"Yes! And!"— Project 2029's Response to The New York Times' Jamelle Bouie

Democrats need to know how to use power — and what to do with it

We established Project 2029 because the big debate about what the next President will do in 2029 needs to be happening now. It’s the only way we’ll be ready to take the big swings America needs.

That’s why we were heartened by New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie’s response to the preview we shared of the first set of Project 2029 ideas:

Most of them, from what has been revealed, are good: worthwhile plans to break up utility monopolies, support child-rearing, regulate social media and artificial intelligence, and curtail corporate abuse.

His argument, however, is that any serious response to Project 2025 and the actions of the Trump Administration must articulate a new vision of American democracy — including a theory of how a future Democratic government would actually wield power. As he put it:

A Project 2029 cannot be a collection of Democratic Party agenda items. It must articulate a broad new conception of the nation’s political order — one that will guide the way a future Democratic-led government might wield power.

He goes further, arguing that a Project 2029 with nothing to say about the filibuster, an ideologically captured Supreme Court, or extreme partisan gerrymandering “is not a Project 2029 worth the time or effort.”

To which we say, “Yes – and.” Here’s what I wrote in response in today’s New York Times:

Mr. Bouie is right: This moment demands more than tinkering on the margins — opposing President Trump is not enough. That is precisely what Project 2029 is all about. We are bringing together hundreds of thinkers and leaders to develop a wide-ranging, hopeful vision for what comes next. That vision must include addressing the structural barriers that enable corruption, concentrate power in the hands of the few, and undermine the rule of law.

The first ideas we’ve previewed are just a sampling. And our team is working hard on an agenda that will include serious reforms of the courts and Constitution.

But I also pushed back on the notion that structural reform is sufficient on its own:

An aspirational vision cannot just be about Senate procedures and the judiciary. A Pew survey from October found that just 8 percent of Americans say Democrats have “a lot of good ideas.” People are desperate to understand what we are for and how we’re addressing the most pressing challenges we face, from housing to health care to A.I.

Yes, we need a theory of power — how to get it, how to exercise it, and how to sustain it. But we also need to show Americans what we would actually do with that power and how it will make real, tangible, and dramatic differences in their daily lives. In the year ahead, Project 2029 will seek to do both.