As Democrats emerge from the rubble of the 2024 election, political leaders are trying to decide the direction the party should go. Some critics contend that former Vice President Kamala Harris was, as then-candidate Donald Trump described her, a “radical left lunatic.” Due to this characterization, many people voice that the party must position itself as more centrist. 

The issue with this post-election autopsy is that it is based on a lie. Harris was not a far-left candidate, and the Democrats are not radical. In fact, the Republican Party — historically conservative — has radically reshaped the United States government in a matter of months, including through sweeping cuts to the bureaucracy through the Department of Government Efficiency, the deployment of the national guard to Los Angeles without the governor’s approval, among other decisions. If the Democrats wish to remain a politically fighting force, they should embrace progressive policies instead of fleeing to the center. 

To start, let’s examine the issues with labeling Harris as a “far-left” candidate. Kamala Harris was, by all metrics, a moderate Democrat. While she occasionally aligned with progressivism as a senator, her policy platform once she became the presidential nominee was more aligned with the central wing of the party.

For example, Harris abandoned her previous support of “Medicare for All,” despite the majority of Americans favoring government-ensured healthcare according to a Gallup Poll. Harris also backed out of her previous support of a fracking ban and began implying a cabinet position for anti-Trump Republican Liz Cheney. Was this radical left lunacy? 

In fact, when asked what she would change about Biden’s unpopular term in office, she said, “There is not a thing that comes to mind.” Is it considered radical to change nothing?

According to Pew Research Center in 2024, only “22% of Americans say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right.” The status quo clearly wasn’t working.

A Biden-Harris administration that sent $17.9 billion to Israel to fund military actions resulting in the deaths of more than 45,000 Palestinians by the end of 2024, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, when a majority of Americans disapprove, according to a July 2025 Gallup poll, needs radical fixing. 

When Democrats embrace the Clintonian “big government is over” attitude in response to a bloated bureaucracy, they are no better than the deregulatory race to the bottom of Republicans. This rejection of big government ignores the tremendous ability for the government to be a proactive force of powerful positive change, like during the New Deal or the Great Society, two ambitious sets of domestic programs that led to, for example, the creation of Social Security during the New Deal or its expansion through Medicare and Medicaid during the Great Society. 

Now to understand what “radical left” shifts look like, consider policies of progressive politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. As Sanders wrote in the Guardian, “Poll after poll shows that our ideas are supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans who have the crazy idea that maybe, just maybe, government should represent the needs of all of us and not just wealthy campaign donors.” 

If the progressives embodied by Sanders and AOC got their way electorally, Americans could have Medicare for All, tuition-free college, more negotiations for lower drug prices and a Green New Deal. 

The “radical left” policies of Sanders or Ocasio-Cortez resonate with many Americans because they respond to the same base distrust of Washington insiders that drove people to Trump. Their Fighting Oligarchy tour is not only drawing crowds in deep blue Los Angeles but also attracting thousands in Montana, Idaho, Oklahoma and Texas.

A vivid example of this trend is Zohran Mamdani winning the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor. Not only did Mamdani beat the problematic moderate Andrew Cuomo, but he showed that it is possible to be excited about Democrats again. His platform on rent freezes, city-owned grocery stores, no-cost childcare, and taxing corporations and the 1% energized a population struggling under the weight of an affordability crisis. When the economy consistently ranks among the top concerns with voters, this message is strengthened.  

Yes, New York is a deep blue pocket, but couching these left-wing policies in different terms crystallizes how universally accepted they can be. Democrat Nathan Sage, running to unseat Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, is not running as a progressive, but his policy platform of raising the minimum wage, passing the PRO Act which expands labor union protections and cutting taxes for the working class indicates similar positions to progressives like Sanders. Although ousting Ernst in deep-red Iowa is unlikely, a recent poll by Data for Progress showed Sage leading Ernst by two points.

People are tired of holding their noses and voting for the lesser of two evils. Instead of propping up the same milquetoast Democrat to win that elusive moderate vote, Democrats need to animate voters with a bold new platform. Voters should pressure the party to better support progressive candidates in competitive races because if envisioning a government that works for the people is radical, then Democrats should become radical.