Senior Democrats, led by the Biden administration, have for years broadcast endless confidence in their party’s ability to achieve the by now virtually impossible task of keeping global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Some of those same people have now reportedly resigned themselves to Donald Trump’s reelection, which should cast some doubt on the first claim.

The Biden administration, many contend, has accomplished more than any president since Lyndon Johnson, raking up wins like the Inflation Reduction Act and historically low levels of unemployment. That shouldn’t be seen as a case for the Democratic Party and its political project so much as a depressing reflection on just how little that party has done in recent decades. The Democratic Party doesn’t have an overarching political project. The Democratic Party also doesn’t really exist as such. It’s a loose collection of parts: the candidates themselves, including sitting elected officials; institutions that exist mainly to fundraise for candidates; and the people who work for those candidates, all supported by a hodgepodge of unions, nonprofit organizations, and pundits.

Ideally the mission that ostensibly unites........

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