The credibility crisis no one names: Democrats keep elevating losers

Experience only matters if it delivers.

By Michael Franklin

The Democratic Party, which keeps standing behind people who don’t win, don’t lead, and don’t connect, is facing a credibility crisis. Recent polling shows the party is at a 30-year low in favorability. Post-election, everyone’s looking for someone to blame, but no one is addressing the elephant in the room. If we want to understand the stakes, we should start with an example that can connect all of the dots: disgraced former New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s run for mayor of New York City.

From the beginning, Cuomo’s attempted comeback was hard to watch. There was fear. Pessimism. Bad polling. And the same old cast of insiders telling us why New Yorkers should again tolerate a creep under the guise of “management” and “experience.” Then the votes came in—and he got blown out in the Democratic primary by Zohran Mamdani, a candidate who expanded the electorate by offering a clear and accessible alternative to the status quo. Instead of listening to the electorate, Cuomo is doubling down with an embarrassing third-party run.

And though Cuomo deserves all the criticism he’s getting, this was never just about him. The real problem is the circle of legacy consultants and political operatives who orchestrated Cuomo’s run, convinced they still had the juice.

They don’t.

This wasn’t just a failed campaign. It was a symptom of a deeper issue: a class of insiders who expect reverence for past accomplishments. Some of these folks passed good, history-making laws that drove progress forward, and that deserves respect and gratitude. But now? They’re like a quarterback who can’t escape the pocket, a fighter whose timing is off—and they refuse to hang it up. They don’t deliver. And they don’t evolve. They cling to outdated talking points about “messaging to the center,” but they can’t explain what that ideology is. They’re appealing to a constituency that doesn’t exist except in their echo chambers. They’ve missed the memo that most people aren’t looking for moderation—they’re looking for action. The real divide today isn’t left vs. center. It’s action vs. inaction.

And that “middle ground” they keep trying to calibrate? It’s not a broad-tent ideology. It’s a smokescreen for protecting special interests and their own power and relevance.

This bad political judgment contributes to people tuning out politics. When people see Democrats consistently elevating voices with no constituency and no results, it erodes trust in the entire party and political process. You can't promise bold action or reimagining our institutions but then hand the mic to folks whose only credential is having survived a previous cycle.

These operatives speak to donors, not everyday people. They speak around communities, not with them. And they lose. Over and over again. And when they lose, they don’t pay the price. Everyday people do.

We can't keep tiptoeing around what’s not working and who’s being hurt because we’re too polite—or too politically cautious—to say it.

When these consultants fail, they don’t lose housing. They don’t lose health care. They don’t lose rights. They get rehired, rebooked, replatformed. And we’re told to keep trusting them because of their “years of experience” or because they “know how to navigate the space.”

Time served isn’t the same as leadership. Experience only matters if it delivers.

Watching failed leaders get praised like nothing went wrong feels like a slap in the face to people fighting for their lives. It distorts what's at stake and erodes trust. This lack of accountability from such visible figures breeds apathy. And when Democratic leadership continues to defend these figures instead of reassessing their influence, that dissonance doesn’t just make people angry—it makes them give up.

So what can we do?

First, recognize that strategy is not leadership unless it leads to something better for more people. The leadership we need right now must recognize that people are tired. Tired of being spoken at instead of listened to. Tired of being told to wait their turn by people who already had theirs. Tired of watching their lives be treated like distractions from someone else’s ambition. What people want is simple: leaders who are present, accountable, and aligned with the urgency of the moment. Not figureheads playing politics but partners in building power.

Second, we need transformative power—not recycled power. Collectively, we have to stop mistaking failure for credibility. This moment calls for campaigns—and coalitions—that speak in the language of freedom, not fear. That center people, not donors. That move with urgency, not complacency. We don’t need another comeback. We need a handoff.

Third, we need something easy, accessible, and grounded—something people can hold onto and rally behind. One example? COFFEE: Community, Opportunity, Freedom, Fairness, Engagement, and Empowerment. It’s a simple, memorable way to name what people are already fighting for—values that are urgent, tangible, and slipping further from reach every day.

We can’t afford to waste another cycle trying to moderate ourselves into palatability when what many people want is an alternative to the status quo. At a minimum, we need to start thinking seriously about how we re-engage people.

When leaders warn of rising fascism, there’s an expectation of urgency because this is not a game. But too many legacy consultants and operatives treat elections like a game or a horse race. Then, if they lose, they opt out. It’s garbage. And more and more people are seeing through it. People aren’t disillusioned with the idea of democracy. They’re disillusioned with who gets protected when democracy fails. For decades, the groundwork has been laid to concentrate power in the hands of a privileged few, weakening institutions and clearing the path for the fascist threat we now face.

We don’t have time to relitigate failed strategies or chase the approval of a mythical middle. The way forward is taking action. Democrats must prove they are a real alternative. That means boldness, clarity, and consistency in showing up for the people who’ve been waiting far too long to be heard.

Michael Franklin is the founder and Chief Thought Leadership Officer of Words Normalize Behavior, a speechwriting, executive communications, and coalition-building agency.

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