Who will run against Trump in 2028? Please step forward now don't wait | David Kirp

"The Democratic politicians on the national scene, charged with leading the opposition, continue to bring a butterknife to the ongoing gunfight that is US politics under Donald Trump. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, comes across as a weary grandpa, glasses perched halfway down his nose as he reads his script in sleep-inducing monotone. Quick who's the minority leader of the House? You get bonus points if you can identify Hakeem Jeffries."

"Democrats cannot afford to play possum and wait for Trump to implode, as onetime political guru James Carville urged in a New York Times opinion piece. That won't be Trump's fate his boast that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue without losing any voters isn't far off the mark. Barack Obama could go toe-to-toe with Trump. He's the most popular living president a YouGov poll, taken just before the last election, showed that over half of all Americans would most likely vote for him."

"Although the two-term president can't run again, he'd garner the attention that Democrats badly need. But the former president has had next to nothing to say about Trump's initiatives. While he has scolded Democratic politicians for not speaking out, he has gone silent. He hasn't appeared at any public event staged by opponents of the president. Instead, he's producing movies and documentaries, playing golf (as of 2016, he was an honest 13) and building an $18m mansion in Hawaii."

National Democratic figures are portrayed as ineffectual and uncharismatic, failing to mount an energetic opposition to Donald Trump. Senior leaders appear disengaged, and House leadership lacks public recognition. Waiting for Trump's downfall is unlikely to succeed given his resilient voter base. Barack Obama could provide the attention and credibility needed, but he has remained largely silent and focused on private projects and media production. Several prospective candidates have made tentative moves toward 2028, but half-hearted efforts are insufficient. A bold, well-funded Democratic entrant into the 2028 presidential race should be launched immediately to reinvigorate the party and challenge Trump.

Read at www.theguardian.com