On CNN on Wednesday, former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) said that to have success in the 2028 presidential race, Democrats should take a position that “we have to reform the way the economy and the competition between capital versus labor and reestablish that balance” and the economy needs to be “regulated and can’t have this level of corruption and concentration of wealth that it has now.” And “the government can’t run anything well anyway.”
In response to a question on what kind of Democrat would be in the best spot to win the presidency in 2028, Ryan said, “Well, let me give some kudos to the folks on the left, because they have — and the DSA, because they have, really, I think, pointedly, talked about affordability before other Democrats were really talking about it. And I think that’s where they got their footing and had some success. And I don’t agree with their solutions on how to solve that affordability problem, but you’ve got to give them credit for the way they’ve talked about it.”
He added, “[W]e’d have to reform healthcare, we have to reform education, we have to reform immigration, we have to reform the way the economy and the competition between capital versus labor and reestablish that balance. So, it can have those populist sentiments. But the solutions have to be pragmatic around, you do want to operate in a free market, it just needs [to be] regulated and can’t have this level of corruption and concentration of wealth that it has now.”
Ryan further stated, “I think things like AI and the technology and the blockchain and all these things, they’re blowing the doors off of the current economy.”
Ryan concluded his answer, “Democrats have to be reform-minded, but it’s got to be in the context of we don’t want the government to own it, because the government can’t run anything well anyway. So, the socialism piece is just not going to work.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett


