In the aftermath of the generalized electoral failures of the Democrats last year, the party activists in California who gathered for their annual convention this weekend fought on the balance of how to stick to their values while reconnecting with the voters who were traditionally part of their base – notably the Americans of the working class.
The progressive policies of California and its democratic leaders were systematically beaten by the Republicans during the 2024 elections, the president of the time and the candidate for the Democratic presidential election Kamala Harris taking the brunt. Harris finally lost the elections against TrumpPartly because of the reduction in the support of traditional democratic districts, including minorities and voters in the working class.
“We had to be honest in what happened, because losing elections has consequences,” said Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Harris running mate, during a speech leading to Saturday afternoon. “We are in this mess because some of our own do. … None of us can afford to avoid having difficult conversations on what it will take to gain elections.”
Walz, a potential presidential candidate in 2028, said that Democrats did not need to withdraw from their ideals, such as the protection of the most vulnerable in society, including transgender children. But they have to show voters that they are capable of a daring policy that will improve the lives of voters rather than achieving additional progress, he said.
“The Democratic Party, the working class party, has lost a large part of the working class,” he said. “This last election was a primary cry on so many fronts: do something, do something, get up and make a difference.”
California is home to most of the country’s democrats as well as a large number of the deepest donors in the party, making the state a popular place for the presidential hopes of the whole country.
In addition to Walz, another potential White House candidate in 2028 who addressed the 4,000 delegates and guests of the Anaheim Congress Center was the New Jersey Cory Booker senator. Booker argued that the Democrats had to remember the courage of their ancestors who fought for civil rights and voting and created the social security net for the most vulnerable Americans while they are trying to fight Trumpism.
“The real change does not come from Washington. It comes from the communities. It comes from the street,” he said in a speech on Saturday morning. “The power of the people is greater than people in power.”
Harris, who weighs a government race in 2026 and is also considered a potential presidential candidate in 2028, addressed the video agreement. Governor Gavin Newsom, also considered as a possible competitor of the White House, Did not appear to the convention.
Delegate Jane Baulch-Enloe, a teacher from the College of Pleasant Hill in the Bay region, said that she was not sure that the particular brand of Liberalism of California would be sold on the national scene.
“I do not know if a California democrat can earn a presidential election,” she said when she and her daughter sorted the Swag and campaign leaflets in the Congress Café. “California is considered crazy. … I don’t want to say that in the wrong direction – although I know that some people do it – but we do things differently here.”
She said that she had learned from President Obama’s memories, “Audacity of Hope”, that most, if not all, the Americans “want the same things”, but talk about it differently and have different approaches to get there. The Democrats of California, Baulch-enloe, said: “Need to put people on our side and help them understand that we are not only Wackko liberals, and teach people that it is normal to want things like health care for all high unions salaries.
But the 2028 presidential race was not at the center of the California Democratic Party Convention this year. The delegates were more concerned with the presidential losses and the congress of last year – although California was a rare light point for the partyReturn three districts held by the GOP – and prepare for the mid -term elections next year. The delegates hope that the Democrats will take control of the Congress to prevent Trump from promulgating his program.
Aref Aziz, a chief of the Caucus of the Asian Pacific of the American Party, said that the party should refine its messages on economic issues if they want to have a chance of victory in the next elections.
“Regarding the question of affordability, with regard to the economy, it is the things that, through the wide range of our coalition, all these things matter to everyone,” said Aziz. “And what is really, what is really important is that we focus on this economic message and how we will improve the quality of life of all mid-term elections and future presidential elections.”
He recently noted that he was in France during his honeymoon and was walking in a grocery store and bought half a dozen eggs for 1.50 euros (the equivalent of $ 1.70) when the news announced that the economy of California had grown up Fourth largest in the world.
“When you look at a lot of our savings in California and New York, by all accounts, GDP, the figures you look at, they are fine,” he said. “But with regard to the cost that consumers pay in these places, they are so high and so far above the other countries that we end up reducing value in our GDP, because everything is so expensive.”
Some Democrats have questioned the impact of the armament of liberal policies in California, including the defense of transgender rights, on voters of the battlefield states in 2024.
But the delegates and party leaders largely argued that the State must continue to be at the forefront of these questions.
“People like to point a finger somewhere, and I think California is an easy target, but I do not agree,” said delegate Melissa Taylor, president of community democrats in Fothill. “Because I think California defends values in which the Democratic Party believes, as we believe in work, we believe in health care, we believe in women’s rights, we believe in rights to LGBTQ people.”
Jodi Hicks, President of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, said questions such as access to reproductive health care also have an economic impact.
“We have to walk and chew gum at the same time,” she said, adding that party losses in 2024 were probably caused by multiple factors, especially that Harris was the Democratic candidate for a little more than three months after the president of the time, Biden decided not to ask for a re-election.
“We are going to analyze 2024 for a very long time,” said Hicks. “They were such unique circumstances.”
Times editor Laura J. Nelson contributed to this report.