Who will be the new face of the Democratic Party?
Who is the face of the Democratic Party going forward?
That just might be the million-dollar question.
There's one thing we know for sure: it won't be the two administration officials currently in office come Jan. 20, 2025.
For now, Democrats – both current and former – are focusing on picking up the pieces and pointing fingers.
They're torn between blaming Vice President Kamala Harris and blaming President Joe Biden.
"The biggest onus of this loss is on President Biden," Andrew Yang, who ran against Biden in 2020 and endorsed Harris in 2024. He left the Democratic Party and founded his own "Forward Party."
"If he had stepped down in January instead of July, we may be in a very different place."
Hindsight is always 20/20, and there's no telling what would have happened if Biden stepped down sooner, though indicates voters were concerned about his age and mental acuity long before he ended his campaign.
On the other hand, members of the party blame Harris' campaign strategy for not differentiating herself enough from Biden.
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., said it would have been better if Harris had participated in the CNN debate (instead of Biden's shakey performance) and won the 2024 Democratic primary.
"It was necessary for the Democratic nominee to separate him or herself from an unpopular incumbent, as much as we love Joe Biden," he . "None of these things happened."
There's also a blame game between the so-called "establishment" and progressives within the party.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., went scorched earth after Tuesday's loss. He's an Independent but caucuses with Democrats.
"It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them," he . "Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign?"
Others maintain there's something about the Trump effect Democrats just can't overcome.
"Our challenge is not to overreact to this election," Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who won reelection. "We had a candidate with a relatively low profile. No one knew much about Kamala Harris who took on one of the best-known people in the history of mankind."
While blame for the loss will likely run the gamut, members of the party appear to agree that it's time to look inward. Because as of right now, they're heading into a second Trump presidency with no clear leader to start the next chapter.
"I think there needs to be a cleaning of the house; there needs to be a new generation of leaders that emerge," Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. "There needs to be new thinking, new ideas and a new direction."
In a sense, Democrats are still clinging to remnants of the Obama era – electing Obama's vice president and then trying to elect Biden's vice president. They Harris would bring back the Obama-like momentum with her campaign, but it evidently came up short.
Michelle Obama's name even entered the chat as a possible Biden replacement before he endorsed Harris. She's actually one of the betting to become President of the United States in 2028 – 5/1 (+500) according to .
Still, there was talk about straying away and whispers about a possible new face before Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris.
A at that time included several younger, fresh Democratic names to enter the mix: California Gov. Gavin Newsom; Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker; Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro; and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
These governors often speak on a national platform, and speak up about national issues and national candidates. When asked about presidential ambitions in the past, however, they skirted the question, arguing Biden was the nominee, and then Harris, and they wouldn't step on toes.
Other names made the 2028 favorites , like Hillary Clinton, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (Harris' running mate), Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Mark Kelley and, yes, even Oprah Winfrey.
If Democrats win the House, which is still up for grabs as of Thursday, come Jan. 20, the highest-ranking Democrat in Washington, D.C. would be New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Democrats' to elect as the new House Speaker. He's risen to a leadership position through relentless fundraising and campaigning in battleground states.
But, Democrats may not flip the chamber, meaning he'll get about as much credit and attention as he does now as the House Minority Leader – not a ton. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is in a similar bind.
As of Thursday afternoon, Republicans had a with 210 seats vs. Democrats' 195. They need 218 to win the House.
Regardless, the 2024 election results present a void for the party as a whole. And that might not necessarily be viewed as a bad thing by the party.
In this case, Democrats can regroup with a clean slate, with no worries about incumbency or presumed successors. They can prop up someone young who can make a splash with a new path for the party.
They just have to find someone willing to do it.
