Veteran pollster Jim McLaughlin told Newsmax on Tuesday he predicts a rough road for Democrats come 2028, arguing that the party's potential presidential bench is stacked with "failed radical left-wing politicians" who won't resonate beyond their coastal base.
On "Ed Henry The Big Take," McLaughlin said Democrats like to brand themselves as defenders of democracy — but he questioned how competitive their own nomination process has truly been.
"You look at who these Democratic candidates are. And look, they always tell us how they're the party of democracy.
"But the truth is, they haven't had a competitive Democratic primary — think about this — since about 2008, since when Barack Obama won and he upset Hillary Clinton back then," McLaughlin said.
"They've basically been fixing things and clearing it" since then.
McLaughlin, who served on President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, was responding to CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten, who this week derided the Democrats' early 2028 presidential field as a "clown car" with "no clear front-runner."
"You look at their candidates. Boy, I got to tell you, I'll pay all of their filing fees to be on the ballot because they are such failed radical left-wing politicians," he said.
"Look at them all, whether it's [New York Rep.] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whether it's [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom, whether it's [former Transportation Secretary] Pete Buttigieg, they're just not going to sell in Middle America," he said.
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