President Donald Trump and DNC vice chair David Hogg (AP/IMAGN)
Fast-forward to 2025.
President Trump is back in the White House – this time after winning the popular vote and Electoral College, scoring a decisive knockout over former Vice President Kamala Harris. Republicans clung to power in the House and flipped the Senate. And the political real estate Democrats now occupy is a very foreign locale. They’re out of power in Washington. But President Trump returned to power resoundingly and emboldened. And this time, congressional Republicans – MAGA Republicans – stand foursquare behind Mr. Trump.
So it’s natural there’s Democratic infighting about what went wrong, who deserves blame and, more importantly, what direction the party should take next.
Here’s the schism:
Younger, more progressive Democrats are trying to weed out senior lawmakers and power brokers who have been in office for years.
Let’s start with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. She’s the best known of younger, energetic, left-leaning Democrats. She’s also the most-experienced figure in the Democrats’ youth movement. Ocasio-Cortez arrived on the scene, upsetting former Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., in a 2018 primary.
"We got them on their back foot. We’ve got them scared," said Ocasio-Cortez recently about MAGA-aligned Republicans.
Rep. Ro Khanna during a roundtable on Supreme Court ethics in Washington on June 11, 2024. (Allison Bailey/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Hogg is now spending $20 million to coax younger Democrats to primary longtime congressional incumbents.
"What we’re trying to do here is not just focus on primaries where there’s potentially an older incumbent. But more than anything, an ineffective person in that position. And replace with a generational leader," said Hogg on MSNBC.
Abughazaleh is primarying 80-year-old Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who is progressive. But she first came to Congress in 1998. She’s been a member of the House of Representatives longer than Abughazaleh has been alive.
"You have to look to the exceptions for real leadership, as the majority work from an outdated playbook. We need a makeover," said Abughazaleh.
But devouring your own is risky.
"Beating the other side is more important to many voters [rather] than who exactly is representing your own team," said University of Mary Washington political scientist Stephen Farnsworth.
Former President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 20, 2024. (Reuters/Alyssa Pointer)
FIRST ON FOX: REPUBLICAN PARTY SHOWCASES MASSIVE HAUL
Republicans also won the House in 2010 after Obama’s big 2008 victory. In 2009, many Republicans felt it was best if the GOP took a couple of cycles to retrench their bench and agenda during the echoes of the presidency of George W. Bush. But Republicans found themselves in control of the House following the 2010 midterms. The party was more than happy to be back in power in the House. They viewed their victory as a repudiation of Obama and the policies of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. But, nonetheless, this was a strange piece of political landholdings to acquire for the GOP in 2010. In politics, you sometimes "inherit" property.
We don’t know what the political real estate market will look like in 2026. But Democrats now occupy a remote, unfamiliar province. Democrats are trying to map and navigate this alien territory.
But the key with any piece of real estate is how you use it. Do you build on it? Do you rent it out? Do you grow crops?
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Democrats are trying to determine if drifting further to the left helps them use this particular land tract. Does cultivating youth boost them at the polls? Democrats are surveying their turf. Taking measurements. Understanding the topography and geology.
We’ll know in November 2026 if Democrats successfully converted their property into something useful. Or if it's a total wreck and undesirable.
Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-identity-crisis-youth-revolt-rocks-party-after-trump-comeback