SPRINGFIELD, Illinois — In casual conversations with Democrats in August from across the Midwest, I found that their biggest frustration with the national party is that its platform didn’t appeal to them. I was not surprised to see that same sentiment captured in a poll by the Wall Street Journal around the same time. It found Democrats’ popularity cratering with a staggering 63% of voters holding an unfavorable view of the party.
One month later, another survey by the Wall Street Journal showed that people are losing faith that they will achieve the American dream in their lifetime — and worse, they fear it will even be further out of reach for their children and grandchildren. This sentiment should concern leaders in both parties, but in particular the Democrats, who have bottomed out with appealing to the middle-class voter.
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No Democrat cringes more at those stats than former Illinois congressman, White House chief of staff, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Twenty years ago, he led the Democrats’ takeover of the House, and he is widely rumored to be considering a run for his party’s nomination for president in 2028.
Many smart Republicans will tell you privately that of all of the folks throwing their name around as possible contenders, it is Emanuel, a brilliant political animal and tactician, whom they fear the most. Why?
Well, there is likely an entire generation of Democrats and journalists who might not know this, but his 2006 midterm election strategy of picking centrist candidates to run for the House in states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Tennessee in Republican-leaning districts gave his party the gavel for the first time in a dozen years.
Emanuel said in our interview that the survey numbers from the Wall Street Journal told him a few important things, but one above all: that Democrats really need to start addressing that it is unacceptable for the American dream to be inaccessible to so many.
“I think that the core and the reason people are disappointed in the Democratic Party is because when their backs [are] against the wall, they expect us to show up, and we are nowhere on this,” he said.
Emanuel said some of the things Democrats did over the years, such as universal healthcare, helped with affordability.
“Other things we did, like allowing college costs to get out of control and allowing it to become less about a meritocracy and more about an exclusive club,” he explained.
His second lesson for his party: lifting people up so they could attain a middle-class life.
“Today is a struggle, and you want a shot,” he said. “You want a shot for your children, and you’re getting the shaft now. You’re struggling to barely hold on, and it used to be you could work hard and get there and stay there. Now you’ve gotten there, you’re fearful, and you’re also pessimistic about your kids ever getting there either.”
Another thing Democrats need to address is that the system is rigged.
“I’ll say it, it’s rigged in favor of me and my children,” he said. “And so I used to spend a lot of time unrigging, trying to unrig it. My attitude now is, ‘No, I want to keep it rigged. I’m just going to rig it for you against the powerful interests. It’s going to stay rigged, but we’re going to rig it on behalf of the working class, the middle class of America that struggle every day against great odds and great headwinds.'”
While Emanuel admitted that putting it that way is sort of tongue-in-cheek, he is clearly frustrated that things have gotten so out of control for the middle class.
The former ambassador to Japan said he saw firsthand “the great lure of America” when he witnessed the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier depart Yokosuka for the last time in May 2024 and when his son graduated from the Navy’s Officer Candidate School among a “cross section of every background.”
“And not just the diversity, but it was a diversity with a single purpose,” he said. “That’s the strength.”
What led to the working class breaking off from his party, which many argue began with former President Barack Obama’s second campaign, when “hope and change” turned toward more divisive rhetoric?
“We’ve lost touch with the uniqueness of what [Presidents Franklin] Roosevelt, [Lyndon] Johnson, and [Harry] Truman built,” he said.
The end result was not necessarily working-class Democrats voting for 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney. They just stayed home, making Obama the first incumbent president in modern politics to earn fewer votes than he did in his first run.
Emanuel is well aware of the demographic shifts among voters, in particular among working-class Hispanic, black, and male voters under 50. Hispanic voters gave Joe Biden an advantage of 25 percentage points in 2020, but his vice president, Kamala Harris, drew even with this group in 2024, according to Pew Research Center analysis of the election results. Black voters also moved toward President Donald Trump, doubling their support for him over 2020, while men under 50 backed Trump, a group that favored Biden by 10 points four years earlier.
Emanuel said Democrats need to talk more about appreciating those groups’ plight and stress, relating to it, understanding it, communicating on it, and detailing a plan to restore and uphold that.
He leans into an approach that is aspirational — think President Bill Clinton talking about his vision of building a bridge to the 21st century in 1996.
“People knew he had a plan for America, and they were part of it,” Emmanuel said.
Emanuel believes there is value in Democrats being the party of “let anybody be what they want to be.” But there is also value in respecting a set of values that are binding and a shared consensus.
“As an example, in 2016, I dealt with bathroom access. I just didn’t make it my focus. I did it. Now, can we get back to working on reading, math, and graduation?” he said of the ordinance he introduced as mayor that prohibited public places from denying restroom access based on a person’s gender identity.
While he is not saying whether he is going to run, he is spending his time letting people get to know him and trying to help Democrats win races both at the top of the ballot in statewide elections and downballot.
“Just this month alone, I’ll be back for my second trip to Virginia. I did some stuff for the governor and the speaker races. This trip, I’ll be doing something with a congressional candidate for the special election in that race,” he said, adding he is also going to Nevada for the attorney general race and then a two-day swing in Iowa.