Dem insiders sound alarm that party must change — or face 'permanent minority'

An extensive report about the Democratic Party reveals the revelation from insiders who realized they should learn why they failed in 2024 and make changes.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has sided with some Republicans and President Donald Trump over the past few weeks, and as a result, "he has been ostracized from the party for his seeming apostasy," said the Politico report.

He argued that the Democratic Party "should stop taking a hair-on-fire approach to Trump during his second term."

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“We really got our a--es kicked in, and especially in the Senate, we could have been left a gigantic, smoking hole in the ground,” Fetterman told Politico about the 2024 election. “We could have easily lost Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin, and we could be staring down, 56-44. And if we don’t get our s--t together, then we are going to be in a permanent minority.”

One major issue of division for the party is immigration. Many lawmakers "once turned to liberal immigration groups for advice," Politico paraphrased from Third Way's Lanae Erickson.

The report also cited progressive pollster David Shor, who has circulated a post-mortem poll that shows the Democratic Party doesn't have a future if it doesn't do something soon.

"Young voters have become more Republican," the report said. "Trump likely won foreign-born voters. The electorate trusts the GOP more than Democrats on Social Security. Higher turnout wouldn’t have saved Harris; in fact, it would have made Trump win by a larger margin."

As Democrats struggle to rebuild, they still believe they'll take back the House in 2026. Watching the GOP enrage the electorate "is also enabling them to continue avoiding hard conversations, and perhaps obscuring the need to have a reckoning," said Politico. "There’s still a pervasive sense among some in the party that they don’t need to bother with all that — the pendulum will swing their way regardless."

“I think it would be a massive mistake not to come out of this election and make changes,” said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA). “Everyone said we would win the House this year. Now people are saying, ‘Oh, well, we’ll surely win the House in the midterms.’ That’s a very dangerous assumption when we lost across the board.”

Read the full report here.