WASHINGTON — A new report from the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) warns that Democrats have strayed from former President Barack Obama’s unifying vision of American national identity — and paid a steep political price. In “How Democrats Have Lost Sight of Obama’s Vision of American National Identity,” PPI contributor Ian Reifowitz contends that the party’s embrace of identity-based rhetoric and policies has alienated working-class voters of all races while failing to deliver electoral gains among communities of color.
Reifowitz, a historian and longtime observer of Obama’s political philosophy, traces how the 44th president’s inclusive and aspirational message helped build a multiracial coalition and win decisive victories. By contrast, he argues, Democratic leaders in the post-Obama era — most notably during the Biden administration — have too often leaned into the race essentialist worldview popular among progressive academics and elite institutions, emphasizing division over universal solutions and common purpose.
“Barack Obama offered Democrats a winning formula: an inclusive patriotism rooted in both realism and hope,” said Reifowitz. “My report shows that abandoning that vision has not only weakened the party’s appeal to working- and middle-class voters — it’s also left a vacuum that demagogues are eager to fill. It’s time to reclaim the idea of America as a unifying force.”
The report details how this shift coincides with declining Democratic support among key demographic groups, including nonwhite and working-class voters, and critiques the left’s overreliance on divisive frameworks such as equity mandates, race-based preferences, and pessimistic historical narratives. Reifowitz calls for a return to a politics that balances acknowledgment of past injustices with belief in America’s capacity for renewal and unity.
The report reinforces the mission of PPI’s American Identity Project and follows the announcement earlier this week of a new advisory group co-chaired by former Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers and New York Times columnist David Brooks. The project seeks to revitalize the civic traditions that sustain American democracy and promote unity in an age of polarization.
“We are proud to publish this splendid report as part of PPI’s larger effort to help Americans escape the thicket of racial identity politics that is so pronounced on both the left and right,” said Richard D. Kahenberg, Director of the American Identity Project. “Ian Reifowitz reminds us of how far many Democrats have moved away from Barack Obama’s powerful, unifying story of America, and the importance of reinvigorating that vision today.”
Read and download the report here.
Founded in 1989, PPI is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Find an expert and learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Follow us @PPI.
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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe – iokeefe@ppionline.org
