Project 2029: A Democratic Counterpunch

The Democratic Party—currently the only political party with a realistic chance to defeat the GOP in 2026 and, more importantly, in 2028 — must take a page from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 playbook. It’s time to build a comprehensive, ready-to-implement governing blueprint for Day One of restored democratic leadership.

But first, Democrats must confront one core obstacle: The Democratic Party.

While Republicans vote in lockstep behind their party’s agenda, Democrats function as a broad coalition with diverse values, constituencies, and priorities. Hopefully the next set of Democratic leaders can articulate one clear message:

If we form a circular firing squad while pushing each of out priorities, not only will we lose, but the Republican Party will win. And with 11 months of history as our guide, a party bent on destroying every norm we have come to rely on can do an immense amount of damage in a very short amount of time.

The Next Generation Leadership of the
Democratic Party, hopefully.

Step One: Reverse Trump-Era Renamings and Symbolic Power Plays

One of the simplest early actions for a new Democratic administration will be undoing the long list of politically motivated renamings carried out during the Trump era. All of these changes were executed by executive order or agency directives, which makes them easy to reverse on Day One.

I think I can speak for all of us to say it will bring great joy and relief all of us seeing the words “Donald Trump” name peeled off any establishment bearing his name.

The Institute of Peace

There is no universe in which Donald Trump – a president who has unleashed everything from ICE to the National Guard to the Marines on the American people and rained missiles and bombs on unarmed boats hundreds of miles from the U.S. coast – deserves his name on the Institute of Peace.

Even if the “drug boats” our military keeps attacking are actually moving drugs (we’ve never seen evidence of this), the U.S. Navy could easily intercept and apprehend the occupants at zero risk to themselves. Instead, the “pro-life” party has chosen a course of imposing death and destruction.

Despite Trump’s multiple insults at the notion of peace, Marco Rubio slapped Trump’s name on the building in a thinly veiled attempt to earn a 2028 endorsement. A truly Orwellian rewrite of recent history.

Fortunately, Rubio is too inept to do it correctly. He just ordered some new letters get bolted-on to the building. If maintenance crews start work once the next presidency is sworn in on Inauguration Day 2029, they’ll be gone before sundown.

Restore the Department of Defense’s Proper Name

Despite being sworn in as Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth decided that he preferred to be identified as “Secretary of War” and unilaterally changed his title and that of the Departments head leads to reflect this chosen name.

His attempt to curry political favor from Donald Trump and his base without regard for the fact that renaming a federal department requires an Act of Congress. By doing so before Congress ratified Executive Order 14347, Hegseth violated the very Constitution he has repeatedly taken an oath to protect.

Reinstate the Name “Gulf of Mexico”

Geography is not a culture-war battlefield. Renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” did nothing except signal the belief that the executive branch thought it could override worldwide cartography by fiat. It does nothing to portray “American Greatness” and instead gave the rest of the world another opportunity to laugh at us.

Protect Denali from Political Games

For decades, Alaska’s government pushed Congress to restore the mountain’s Native name, Denali, instead of the Mount McKinley. While McKinley needs to be remembered, it should not be at the expense of our countries native populations. Besides, that McKinley was from Ohio, never visited the mountain as far as I can tell, and was assassinated 60 years before Alaska was recognized as a state.

Earlie in his second term, Trump attempted to reverse it, Denali remains Denali. A future president should affirm the name permanently and close the door to any political meddling.

Preserve the 2023 Renaming of Military Bases

America long maintained nine major bases named after Confederate officers – traitors who took up arms against the United States until 2023 when President Biden finally renamed them to honor real American heroes – WWI, WWII, and Vietnam veterans, Medal of Honor recipients, and pioneering service members who fought for the United States.

But in early 2025, Defense Secretary Hegseth moved to reverse these changes. In a move designed to mock everyone who thought that traitors shouldn’t things named after them, he said the once he restored the bases original names he would dedicate them to “new honorees” with identical surnames.

A future administration must restore the Biden-era names. Insuring school kids get a proper education about actual American history will be a bullet point for a future post.

What Comes Next?

Because they have sold their souls to the Heritage Foundation and Donald Trump, the GOP has been responsible for deep, long-term damage on federal institutions. Some of that damage will take generations to repair. Should they win, Democrats will need to move decisively to show voters they are taking the task of restoring the country seriously. If not, they will only control Congress for two years and leave behind a President who will be hobbled by the Republicans.

Consider USAID professionals whose careers were derailed overnight. How many will return to public service knowing that the next election could uproot their lives again? Most won’t return on Day One, but they may once they see that Americans are serious about not repeating the mistakes of the past.

That uncertainty now shadows nearly every federal agency.

Democrats cannot simply shrug and ignore that reality. Nor can they go into future elections thinking it’s a “given” that voters will choose them simply because they aren’t Republicans. Instead, they must:

• Unify around a clear, public governing agenda.
• Publish it openly – as a public covenant, not a secret transition plan.
• Defend it relentlessly across every media platform—traditional, digital, and social.

Democrats should have a solid messaging advantage over what the Heritage Foundation had in 2024. Since their plan will have broad support from the American people, it will be a plan they can announce and embrace, rather than deny knowledge of like Republicans did in 2028.

The challenge: we don’t yet know who the 2028 Democratic nominee will be, nor whether they’ll prioritize such a plan. But Congress can reduce that uncertainty if a broad coalition of Democratic lawmakers signs on now, sending a message:

“These are the priorities we were elected or re-elected to accomplish.
Work with us on these, and we will work with you on yours.”

Republicans had the advantage of knowing Trump would be their 2024 nominee. Democrats don’t share that luxury—but they do have the chance to create unity through planning rather than personality.

A First-Day Strategy

Trump’s damage extends far beyond building renamings and symbolic rebranding. But because these particular changes can be undone immediately, the next Democratic president should have a stack of executive orders waiting on the Resolute Desk on Day One.

The work must start now.

This Will Be an Ongoing Series

I welcome discussion and debate on any part of Project 2029 – here, on Bluesky, Facebook, or even X. Alone, I may be just one voice. But together, if we can craft a coherent strategy and rally public support, we can counter the Heritage Foundation’s agenda and build the change we want to see.