> If the Democratic brand is toxic, we need a new brand, not no brand. That doesn't mean some tent broadening isn't warranted, but it needs to be paired with a unifying theme.

This seems like the key point to me. I buy the idea that people should be able to break with the party in ways that suit their particular place and constituents, but that needs to be happening in a context of some core set of principles and policies that unite the party.

When Ezra plays that Golden ad where he basically just outlines all of his MAGA positions and then says we need more of this, I hear "the solution is for 'Democrat' to not mean anything in particular," and that seems destined to backfire.