CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten on Monday said Democrats are in a dark place because they have no power or an heir apparent in the wake of Vice President Harris\u2019s loss in the presidential race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats also lost the Senate majority, and the GOP appears poised to hold the House majority, though by a narrow margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEverywhere you look, the Democrats are in this deep, dark state because they have no heir apparent, the incumbent president\u2019s unpopular, and they hold no levers of power in Washington, most likely, come January,\u201d Enten told CNN anchor John Berman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe bottom line is this: For Democrats, there\u2019s no real light at the end of the tunnel. It\u2019s always darkest before it\u2019s pitch black,\u201d Enten added, attributing that line to the late Sen. John McCain\u2002<\/u><\/a>(R-Ariz.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enten said Democrats have no clear front-runner to launch a 2028 presidential bid, which is evidenced by the early polling data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s no heir apparent,\u201d Enten said. \u201cWe can see this perhaps best by \u2026 taking a look at the early poll leader for 2028: There isn\u2019t one. There\u2019s no early favorite there. There\u2019s no early clear favorite, and that is really unusual.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enten made the argument that the last time Democrats had no \u201cheir apparent\u201d was ahead of the 1992 presidential race. In that cycle, then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton\u2002<\/u><\/a>beat a crowded field to become the party\u2019s presidential nominee. He went on to win the presidency, becoming the first Democrat to do so at that time in 12 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enten argued that President Biden\u2002<\/u><\/a>was the \u201cclear heir apparent\u201d in 2017, heading into the 2020 race. Biden was passed over as the Democratic nominee in 2016 because he did not run, and then-President Obama threw his support to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enten argued that Clinton was in a similar situation in 2005, ahead of the 2008 race, and then again in 2013, when she was the front-runner for the 2016 race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow about Al Gore\u2002<\/u><\/a>going into the 2000 campaign? Or \u201904? Again, the clear heir apparent,\u201d Enten continued. \u201cYou have to go all the way back, all the way back to the 1992 campaign \u2026 where there was no clear heir apparent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is going to be the first cycle, it seems,\u201d Enten said, \u201csince going back all the way to [the] late \u201980s, early 1990s, in which there is no clear, early front-runner for the next Democratic nomination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Berman pushed back, suggesting Democrats might benefit from lacking a clear front-runner at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will say the Democrats won this one,\u201d Berman said, pointing to the 1992 race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pointing to the 2008 race, with Hillary Clinton\u2002<\/u><\/a>as the front-runner, Berman said, \u201cAnd in this one, where they did have an heir apparent, they ended up winning when it wasn\u2019t that person. So maybe they\u2019re better off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obama defeated Clinton in that Democratic primary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enten echoed that sentiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMaybe they\u2019re better off. Because remember, Hillary Clinton, even though she was seen to be the heir apparent going into the 2008 campaign, of course it was Barack Obama,<\/u><\/a> who basically came out of nowhere, after that \u201904 convention speech, to go on and win the nomination,\u201d Enten said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo it might actually be good news for Democrats that there\u2019s no heir apparent, but the bottom line is there isn\u2019t one,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A number of names have been discussed as potential Democratic presidential candidates for 2028. They include Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and JB Pritzker of Illinois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n