Several leaders in the Democratic Party are backing a new technology initiative seeking to lay the policy groundwork for the 2028 presidential race that poses as a counterweight to Republicans’ Project 2025.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) this week endorsed the “Kids Over Clicks” technology proposal from Project 2029, the policy framework led by a political operative with ties to former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama. Project 2029 will initially target large technology companies by focusing on internet regulations for children, but will also prioritize hot topics such as artificial intelligence, the border, and healthcare, according to Semafor. The “Kids Over Clicks” technology proposal calls for narrowing protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act that shield social media platforms from liability for content created by third parties. It is backed by Democratic figures ranging from Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) to American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.
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“This blueprint offers several serious ideas for how to rein in these harmful practices, promote more responsible technology, and better protect kids online,” Booker said.
Project 2029 is being spearheaded by Chad Maisel, a former adviser to Biden and Booker. He also served in the Obama administration in multiple roles, including on the White House National Economic Council, where his work focused on economic development and poverty policy.
Project 2029 comes after Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for the United States’s future headed by the Heritage Foundation, which became a flashpoint during the 2024 election cycle. Democrats ferociously attacked the ideas, claiming they marked “extreme policy” that should “scare the hell out of the American people.” The criticism led President Donald Trump to disavow the proposal as he ran for reelection, saying he knew “nothing” about the “absolutely ridiculous and abysmal” project.
Project 2029’s website describes a socialist-leaning vision for the country’s economy that puts “people over profit” and creates “equitable economic opportunities, breaking free from an exploitative economic model that prioritizes wealth concentration at the expense of the many.” On immigration, it seeks to scale back ICE dramatically by imposing a hiring freeze, prohibiting “community raids,” ending contracts with private immigration detention facilities, and expanding pathways to legal status.
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The website’s Day One policy platform calls for declaring national emergencies to leverage existing authorities “to deliver immediate wins in climate and tech reform,” and for using “every available antitrust law to mount the broadest enforcement operation on unlawful monopolies since the mid-20th century,” among other priorities.
Booker’s move to embrace Project 2029 comes as he is viewed as a likely Democratic presidential contender in 2028, after previously making a bid for the White House in 2020.
