Exclusive: Centrist Dems strike back with new group
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Former Rep. Cheri Bustos. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images
Ezra Klein's Abundance movement is getting some backup: A new political group is urging Democrats to embrace "pro-growth," deregulatory policies with an eye toward 2028, according to plans first shared with Axios.
Why it matters: Known as Next American Era, the group is the latest effort by moderate Democrats to shape national politics and expand their influence at a time when progressives in the party are making an aggressive push for more power.
- Former Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, ex-chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, will serve as president.
- The group describes itself as a "hub for center-left policy and advocacy." Bustos said it will air issue-focused ads during the midterm elections and the 2028 presidential campaign, but it won't endorse candidates.
Zoom out: Democrats have been locked in a heated debate over how to move forward since President Trump won a second term.
- Moderates such as Bustos have tried to nudge the party to the center, while progressives have criticized their vision as too friendly to big business and pushed for a tax-the-rich platform instead.
- Bustos argues that Democrats have been at their most successful when they've focused on bread-and-butter economic issues such as jobs — and that many Americans now believe the political system is driven too much by fringe voices in both parties.
Zoom in: She said cutting red tape, streamlining regulations and supporting workforce training are among the top policy goals of her group, which is structured as a 501(c)(4) political nonprofit.
- "We share many of the same principles as the Abundance movement, around lowering costs, around making it easier to build and to generate opportunity," Bustos said.
- Her group is also looking to counter recent population and job losses in blue states, which it blames in part on onerous permitting, licensing and zoning rules.
- Many Democrats are worried that the recent influx of voters to GOP-controlled states such as Texas and Florida could weaken their party when voting maps are redrawn after the 2030 Census.
Several center-left groups have popped up or expanded in the past 18 months, including the think tank Searchlight Institute, Majority Democrats and WelcomePAC.
