The Rage Is Real. Liberal Voters Could Oust Dem Incumbent in 2026

Summary

Bulwark Takes: "The Rage Is Real. Liberal Voters Could Oust Dem Incumbent in 2026"

Release Date: February 28, 2025
Host/Author: The Bulwark Team (Sam Stein, Lauren Egan)

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Introduction

In this episode of Bulwark Takes, host Sam Stein engages in a candid discussion with Lauren Egan about the growing frustration among Democratic voters that could potentially lead to a significant shift in the party's landscape by the 2026 elections. The conversation delves into the parallels between the current Democratic sentiment and the Tea Party movement of the early 2010s, highlighting concerns about party leadership and voter disenchantment.

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Democrats at a Crossroads: A Tea Party-esque Moment?

Lauren Egan introduces the central theme by referencing a recent piece on The Bulwark’s website titled "Democrats risking a Tea Party moment." The discussion centers around Jimmy Pritzker, the Governor of Illinois and a potential 2028 presidential candidate, who warned that the Democratic Party is in a "red alert moment" and needs to act decisively (00:17).

Lauren Egan remarks, “This is a red alert moment and the whole party needs to act like it, including party leadership” (01:06), emphasizing the urgency felt within the party ranks.

Sam Stein probes the analogy to the Tea Party movement, asking, “We have to define what a Tea Party-esque moment is” (01:28). Egan clarifies that it's not about ideological insurgency but rather “Democratic voters are pissed off, they’re fed up with party leadership” (01:51), suggesting a growing internal dissatisfaction that could mirror the grassroots revolt seen during the Tea Party surge.

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Voter Discontent and Leadership Challenges

The conversation explores the reasons behind this dissatisfaction. Sam Stein recalls the Tea Party’s grievances, noting criticisms of the party for not resisting Obama strongly enough during bailouts and policy implementations like Obamacare (02:09). This historical context sets the stage for understanding current parallels within the Democratic Party.

Lauren Egan adds that the sentiment now is “These people are just kind of weak and, like, they don’t really have it” (03:38), pointing to a perceived lack of vigor and creativity among Democratic leaders. She also touches on the age factor, mentioning that leaders like Hakeem Jeffries are relatively younger but still face criticism.

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Impact on Political Strategy and Primaries

The discussion shifts to the potential implications for Democratic strategy and the upcoming elections. Egan highlights that a significant number of new candidates are expressing interest in running for office, with approximately 500 people daily reaching out to the run for various positions (07:14). Sam Stein underscores the importance of this grassroots surge, explaining how it can build a robust bench of candidates who might challenge incumbents in primaries.

An example cited involves Congressman Lynch from Boston, who faced backlash during a town hall meeting for not doing enough to fight against Trump (08:08). Egan notes that such incidents could lead to primary challenges, reflecting the growing impatience among voters (08:56).

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Challenges in Leadership: The Case of Hakeem Jeffries

A significant portion of the dialogue focuses on Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader, and his effectiveness in handling the party's current challenges. Lauren Egan criticizes Jeffries for prioritizing a children's book tour over more pressing political battles, stating, “This book tour just totally represents why Democratic voters are pissed off and just like, what the fuck are we doing?” (10:04).

Sam Stein contrasts Jeffries with Nancy Pelosi, who despite facing protests, earned respect through legislative achievements and strong leadership (11:21). Egan argues that Jeffries lacks the "reservoir of goodwill" that Pelosi possesses, making him more vulnerable to internal criticism and protests.

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Future Outlook and Potential Outcomes

As the episode nears its conclusion, Sam Stein and Lauren Egan deliberate on whether the Democratic Party will culminate in a movement akin to the Tea Party. Egan remains cautious, stating, “It’s so early. You gotta ask me again in like the summer” (11:56), acknowledging that it's premature to predict the exact trajectory but emphasizing the need for the party to address voter frustrations promptly.

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Conclusion

The episode underscores a critical juncture for the Democratic Party, highlighting the potential for significant internal upheaval driven by voter dissatisfaction with current leadership. With a surge in interest for political office and visible cracks in leadership efficacy, the Democrats face the challenge of reinvigorating their base and adapting to the evolving political landscape to prevent a scenario where liberal voters might oust incumbents in the next election cycle.

