It seems voters (and, certainly, reporters) are so done with this year’s Biden-Trump 2.0 zombie matchup, despite its truly existential stakes, that they’re already looking to who may step up in 2028. That’s especially true on the Democratic side, where plenty of non-octogenarians are bidin’ (hah!) their time while still trying to suck up power and publicity.

Who’s next up from the dugout, then? Could it be one of those popular (white) governors—Phil Murphy, Gavin Newsom, Tim Walz, Jared Polis, J.B. Pritzker, Josh Shapiro, Gretchen Whitmer—eagerly transforming their states into anti-Trumpist bulwarks? Could it be one of the party’s Black stalwarts—New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, Vice President Kamala Harris, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock—looking to the South Carolina primary and hoping to stanch Democratic disapproval among nonwhite voters? Or could it be someone else entirely, an unexpected leader with an unconventional résumé: a Philadelphia-born son of Indian immigrants and educators, a volunteer for Barack Obama’s first run for office and eventual undersecretary in his administration, a onetime technology attorney who advocated for affirmative action before the Supreme Court, a “progressive capitalist” on the Hill who has befriended and worked with everyone from AOC to Joe Manchin to Matt Gaetz? Could it be Silicon Valley Rep. Rohit “Ro” Khanna?

If you, like many Americans, have been tuning out from politics these days, you may not know much about the congressman from California’s 17th District. But Ro Khanna is actually everywhere, talking about any topic in just about any region. Immigration, inflation, student debt, artificial intelligence, climate change, unionization, TikTok, Puerto Rican sovereignty, campaign financing, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., cryptocurrency, young voters, the Trump trials, antitrust, cybersecurity, swing states, China, Ukraine, Yemen, manufacturing, Israel and Palestine—whatever it is, he has spoken on it. Perhaps while in South Carolina, partnering with historically Black universities; or outside the Washington Post’s headquarters, while literally standing with striking staffers; maybe while in Iowa, with a delegation of tech leaders in tow, promising new tech jobs to the postindustrial Midwest and earning an honorary local-media label as the state’s “fifth congressman”; in Wisconsin, stumping for the local Democrats hanging on to power by a thread; in Nevada, talking about voter education with university administrators; in New Hampshire, ensuring that President Joe Biden got those write-in votes for the Democratic primary; or in Michigan, to listen to the Arab voters Biden has been losing. It’s a real “everything, everywhere” approach.

Having a heightened profile is one thing. Doing something with it is another. “A lot of articles tell you about me being prolific on media or TikTok, but they miss the central theme, which is why,” Khanna tells me, calling from an Amtrak train while on his way to visit his parents (he was taking his father to a Phillies game). “The why of it is, this is what I think is necessary for national reconciliation and healing, to listen and engage people in different places where they are, to try to have some common understanding. Then, at a more and less philosophical level, it’s also what we need to do to get the message out to have President Biden win.”

Indeed, as Khanna will repeatedly tell you, he’s all in on Joe Biden’s reelection. The 47-year-old California congressman is often the one most prominently telegraphing the president’s underappreciated accomplishments, making an “affirmative” case in favor of Biden and the Democrats in 2024—not just relying on the Orange Man Bad strategy. No need to press Khanna about his down-the-road plans, by the way. He brushed away early speculation that he would run for the Senate seat vacated by the late Dianne Feinstein (who, he had repeatedly stated before her death, should have resigned much earlier) and instead helped steward the ultimately unsuccessful campaign of fellow California progressive and legendary anti-war hero Barbara Lee. But he won’t object when the Atlantic claims he “wants to be the future of the Democratic Party.” And he certainly won’t deny the endorsement of his “friend” Geraldo Rivera, when the longtime anchor pronounces on Chris Cuomo’s NewsNation show that he’s “all in for Ro in 2028” and “believes he’s the future.” This, coming right after Cuomo himself reiterates that Khanna is the “now and future leader of the Democratic Party.”

Khanna may not seem like his party’s most obvious choice. He’s been in Congress only since 2017, the year everything about Washington politics as we knew it broke apart and continued to suffer major shocks (COVID, the racial justice protests, Jan. 6). He represents—and still proudly touts—the capital of Big Tech, an industry that has long lost its once-overwhelming public favor. He carries less national name recognition than his other competitors for the post-Biden Democratic crown, many of whom were jostling for the top job on the national stage back in 2020. He positions himself against the typical D.C. elites but (in classic fashion) has very much benefited from that machine. He espouses the values of working and communicating across the........

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