Moderate Democrats gathered in D.C. last week to discuss the future of the party

" WelcomeFest " is the largest public gathering of centrist Democrats in D.C. centrists gathered to make common cause, to launch a movement, to commiserate.

The event featured a Coachella -style poster of medium-profile congresspeople, famous Twitter users, and the less famous co-author of Abundance ( Ezra Klein was not booked for the event).

There was plenty of talk about which policies were losers: talking too much about Florida ’s “ Don’t Say Gay ” law; climate policy; too much talk about reproductive choice.

Everyone had their own idea of what normal people don't care about.

Zoning reform was cool, though, despite some recent polling saying it is not.

This was exactly the type Democrats desperately needed to capture..

Moles from populist and antimonopoly organizations were sent to spy on this new collective.

They condemned standing by Biden in his campaign’s final days as “cringe” and condemned policy ideas like the four-day work week.

Some people were there to raise money on the sly, and given the big money behind WelcomeFest , it wasn't a bad idea.