Since its bruising 2024 loss of both the White House and the Senate, it has been without a clear leader.Illustrating the competing dynamics within the party, a recent CNN/SRSS poll found Democrat-leaning voters were more motivated than their Republican counterparts to vote in the midterm election, and more likely to view it as a referendum on Trump — yet less likely to view their own party favourably.Bruce Wolpe, a US political commentator and former Democratic congressional staffer, predicts a strong reaction in favour of Democratic candidates across the country, as anger builds over the war and tough economic conditions."But [the] 2028 [election] is a whole different deal," he tells SBS News."That's a vote 'for' something, and what the 'for' is for the Democrats is yet to be defined."It will take a long time, and ultimately, what Democrats stand for will be the views of the candidate who is the Democratic nominee for president."A presidential election cycle takes nearly two years Should Democrats win control of the House this year, Jeffries would be considered the frontrunner to lead them.But there are no guarantees."I think there's enough anger to displace him, and this happens from time to time when new Congresses are elected in a time of crisis," Wolpe says.In a September survey, the Pew Research Center found 67 per cent of Democrats said their own party frustrates them, a marked increase from similar surveys in 2021 and 2019.The most commonly cited reason was that the party had not pushed back hard enough against the Trump administration.No hats are formally in the ring, but it's likely there'll be a large field of candidates.Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, is among the most prominent possibilities