To any Democrat out there thinking about running for president: Do it.
File your papers and run for the White House in 2028, regardless of who you know or how much money you have access to.
We need everyone in the race, because it’s time Democrats finally have some tough conversations out in the open.
It is stupid to see party elites and leadership undermine the likes of Zohran Mamdani in New York City or Omar Fateh in Minneapolis — fresh-faced candidates with populist energy and the momentum to match.
Democrats are rightly nervous about the life-shattering consequences of another four years of a fully empowered, MAGA-fueled presidency at the end of this one. But playing it safe, pandering and minimizing risk is exactly the wrong approach.
That’s why I’m pushing every Democrat to run for president. Or hell, run for Senate, State Assembly or local dog catcher — just run.
If it seems like Democrats are in disarray — like we don’t know what we stand for or what we believe in — it is because we are. The only way we will ever figure out our path forward is by having real elections, where voters can choose between different candidates with different backgrounds, platforms and beliefs.
The debates will be ugly and messy, but it will be a real debate, and that is what strengthens our democracy.
That’s where you come in as a candidate. We need you in the ring, fighting for your ideas and values, because Democrats are long overdue for a knock down, drag out fight about the future of our party and what we believe in.
Are we a populist party in name only, or are we a party actually filled with working people, civic leaders and educators?
Democrats have not had a real primary since 2016. We started a debate in 2020, only to clear the field for Joe Biden’s anointment. In 2024, the field was cleared once again for Vice President Kamala Harris.
So, the critical debate that began in 2016 that pitted a populist, progressive vision of the future against a more centrist, corporate ideology has continued to simmer, which is why we are struggling to define what the party stands for right now.
The party that tries to clear the field for their preferred candidate or limit arguments to safe territory is doomed to lose. But Democratic leaders are already repeating the mistakes of the past.
Rather than embracing popular candidates like Mamdani in New York City, party elites are enabling the scandal-plagued, accused sexual predator Andrew Cuomo to carry on his independent bid to rewrite history.
Democrats desperately need to shake things up. Right now, the alternatives to Trump are the same party insiders who have been in charge for years, if not decades. They are politicians who tell us they’re not running while whispering to reporters that they will. They are the ones who churn out AI-generated content to counter the White House’s chaos, misdirection and fear — who are trying out slick rebrands, running to the center or outright pandering.
Imagine what would happen if hundreds of Democrats filed paperwork to run for president. The media would shift its focus away from stories about “Democrats being out of touch” to “too many Democrats want to run for president.”
James Carville would call it “buffoonery.” He’d dismiss a surge of candidates as madness. But I say, the more the merrier. I’m tired of not talking about our problems at the dinner table like some repressed WASP family. Let’s have it all out in the open, so we can finally get the candidates we deserve.
Imagine a city councilwoman from a small Louisiana town who represents the Deep South and knows how to organize funding to fix potholes.
Imagine a teacher from Scottsdale, Arizona who puts the chalk down and recruits former students to drive her campaign’s face-to-face message.
Imagine a bus driver from Iowa who decides to pull the brake and launch a campaign to educate the public about interstate commerce.
Now imagine them in the Oval Office, because here’s the thing, America: The presidency has always been filled by elites.
President Trump is a billionaire. President Barack Obama went to Harvard. President George W. Bush came from money — not to mention the fact that he is the son of a former president. President Bill Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar.
But you don’t need their résumés. Instead, let’s create a new narrative. America is celebrating its 250th anniversary next year. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence as a grievance against the British King.
Why don’t you run for office as a grievance against the wealthy elites who have been controlling this country for decades and keep running for president?
Michael Ceraso is a Democratic strategist who served on the presidential campaigns of President Barack Obama, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg. He is the founder of the communications firm Winning Margins and of the nonprofit Community Groundwork.