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Notable Quotes:

• Lauren Egan at 01:06: “This is a red alert moment and the whole party needs to act like it, including party leadership.”
• Lauren Egan at 03:38: “These people are just kind of weak and, like, they don’t really have it.”
• Lauren Egan at 10:04: “This book tour just totally represents why Democratic voters are pissed off and just like, what the fuck are we doing?”

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Final Thoughts: Bulwark Takes provides a sobering analysis of the current state of the Democratic Party, emphasizing the need for introspection and strategic action to address internal discontent and prevent a potential political upheaval akin to the Tea Party movement. The episode serves as a call to action for Democratic leaders to reconnect with their base and implement meaningful changes to sustain their political momentum.

Transcript

[Sam Stein]

What's up, guys? Me, Sam Stein, managing at the Bulwark Drum by Lauren Egan, who's managed to make it through a full five days at the Bulwark.

[Lauren Egan]

Quit yet?

[Sam Stein]

How, how badly do you want to quit?

[Lauren Egan]

You know, it's only what, 11am I still got time.

[Sam Stein]

You got time for the end of the day and Fridays. The Fridays are particularly rough in the Trump era, so we'll wait and see. Lauren. Lauren's here to talk about a new piece on the site and in your inboxes of morning shots. It's about Democrats risking a Tea Party moment. So I like the piece because it, it surveys a bunch of different folks, but the chief among them was Jimmy Pritzker, governor of Illinois. We'll get into it in a second. Just first, obviously subscribe to the feed. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We need the subscriptions. Do it, please. Lauren, tell us about what Pritzker said because he's obviously at the forefront of the party. He's rumored to be a presidential candidate in 2028. He's choosing his words wisely, but also at the same time warning the party that there's, there's kind of on like tenuous ground here.

[Lauren Egan]

Yeah. He was careful not to like directly take a shot at Democratic leadership, but he was like, look, this is a red alert moment and the whole party needs to act like it, including party leadership.

[Sam Stein]

Right.

[Lauren Egan]

So, so. And he was pretty candid. Like you said, we are at a Tea Party esque type moment in 2020.

[Sam Stein]

I guess we have to define, I guess we have to define what a Tea Party esque moment is.

[Lauren Egan]

Yeah.

[Sam Stein]

So like, were you around back then or.

[Lauren Egan]

No, I was alive.

[Sam Stein]

Alive. But were you around. I was alive.

[Lauren Egan]

No, I was a kid.

[Sam Stein]

I was a kid.

[Lauren Egan]

But like, I mean, I think when we say it, like we're not talking about it from like an ideological point of view. This isn't like, like, like there's going to be some like, insurgent, you know, anti Obamacare.

[Sam Stein]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lauren Egan]

It's more the idea that like, like Democratic voters are pissed off, they're fed up with party leadership. And it could be at the point where we're going to see a bunch of first time candidates, primary establishment types in, in the midterms.

[Sam Stein]

Yeah. I mean, my recollection and I was alive and also working back then was that, you know, 2009, 2010, basically the conservative grassroots just got fed up and they were like, yeah, you know, we didn't, didn't like the bailouts, they didn't like the Wall street. Like the auto bailout. They didn't like Obamacare, but they mostly were pissed off at their own party for not doing more to stand up to Obama. And also, you know, the bailouts had happened and started under George W. Bush, so they were really upset. They thought there had just not been. You know, the. The. The party got stuck to its convictions and they took it out. And. And a bunch of different insurgent candidates won nominations, and then they won office. And of course, the big one was Eric Caner losing his primary bid. I haven't seen that yet. I mean, it's early, right? Like, we're like a month.

[Lauren Egan]

It's so early. It's so early. And that's what like. Like leadership will say. Like, what, We're a month in? Not even.

[Sam Stein]

Is it just a month? No, we're over a month in.

[Lauren Egan]

Just over.

[Sam Stein]

No, no, it's February 28th. We've had a month in eight days. Okay.

[Lauren Egan]

Okay. Okay. So, like, you know, it feels like two years. It's early. No, literally feels like 10 years. So there's totally time. But you're. Yeah, we're not, like, there.

