The last time Galen Druke and I ran a “draft” of Democratic presidential candidates was in April 2025, and my headline said it was “way too early.” I don’t really think that’s true anymore! Like it or not, the 2028 presidential nomination race is already underway as Democrats compete for stature and influence in a wide-open, winnable contest with no credible successors left to past Democratic dynasties. This time, Galen and I brought along another former FiveThirtyEight colleague, Clare Malone, and we did the draft in front of a live audience at the Comedy Cellar. (Check out Clare’s excellent recent profile of Bari Weiss; she’s also working on a new book about MAHA and RFK Jr. that I’m very excited to read. You can find the video above, and then I’ll have a paragraph of thoughts about each draft pick below.