Less than a year into President Trump’s second stint in the White House, the Democratic Party remains, in broad strokes, defined by its opposition to the administration. Kamala Harris’s book tour, however, has emerged as a telling theatrical and policy rehearsal for what will be asked of any 2028 contender: not only who they oppose, but what they will actually do.

Book tours are modern political stages. They allow prominent figures to refine messages, court donors, sustain media momentum and, crucially, encounter the party’s activists and voters in unscripted ways. For Democrats, the immediate challenge is political translation: turning resistance into a coherent, persuasive platform that addresses daily grievances without losing the energy that sustained the party through recent cycles. Harris’s appearances—a string of public conversations, media interviews and grassroots-facing events—offer observers a concentrated view of the tensions at the heart of that transformation.

The consistency of protests and public demonstrations across the country plays a central role in that reckoning. Those persistent mobilizations reveal the issues that continue to animate the base and will not be smoothed over by partisan complaining alone. For the 2028 primary, every prospective candidate will need to engage with a handful of simmering, still-unresolved questions that find their voice in those protests: economic insecurity, racial justice, climate urgency, immigration policy, and the integrity of democratic institutions. How candidates stitch policy answers to these demands will determine whether they can convert activist intensity into broader electoral coalitions.

That dynamic creates strategic dilemmas. A candidacy too focused on ideological purity risks alienating persuadable voters and moderates who prioritize governance and pragmatic problem-solving. Conversely, a purely managerial pitch may fail to rekindle the grassroots fervor necessary to sustain a long primary season. Harris’s tour illustrates the middle path many Democrats are testing: assert a values-driven vision while offering tangible policy touchpoints that speak to everyday concerns.

The implications extend beyond domestic politics. Allies and adversaries abroad watch U.S. political signaling closely; the coherence of Democratic proposals will shape expectations in Europe, Asia and among developing democracies about the future of American engagement on climate, trade, and security. In a polarized world, a party’s ability to articulate a positive, internationally credible program matters to partners and markets as much as it does to primary voters.

Internally, Democrats face organizational and cultural questions about who sets the agenda—the party’s institutional leadership or its grassroots movements—and how to balance generational and demographic fault lines. Harris’s tour, in this light, is less an audition for a single nominee than a probe of the party’s capacity to produce a shared program that can be communicated clearly, defendable in debate, and compelling to voters fatigued by perpetual contestation.

If the early months of the Trump presidency have clarified what Democrats are against, the coming year will test whether figures like Harris can help define what the party is for. The answer will shape not only a primary but the broader direction of American politics in an era when domestic choices reverberate globally.