[Sam Stein]

What would it. What would it look like if it happens? Like, what would it be over? I guess, like, why would they be. How. How would they. How would they showcase their anger with Democratic leadership? And what would it be about?

[Lauren Egan]

Well, that's the thing when I'm saying, like, it's not ideological. I hate to use the word vibe, because, like, we've. But it is, like, a vibe thing. I think it's just, like, this sense that, like, these people are just kind of weak and, like, they're not really. They don't, like, have it. Have. Have it in them. Like, they don't have a fight in them. And also age. I mean, yes and no, because, like, someone like Schumer, but. Yeah, like, Hakeem Jeffries is not old, but I think it's. That's what I'm saying. It's like a. It has to be.

[Sam Stein]

I got. Go ahead. 54. 54.

[Lauren Egan]

Okay.

[Sam Stein]

That's not.

[Lauren Egan]

Yeah, so, like. Yeah, it's not. But, you know, not young, so.

[Sam Stein]

I know what you're thinking. I'm not 54. Yeah, I know you're not.

[Lauren Egan]

I know you're not. What was I going say? Yeah, I don't know. It's part of the media environment, too. Like, you know, they're kind of, like, still just going on the same, like, cable news shows and, like, they're not being creative. And I don't. I don't think voters feel like the Democratic base doesn't feel like they like have it in them to be creative and like do something different. Even though like we know that they've got to shake things up and change some things.

[Sam Stein]

Yeah, but it's so, it's so vague. It's like, oh, shake things up, change things. Go get harder and more aggressive with Trump. Like what, what does that mean? Right. Like literally change.

[Lauren Egan]

I think that's the challenge.

[Sam Stein]

Handcuff yourself to the Department of Education as opposed to protesting outside of it. What do you do? Don't think. I don't think you should do that. I think that end poorly. But like I think that's the bind they're in. Right. They just don't have.

[Lauren Egan]

Yeah, easy. Like obviously there's an obvious answer they do it but.

[Sam Stein]

But you haven't. So you had another piece two days ago or I guess yesterday about one thing they could do and that's like shut down the government. Right. So what bring that into here because I guess that's the biggest, most immediate flashpoint.

[Lauren Egan]

Right? They could do that. We don't know what they're going to do. I think it's a little unclear.

[Sam Stein]

Well, I guess we don't. They can't do that in theory. Right. If Republicans had all the votes they could pass their. Yeah, well I guess in the senate they need 60. Right. So they could do that. Okay, Nevermind.

[Lauren Egan]

Yeah, but like I think that there's, there's like a sense that they're ultimately going to be like a bit squeamish on this and like, you know, they don't want to be blamed for shutting down the government fairly or unfairly. I think especially your moderate Democrats are pretty sensitive to that. And so like that might not even happen. But like they could, I don't know, like State of the Unions next week. You know, they're like planning to do some things, things around that. But it's all like, you know, bringing people who've been affected by Doge to the State of the Union. It's all kind of like the same playing cards. Nothing's like really like new or different. That's just like standard practice.

[Sam Stein]

Right. And I guess the other thing is.

[Lauren Egan]

Like yeah, that would basically just being like why the fuck aren't we doing anything different? Like we do this every year when we're not in power. Like why, why are you pointing to this as like there was a thing that we should be rallying around.

[Sam Stein]

There was an interesting stat in your piece about how many people have Actually signed up for office.

[Lauren Egan]

Really interesting. Yeah. So run for something, which is, you know, the big group that kind of helps train and recruit people to run for office for the first time. They said that they've been getting about 500 people a day reaching out to them wanting to run for office, which is pretty astonishing in a man.

[Sam Stein]

This is not. And just to be clear, this is not just like congressional office. This is offices across different spectrums of government.

[Lauren Egan]

But she said that in 27, since the November election, they've seen more people reach out to sign up to run for office than they did in the entire year of 2017. So what? That's only been a few months compared to all of 2017.

[Sam Stein]

That's crazy.

[Lauren Egan]

Yeah, it's a huge difference. Yeah, it's a lot of people. So those numbers, I think, are pretty telling.

[Sam Stein]

Right. And look, I mean, not everyone's going to run and everyone's going to win, but the sheer interest in office, and I think people don't really quite appreciate this. You start low, like, people run locally, then move up, then move to state office. Then from state office, they could do federal office. So you build a bench, and this is what happens. And some of them will take out other Democrats, presumably in primaries.

