"Abundance" movement sparks Dems' identity fight for 2028
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
The fight over the future direction of the Democratic Party has begun.
- The first battlefield is the trendy center-left "Abundance" movement. A growing number of left-wing politicians and thinkers are labeling it a clever rebrand by the party's corporate wing, which they blame for driving working-class voters from the party.
Why it matters: The escalating feud is a preview of the 2028 presidential primary, as the Democratic Party grapples with its identity — including whether to moderate to attract independent voters, or counter Trumpism by leaning into progressive economic populism.
State of play: "Abundance" was popularized by this year's bestselling book of the same name by New York Times columnist Ezra Klein and journalist Derek Thompson.
- The idea: Democrats have lost voters' trust because of governing failures in blue cities and states, and need to respond by cutting excess regulations to build more housing, energy projects and more.
- "Liberals speak as if they believe in government — and then pass policy after policy hamstringing what it can actually do," the authors wrote.
As Democrats continue to reckon with how Donald Trump returned to the White House and the ongoing fallout from the 2024 elections, many in the party are enthusiastically embracing Abundance.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, signed legislation in June to change environmental rules to make it easier to build more housing. He posted on X that "we're urgently embracing an abundance agenda by tearing down the barriers that have delayed new affordable housing and infrastructure for decades."
- Tech billionaire and prolific Democratic donor Reid Hoffman said in late July that he's sending everyone he knows a copy of the book, and that he'll be backing pro-abundance candidates.
- Open Philanthropy, a deep-pocketed funder with roots in Silicon Valley and liberal-minded politics, announced in March it would back the movement by spending $120 million in the next three years through an "Abundance and Growth Fund."
Between the lines: The abundance buzz hasn't been universally accepted — and has drawn some backlash from the Democratic Party's left wing. Those Democrats argue:
- Getting rid of excessive regulations is good, but doesn't address — and in some ways could exacerbate — the more pressing issues of wealth inequality and corporate power.
- Voters are angry, and a deregulation agenda isn't a compelling political message.
What they're saying: Progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told CNN on Sunday that removing some regulations would be good, but "that is not the fundamental problem facing America," pointing instead to income inequality and the billionaire class.
- "Much of what abundance supporters are saying is fine: Yes, there's red tape that doesn't make sense, and let's get rid of it," Dan Geldon, a former senior adviser to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), told Axios.
- "But abundance supporters generally ignore red tape that's there because of corporations protecting their own interests. As a whole, it's really just recycled incrementalism and a call to make the party less ambitious and milquetoast, despite the scale of the economic problems voters care about."
- Mike Konczal, a former member of then-President Biden's National Economic Council, said: "Fixing government procurement is not exciting people. It's a burn-it-all-down electorate and Democrats need to offer people more."
The other side: Klein has been taken aback by the intensity of some of the criticism, and believes that populists who want to enact ambitious government programs need to show voters they're capable of implementing such programs.
- "I expect there will be a number of politicians in 2028 that are running on abundance, populist and anti-oligarchal themes," Klein told Axios. "The idea that someone is going to just pick one of these things is stupid — talented politicians aren't just one thing."
- Alexander Berger, the CEO of Open Philanthropy, said in a statement the group is proud of its funding efforts: "The first step to solving a problem is recognizing it's real. Blindness to the regulatory constraints that choke off growth directly limits access to affordable housing, energy, and health care."
Some progressives and Thompson, the book's co-author, argue that most of the backlash to the abundance movement is from hyper-online people trying to pick fights.
- "I've seen a bit of a poster-politician divide in the response," Thompson, who recently launched his own Substack, told Axios.
- "If you limit your exposure to abundance criticism online, it's not hard to find objections on the left."
- He noted that some Democrats already have embraced the ideas he and Klein proposed.
