There has been a lot of angst in the Democratic Party recently. Should the Party be more centrist, more middle-of-the-road, to appeal to more moderate voters? Or is all the enthusiasm located with the progressives? As former presidential candidate Howard Dean famously said, “I am from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party!” What does the Democratic Party even stand for anymore? And, crucially, having lost twice to Donald J. Trump, who should the Democrats nominate for President in 2028? I have the answer to that last question: the person the Democrats need to nominate is Mark Carney.
Yes, Mark Carney is the Prime Minister of Canada. But unlike most of the candidates crisscrossing the country on speaking tours and book launches, Carney embodies
everything the Democrats need in order to win the White House in 2028. First, Carney has a quiet resolve about him. When Donald Trump used social media to mock the Canadian Prime Minister as ‘Governor Carney’ and accused him of being ‘weak and ineffective,’ Carney did not stoop to similar sophomoric tactics. He did not engage in name-calling on social media. No four-letter words, no AI-generated pictures of apes.
Instead, Carney, calmly and confidently, explained to Canadians what had happened in trade negotiations with the United States. “Over the past year, the United States has imposed a series of tariffs that violate its commitments under our agreement with them and Mexico, CUSMA … We cannot accept what they’ve offered, and we will not give what they have asked.” Carney also has a steely spine. While President Trump threatened Canada to “fall in line” to the trade terms dictated by Trump, Carney stood his ground, even at the cost of a trade war with the United States, knowing that such a stance would raise costs for Canadians. Moreover, Carney has made it clear he is more interested in solving problems than griping about them. What a concept! When President Trump shifted America’s foreign policy to one that is friendlier with longtime foes Russia and North Korea, and more confrontational with longtime allies such as Britain and France, Prime Minister Carney neither backed down nor complained.
Instead, in remarks delivered to the World Economic Forum, Carney laid out a new strategy for countries like Canada to compete and thrive in the new world order. He called for an alliance of the “middle powers” to join together in what Carney called a “principled and pragmatic” coalition.
“This is not naïve multiculturalism …” Carney explained. “It is building the coalitions that work, issue by issue, with partners who share enough common ground to act together … In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in between have a choice: to compete with each other for favour, or to combine to create a third path with impact.” And how has all this played out? Well, 76% of Canadians believe Canada did the right thing by ending trade negotiations with Trump. And Prime Minister Carney is enjoying 67% nationwide job approval rating (by contrast, Mr. Trump’s approval rating is at 33% according to an Reuters/Ipsos poll taken Aug. 21 to Aug. 24. ). President Trump has repeatedly said Canada should be the 51st state. He better hope not. Because if Canada did, and Mark Carney does become an American, and run for President, his popularity would swamp that of Vice President JD Vance, Secretary Marco Rubio or any other of the Trump acolytes likely to run in the next presidential election. This will never happen, of course. But Democrats should take notice. The Democratic Party has a long and storied history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory (see Clinton, Hillary, 2016). If Democrats seriously entertain notions of winning in 2028, then look north to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for how it’s done.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Look north, Democrats. Mark Carney has the 2028 playbook. | Opinion