[Lauren Egan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sam Stein]

Are we seeing. Are we seeing Democrats already being threatened with primaries?

[Lauren Egan]

Well, it's so early, but, yeah, we've. There was this interesting moment from. I guess it was last week when Congress was on recess. Congressman lynch from the Boston area was like, hosting a town hall or some kind of speech, and someone interrupted him and was basically, like, giving him a hard time saying, well, you got to do more to fight against Trump. You got to do more to fight against Trump. And he was basically just like, look, I'm the one that was elected. Like, he got kind of defensive. There's a video linked in the piece. He was kind of defensive as basically, like, you run for Congress, then, like, you run. So, you know, that part's kind of interesting. And there's been some chatter that, like, there's people that are going to try and primary him in that they might.

[Sam Stein]

They might actually do it.

[Lauren Egan]

I mean, yeah, he did bring it upon himself, quite literally, but.

[Sam Stein]

Yeah, yeah, that's. That's ridiculous. You should have done that in your Boston accent, Laura.

[Lauren Egan]

Oh, my God. I love.

[Sam Stein]

I do not have a Boston accent, ultimately. What. How would you. Category. Oh, sorry. The last thing I want to ask you about, because hovering all this is. That is like Jeffries basically is the. Is the person who is supposed to be at the vanguard of, you know, what Democrats are trying to do here, oppositionally, not just because he's the minority leader in the House and they have such a small margin there compared to the Senate even, but because he's Young, relatively. He's 54, and Schumer's older, and he's better known than the DNC chair, who's really not done much since winning the office, Ken Martin. And yet Jeffries has been hounded, like, as he goes around the country on a book tour. I didn't realize this until you reported it, that he's hawking a children's book that he authored.

[Lauren Egan]

Yes, he has authored a children's book about.

[Sam Stein]

See, is that the problem is that, like, the symbol of the problem here.

[Lauren Egan]

Is, like, you're saying, obviously, when he wrote the book and planned this, the hope was that Paris would be president and it would hit a lot differently, but, like, she's not, and he's still on this book tour, and it's just, like, weird. I think this book tour just, like, totally represents why Democrats. Why Democratic voters are pissed off and just like, what the fuck are we doing?

[Sam Stein]

It's like, you need to get off your children's book tour and probably get back to work. And he's been protested.

[Lauren Egan]

Yeah. At a few of these book tours, there's been protesters that have showed up to be like, yeah, could you go back and do your job and fight a bit harder against Trump?

[Sam Stein]

What does he say?

[Lauren Egan]

I mean, he. I don't think he really knows how to interact with a lot of these. These protesters and these groups. Like, it's a bit. Bit uncomfortable. I talked to someone who's at one of the Brooklyn events, and they were just like, yeah, it's just, like, uncomfortable.

[Sam Stein]

Okay.

[Lauren Egan]

So I, you know, I don't know. I don't think he's really, like, figured out gotten his sea legs with some of this quite yet.

[Sam Stein]

Right.

[Lauren Egan]

Well, you know, like.

[Sam Stein]

Yeah, I was gonna say Pelosi.

[Lauren Egan]

Pelosi took comparison.

[Sam Stein]

I was gonna say Pelosi did get similar. You know, she did get protested by the base, but she also had earned their adoration for doing a whole bunch of different things, including passing critical legislation and being steely in these. In these moments. And Jeffries does not have that reservoir yet of goodwill. He might get it. But this is. This is why we say they're in a kind of tricky situation. Okay, this is great, Lauren. Thank you so much for this. Anything else you want to say about the situation? Are you. Do you think ultimately that we're gonna end up with a tea party like movement here or now.

[Lauren Egan]

Oh, don't make me guess. It's so early. You gotta. You gotta ask me again in like the summer. All right, well, give me a few more months. It is 28 days in.

[Sam Stein]

All right, open it. Lauren, again, thanks so much. Everyone should be on the lookout for her soon to be launched newsletter, the Opposition. It's coming soon. And thank you for watching on YouTubes, obviously. Subscribe share rate us. Hi. Whatever you have to do to improve our standing, we appreciate it and we'll be in touch.