Who is the leader of the party?

Not the ceremonial answer. Not the press-release answer. The actual answer. Nobody.

And what makes that answer so deliciously awkward is that it isn’t even controversial. It’s just… obvious. The party that once orbited figures like Bill Clinton or Barack Obama now resembles a group project where nobody wants to take the lead but everyone insists they’re the smartest person in the room.

Let’s talk about the ghosts first.

Joe Biden is less a political figure now and more a museum exhibit that occasionally blinks. Democrats still wheel him out rhetorically when it’s convenient, but the energy behind that effort feels like trying to reboot a flip phone in the age of quantum computing. And then there’s Kamala Harris, who, despite suffering a political defeat so decisive it practically came with its own soundtrack, is still treated by party insiders like a “top-tier option.” That’s not confidence. That’s denial wearing a pantsuit.

The rest of the bench doesn’t exactly inspire confidence either.

Gavin Newsom, once hyped as the slick-haired savior of progressive politics, now feels like a canceled pilot episode. His national appeal peaked somewhere between French Laundry dinners and California’s ongoing audition for a dystopian documentary. The idea of a Newsom presidential run in 2028 has all the excitement of reheated coffee, and about the same aftertaste. Pair him with any running mate and you’ve got a political version of Beavis and Butthead, minus the self-awareness.

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