In the post-inauguration months, the Democratic Party has floundered and failed to settle upon a concrete directive. You would think that opposing Trump would be the party’s number one priority right now, considering that his fascistic and authoritarian first few months have undermined everything the Democrats supposedly stand for. But that has hardly been the reality. Instead, Congressional Democrats have censured one of their own party members for speaking “out of line” at Trump’s State of the Union speech, and minority leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer, has supported Trump’s spending bill, ultimately allowing it to pass Congress. These two events inspire zero confidence that the party is committed to putting down every roadblock it can in defense of democracy.
As a result, the Democratic Party’s approval ratings have dropped to their lowest levels in over 30 years. Meanwhile, on his Stop Oligarchy tour, Bernie Sanders has been drawing colossal, overflowing crowds in congressional swing districts controlled by Republicans. It appears clear that voters, at large, love Bernie-style anti-establishment progressivism. But the 83-year-old would hardly be an intelligent choice for party nominee after Joe Biden was forced to drop out due to voters’ concerns about his age. So, who will lead the Democratic Party into the future?
Some, perhaps half-jokingly, say Stephen A. Smith, the sports analyst and frequent host of ESPN segments. Following some online attention and a poll which had 2 percent of respondents saying they would vote for Smith in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, he dedicated a sizable chunk of one of his podcast episodes to a 23-minute monologue on if he would run for president, his opinion of the Democrats’ state of affairs and even a few glimpses of what his top issues might look like.
So, would Smith be the right candidate for 2028? Let’s take a look at what he said on his podcast and try to make an educated guess as to what kind of campaign he would run, what his appeal would be and how he could capitalize on popular American sentiments.
Throughout his segment, he explained his thought process with regards to actually running a campaign. He has “no intentions of running for the presidency,” but said it would be something he would consider if he had a good shot to win, and if the American people wanted him as their president. He is also acutely aware of the reason that he is in the news as a potential candidate — that being the sorry state of Democratic leadership. Throughout the segment, Smith takes on an anti-establishment and bipartisan rhetoric. He considers politicians to be “beggars” and calls the two-party system “a joke,” sentiments shared by increasing majorities of the public. He admits that he would be a centrist Democrat, but invites Republicans onto his show, saying “I’m not one-sided” and that he has “conservative ideas,” showing a popular willingness to reach across the aisle. These two facets of his political personality might bode well for a candidacy.
He has bountiful criticisms of the Democrats’ losing strategy as well. He goes after Democrats for attacking Trump on his scandals, rather than his ideas, accuses Biden of “backstabbing” the Democratic Party by not dropping out, blames the centrist Democrats for capitulating to the left on social issues (particularly LGBTQ+ rights) and laments the party forgetting about the Black and Hispanic communities. He emphasizes that Trump was talking about reducing the price of goods and stopping immigration, and that is what people wanted to hear politicians talk about. To Smith, losing is the price you pay when you are “incompetent, selfish, tone-deaf [and] devoid of impact.”
Moving on to what his actual policies and issue stances would look like, he espouses a variety of widely popular, center to center-right ideas. He supports free market capitalism, patrolling our borders, strong national security, budget surpluses, Obama’s high deportation numbers and a strong economy. Increases in defense spending, lowering immigration and deporting undocumented people are all quite popular, and naturally capitalism retains high support. The 1992 Clinton campaign’s famous quip, “It’s the economy, stupid,” remains evergreen.
He then goes on an amusing, yet inspiring, mini-tirade about crime.
“Do you know what I would do as commander-in-chief if I saw crime raiding through our streets? And it was affecting jobs, and safety, and ultimately the economy? Do you know who the hell you’re talking to, or listening to? Trump might not have anything on me! With that? I ain’t havin’ it!” Smith said.
It’s a no-brainer that Americans are concerned about crime (despite its historically low rates), and would vote for someone who they believe would do something about it.
Maybe the most right-wing and inflammatory thing he says during the whole segment is that “the streets of America were ravaged with illegal immigrants in our nation, and Joe Biden and his administration did nothing about it.” This is not traditional Democratic messaging, and departs significantly from typical Democratic framing around immigration. But to voters, it might sound like he passionately shares their support for closed borders. Similar to Senate victor Ruben Gallego’s uncharacteristic pro-border-enforcement messaging, Smith’s fiery rhetoric could encourage people concerned about immigration to vote for him.
Realistically, Smith is unlikely to make it past a primary in a real-life presidential election. Despite that, he does have qualities which would give him a base level of appeal to a broad group of Americans. He comes packaged with a high level of name (and voice) recognition which would likely give him an electoral boost. His bipartisan tendencies, and especially his anti-establishment bent, would distance him from the Democratic Party’s current uninspiring message, and let people see him as a “change candidate” or even an “anti-politician,” a potent force which Trump has harnessed and steered to the Oval Office twice now.
Contact Oliver Lee at olee3@oxy.edu
