Other prospective candidates

Democrats should nominate a woman in 2028

Democrats may be setting women up to fail by nominating them in presidential races that are already extremely difficult to win, contributing to a false narrative of nationwide voter sexism.

Both Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris faced the uphill battle of running at the end of Democratic presidencies. Historically, the odds are stacked against any party trying to hold onto the White House after a departing incumbent president of the same party. In fact, in over a century, the president's party has only succeeded in winning an open-seat election twice: Herbert Hoover in 1928 after Calvin Coolidge, and George H. W. Bush in 1988 after Ronald Reagan. Thus, both Clinton and Harris' losses may reflect broader public dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party after departing incumbent Democratic presidents, rather than being solely the result of sexism.

In contrast, if Democrats nominate a woman in 2028, she won't be weighed down by following a Democratic incumbent. Instead, like Barack Obama in 2008, who benefited from running at the end of a two-term Republican president, she could ride a similar "blue wave" to the White House and have a much better shot at winning.