which has no leadership.

Put another way, if you're already putting the fate of 2028 Democrats in the hands of Kamala Harris, Republicans will take those odds right now.