Ro Khanna and the fight for the post-Bernie left
Khanna is asking a Democratic base that spent eight years hearing that capitalism is the problem to sign onto "progressive capitalism." That's a real gamble. He's betting that a message of economic patriotism, manufacturing revival, and holding Big Tech accountable can win over both the Bernie wing and the center, and he's been practicing it in red districts, not just blue rooms.
What makes it worth watching is that he's not just selling policy, he's selling a theory of how Democrats win. The party has spent the last few cycles arguing over whether to chase swing voters or fire up the base. Khanna is trying to do both at once, and the 2028 primary will be the first real test of whether that's possible.
I'd want to know more about how he reconciles his Silicon Valley fundraising ties with his progressive platform. That tension has tripped up plenty of candidates before him. But if the left is genuinely looking for a standard-bearer who can talk to a Trump voter and a tech worker in the same week, he might be the one who's actually been doing it.