The Two Competing Democratic Parties

In the wake of Donald Trump’s reelection, a consensus emerged within Democratic ranks that blamed the party’s bad odor on “the groups.”

The “variety of activists and special interests” who “falsely” present themselves as representatives of distinct “communities” had managed to hijack the party and convince its representatives that their boutique political programs were electoral winners, the blogger Noah Smith opined. The revolving door that shuttles activists from government to the “nonprofit complex in the Democratic Party” and back to government, Ezra Klein observed, ensured that engineering a divorce between the activist class and the establishmentarian Democratic Party wouldn’t be so easy.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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In the wake of Donald Trump’s reelection, a consensus emerged within Democratic ranks that blamed the party’s bad odor on “the groups.”

The “variety of activists and special interests” who “falsely” present themselves as representatives of distinct “communities” had managed to hijack the party and convince its representatives that their boutique political programs were electoral winners, the blogger Noah Smith opined. The revolving door that shuttles activists from government to the “nonprofit complex in the Democratic Party” and back to government, Ezra Klein observed, ensured that engineering a divorce between the activist class and the establishmentarian Democratic Party wouldn’t be so easy.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.