For a long time, I worried that my party had lost its soul. The Democrats had become a party of dry policy papers, technocratic fixes, and crass, transactional promises to the working class. Whenever I tuned into a primary debate, I was horrified to hear candidates talking about crude, material things like minimum wages, affordable healthcare, and labor unions. It lacked spiritual weight. It lacked elegance. It fundamentally failed to address the deep, yearning moral void in the hearts of the suburban professionals who donate the maximum allowable amount to congressional campaigns.
But as I observed while sipping a rather daring Sancerre at a closed-door fundraiser in Pacific Heights last weekend, a glorious shift is underway. The Democratic Party is finally realizing that it, too, can be the party of values. We no longer have to cede the moral high ground to the Republicans. We have our own profound ethical imperatives now, and they happen to precisely match the financial interests of everyone I went to law school with.
I first noticed this awakening while speaking with Governor Gavin Newsom over platters of sustainably sourced yellowtail. He spoke with such passion, such clarity, about the need to protect the fundamental character of our communities. I realized then that when Democrats talk about reclaiming “values,” they are finally talking about the only values that matter in a civilized society: property values.
For too long, the radical left wing of our party has tried to force immoral policies upon us, like high-density affordable housing. They fail to understand the profound spiritual violence of a four-story apartment building casting a shadow over a historic artisanal laundromat. But the new, morally serious Democratic leadership understands that true virtue means keeping the unhoused safely contained in facilities located in entirely different zip codes. It is a deeply compassionate approach that ensures I do not have to look at them while I am driving my Tesla to the farmer’s market.
This moral clarity extends far beyond local zoning ordinances. It is reshaping how our leaders govern at the state level. Governor Kathy Hochul has been a vanguard of this new ethical framework. When she bravely deployed the National Guard into the New York City subway system to check commuters’ bags, the progressive left howled. They called it an overreach. But they missed the profound moral statement she was making.
By militarizing the transit system, Governor Hochul was declaring that we value the peace of mind of a Westchester commuter who accidentally took the train instead of an Uber. It was a beautiful, restorative act of civic faith. It signaled that the Democratic Party is no longer afraid to use the awesome power of the state to make sure the right kind of people feel comfortable on their way to midtown.
The defining moral struggle of our time is ensuring that the transition to a more equitable society does not inadvertently inconvenience the people who already own all the beachfront property.
Some critics argue that a true moral agenda must center on the poor and the marginalized. But this is a fundamentally archaic, twentieth-century view of morality. We live in a complex, globalized economy. The modern Democratic Party understands that corporations are moral actors, too, provided they post a black square on their social media feeds during the appropriate month.
This is the beauty of stakeholder capitalism, which I discussed at length with several private equity partners during a panel on ethical synergies in Davos. We have realized that the stock market is not just a financial engine; it is a moral barometer. When we protect the carried interest loophole, we are not just saving hedge fund managers billions in taxes. We are affirming the dignity of capital. We are recognizing that a six percent year-over-year return on a diversified portfolio is a profound moral good that trickles down to society in the form of endowed professorships at Ivy League universities.
And let us speak plainly about the so-called social safety net. In the past, Democrats handed out assistance with an embarrassing lack of moral rigor. But today, we understand that true compassion requires discipline. This is why the modern Democratic Party is so fiercely committed to means-testing.
Means-testing is our sacrament. We do not simply give out a child tax credit or a school lunch. We demand that citizens prove they are worthy of it by navigating a forty-page PDF, sitting on hold with a state agency for six hours, and submitting three forms of notarized identification. It builds character. It ensures that only the truly pure of heart—and the most administratively resilient—receive the grace of the state. If a struggling single mother cannot figure out the online portal to secure her childcare subsidy, it is a sad but necessary moral filter.
Compare this elevated, sophisticated morality to the crude populism of the Republican Party. The GOP’s values are exclusionary, backward-looking, and tacky. They want to ban books and dictate what happens in doctors' offices. Our values are inclusive, forward-looking, and optimized for tax-advantaged 529 college savings plans. We believe that anyone, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, should have the absolute right to serve on the board of a defense contractor that is bombing the developing world.
That is what true representation looks like. That is what equity means in the twenty-first century.
As I left the fundraiser in Pacific Heights and climbed into the back of my town car, I felt a renewed sense of hope for the republic. The Democratic Party has finally stopped apologizing for its success. We have stopped pretending that we want to structurally alter the economy. We are marching proudly forward, waving the banner of ethical capitalism, strict local ordinance enforcement, and performative empathy.
The Republicans may have thought they owned the politics of morality. But they drastically underestimated the moral righteousness of an affluent coastal liberal whose view of the bay is being threatened by a wind turbine.