‘It's a healthy thing when you lose elections': Rep. Jake Auchincloss on Democrats' disagreements
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TODAY'S STARTING POINT
The Democratic Party is rebuilding. After a second devastating loss to Donald Trump and with the party's poll numbers
One of those Democrats is Representative Jake Auchincloss, a 37-year-old Marine Corps veteran who has represented Massachusetts' Fourth Congressional District since 2021. On Friday, I drove through tony Newton, lush and swollen from the rain, to visit Auchincloss' unadorned district office there, located a couple of miles from where he grew up.
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In our conversation, Auchincloss cast his party's 2024 defeat as an opportunity. Democrats 'shouldn't be afraid of debate and disagreement right now,' he told me. 'It's a healthy thing when you lose elections.' He refused to say who he thought should lead the party into the future — 'that's the favorite parlor game in Washington' — but was eager to discuss the policy ideas it could pitch to voters next time.
For Auchincloss, many of those ideas belong to the political middle. He describes himself as a 'free-enterprise Democrat' and spoke of wanting 'a strong center' that can 'land knockout punches against the MAGA right, their authoritarian, ethno-nationalist impulses, but also against the hard left.' Other proposals defy easy ideological categorization. Auchincloss wants to tax social media companies' digital advertising revenue, build 1,000 technical trade schools nationwide, and offer public-school students intensive tutoring to counteract learning loss during the pandemic.
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In recent months, Auchincloss has made the rounds
'I'm running for reelection,' Auchincloss told me,
This conversation is the first in a series about how Democrats are rebuilding. Send your ideas about who Starting Point should interview next — be they lawmakers, strategists, authors, or anyone else with something interesting to say — to
Here's more from my discussion with Auchincloss:
Democrats' midterm strategy:
'In 2026, I think the requirement for Democrats is to build a wide and thin coalition. Which is to say, if you're going to take back the House and the Senate from the GOP, you basically have to put down one pole in the ground that says, 'We're trying to support and defend the Constitution against a lawless, corrupt president.' And if you agree with that — if you agree that we don't want an unchecked, lawless, and corrupt president, even if you voted for him in 2024 — all we're saying is, 'Don't you just want a check on his power?''
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The next presidential election:
'The opportunity that 2028 presents us is, it's the first time in 20 years that we're going to have an open primary. It's the first time in 20 years, in a generation, to have an open primary. So put down the baggage of the past and have a vigorous, open debate. And one faction will win, and that faction should then pursue the mandate it's been given. It should not, I think, excessively then interweave itself with the other factions within the party. I think that faction has earned the right to govern and should pursue it.'
Democrats' future platform:
'The analogy I use is, if you're a musician and you go out on tour and you've got an A side and a B side set of tracks that you're playing, you go, you do your concert, and you play all your songs, A side, B side songs, those are the ideas. The platform is what the crowd chants back. It's the lyrics that the crowd has memorized that they love and that you can stop singing, turn the microphone around, and they're singing it into the microphone. We can't know that platform until we go out and sing out some ideas.'
How Trump's '
,' which House Republicans passed last week, gives Democrats an opportunity:
'Their approach to taxing and spending is going to explode the national debt, adding at least $3 trillion over the next decade and really, if you look at the arc of this, to a point that the 10-year Treasury market and bond investors are saying is no longer sustainable. For 25 years, balancing the budget, getting serious with the national debt, has been sort of the issue that wasn't. I think the issue is now. Democrats have the opportunity, and indeed the responsibility, to become the party of fiscal responsibility.'
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On winning back young men:
'Young men want to be challenged and they want to be recruited into a mission bigger than themselves. That's one of the reasons I joined the Marine Corps. I wanted to be challenged. I wanted to be part of something bigger than myself. We tell them, 'Hey, this country's got to get building again. We want a future that's built, not bought, and you've got to build it. We're going to build a thousand more trade schools, and we want you to graduate from high school with a marketable skill. And we don't think you're the problem, we think you're part of the solution.''
🧩
7 Across:
76°
POINTS OF INTEREST
Crime scene tape tied to a signpost in Chelsea a day after a stabbing that killed Juan Carlos Lemus, 17, in March.
Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Boston and Massachusetts
Big spending:
The super PAC backing Josh Kraft for Boston mayor is spending
'They're afraid':
In Chelsea, a close-knit, mostly Hispanic town, young people are becoming victims of violent crime in numbers
Off the job?
Many of the state's court-appointed lawyers, demanding higher pay, plan to
Trump administration
Memorial Day address:
At Arlington National Cemetery, Trump praised fallen soldiers while also criticizing the Biden administration ('that was a hard four years') and defending his embattled Defense secretary ('a tough cookie'). (
Russia-Ukraine war:
The Kremlin suggested Trump was suffering from 'emotional overload' after he called Vladimir Putin 'absolutely crazy' for continuing to attack Ukraine. (
Israel-Hamas war:
Trump's envoy seems to have made little progress toward a new cease-fire, calling Hamas's response to his latest proposal 'disappointing and completely unacceptable.' (
RFK Jr.:
Trump's health secretary is
Off the hook:
Trump pardoned a Virginia sheriff convicted of federal bribery charges. During sentencing, the administration's own US attorney wrote that the sheriff had 'sought to manipulate the judicial process and to evade responsibility for his crimes.' (
The Nation and the World
Charles Rangel:
The former Democratic congressman, who represented New York for 46 years and was the first Black chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, died at age 94. (
Liverpool crash:
British police arrested a 53-year-old man after a car plowed into people celebrating Liverpool FC, injuring almost 50. Police don't suspect terrorism. (
Slap heard round the world:
Video shows French President Emmanuel Macron's wife, Brigitte, appearing to push him in the face aboard the presidential plane. He said they were 'joking.' (
BESIDE THE POINT
By Teresa Hanafin
🗓️
Free events:
An art walk on Beacon Hill, live music at Club Café, a self-defense workshop in Allston, and
⛳️
Tips on having fun:
The best mini golf on the Cape, family camps up north, and how to unplug
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👶🏼
Ms. Rachel's campaign:
The wildly popular children's show host is using her platform to help children from Gaza wounded in the war. She sang one of her trademark songs with Rahaf, a 3-year-old double amputee from Gaza. (
🌿
Worth a mint:
Here are
❣️
A mother's faith:
For decades, Eve Baer remained convinced that her son, unresponsive after a severe brain injury, was still conscious. Science eventually proved her right. (
🚕
Get outta the way:
Waymo's self-driving taxis may be coming to town, and Boston Drivers, those paragons of patience and politeness,
🧠
Progress:
The FDA has approved a blood test to help diagnose Alzheimer's disease early, avoiding more costly and invasive measures. But it's not a cure. (
😬
Hidden danger:
Nicotine pouches, virtually undetectable when tucked inside your cheek, are the newest big thing.
🤖
'I'm afraid I can't do that':
You may be familiar with the artificial intelligence that creates content based on inputs. But here comes agentic AI,
🎉
The WBUR Festival:
This celebration of the station's 75th birthday runs from Thursday through Saturday at several venues along BU's stretch of Comm. Ave. (
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