‘Return to Normalcy’ Is a Trap for Democrats

Dan Pfeiffer: “The fundamental mistake of Democrats in the Biden era is that we interpreted the 2020 victory as the American people voting for a return to normalcy after Trump. Because of that analytical error, Biden et al. began touting a return to normalcy and defending the status quo. That’s how we ended up with a message focused on defending democracy rather than reforming it.”

“As we sit here today, Democrats have a good chance of winning the presidency in 2028. If things stay on this trajectory, the 2028 election looks a lot like 2008, and Donald Trump looks like George W. Bush: a toxic incumbent who will drag down his party.”

“But it would be a huge error to treat that win as evidence that voters are yearning for some pre-Trump normalcy. Four of the last five presidential elections have been change elections where voters threw out the party in power. The only exception was Obama’s reelection in 2012.”