Democrats are assembling a new policy brain trust called Project 2029, an effort aimed at shaping the party\u2019s long-term vision and regaining electoral strength.<\/p>\n
But at a time when there\u2019s widespread agreement that Democrats need fresh ideas and new voices, the inclusion of longtime party insiders \u2014 especially former President Joe Biden\u2019s national security advisor Jake Sullivan \u2014 is raising eyebrows across the political spectrum.<\/p>\n
‘It’s really disappointing to see the lack of self-awareness on Jake’s part,’ said Brett Bruen, former director of global engagement in the Obama White House. ‘Having Jake involved, let alone leading this, will only lead to stupid, superficial changes.’<\/p>\n
‘These Democratic leaders need to take a long look in the mirror and understand they played a big part in bringing this situation about \u2014 and exit stage left.’<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Modeled in name and structure after the Heritage Foundation\u2019s conservative Project 2025, Project 2029 brings together high-profile Democratic veterans to outline a policy road map. After a decade of standing more against President Donald Trump than for anything else, the group is dedicated to helping Democrats define the policies that can win the 2028 election.<\/p>\n
The initiative, first reported by The New York Times, is led by longtime Democratic strategist Andrei Cherny and a cast of familiar faces \u2014 including Sullivan, Neera Tanden, Biden\u2019s domestic policy advisor; Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America; Justin Wolfers, University of Michigan economist; Jim Kessler, co-founder of Third Way; and Felicia Wong , former president of the Roosevelt Institute. <\/p>\n
But Sullivan\u2019s role has drawn particular criticism from both Republicans and progressives. <\/p>\n
Sullivan was Biden\u2019s top advisor during the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, which resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members. He reportedly offered to resign at the time once the evacuation didn\u2019t go as planned. <\/p>\n
He’s also drawn fire for the Biden administration\u2019s failure to help Israel and Hamas reach a lasting ceasefire, and for its Ukraine policy \u2014 which, as one European diplomat told Fox News Digital, seemed aimed at letting Ukraine ‘lose slowly.’\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n
‘Why isn\u2019t Jake Sullivan working at Chipotle?’ quipped Steven Moore, founder of the Ukraine Freedom Project, on a podcast in 2024. <\/p>\n
‘Jake in his position both as national security advisor and in Biden world is one of the last people on earth that should be involved in a reset for the Democratic Party,’ said Bruen.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Sullivan did not reply to a request for comment by Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n
Zohran Momdani\u2019s stunning upset in New York City\u2019s mayoral primary over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has reignited a debate over whether Democrats on a national level need to start taking progressivism seriously.<\/p>\n
‘The people responsible for driving the Democratic Party into a ditch are now asking for the keys again,’ said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of progressive group Our Revolution. ‘Leaders like Zohran Mamdani are showing what\u2019s possible when you speak directly to working-class pain and stand up to entrenched power.’<\/p>\n
Despite the criticism, some Democrats defend Sullivan\u2019s role and believe he could help unify the party.<\/p>\n
‘He\u2019s a historic organizer of the diverse lanes of Democratic foreign policy, and he\u2019s done a great job with it,’ said Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state and Democratic strategist. However, Rubin questioned how much real influence Project 2029 will have, especially with no clear 2028 front runner.<\/p>\n
‘We\u2019re going to have a wide-open primary,’ Rubin said. ‘Unlike Project 2025, where Republicans had a candidate-in-waiting in Trump, we have no standard-bearer. So Project 2029 is going to be one of many blueprints for what a Democratic administration should do.’<\/p>\n
Some argue that figures like Sullivan are better suited to bridge the divide between establishment figures and progressives than any leftist leader. <\/p>\n
‘He\u2019s part of the old guard, but the old guard isn\u2019t that old. There\u2019s a lot of young people,’ one Democratic insider said. ‘You\u2019d be hard-pressed to find people in the progressive lane pulling in establishment folks, whereas the establishment lane is working to pull in progressives.’<\/p>\n
Sullivan\u2019s GOP critics also point to his role in promoting now-debunked allegations during the 2016 election.<\/p>\n
After a report from Slate claimed Trump Tower maintained a secret server communicating with Russia\u2019s Alfa Bank, Sullivan \u2014 then a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton \u2014 amplified the claim.<\/p>\n
‘This could be the most direct link yet between Donald Trump and Moscow,’ Sullivan said in a statement at the time. ‘This secret hotline may be the key to unlocking the mystery of Trump’s ties to Russia.’<\/p>\n
Republicans later accused him of spreading unverified information and misleading the public.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Democrats are assembling a new policy brain trust called Project 2029, an effort aimed at shaping the party\u2019s long-term vision and regaining electoral strength. But at a time when there\u2019s widespread agreement that Democrats need fresh ideas and new voices, the inclusion of longtime party insiders \u2014 especially former President Joe Biden\u2019s national security advisor Jake…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victoryinfinance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victoryinfinance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victoryinfinance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victoryinfinance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victoryinfinance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/victoryinfinance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victoryinfinance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victoryinfinance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victoryinfinance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victoryinfinance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}