Week after week, Trump’s second term is absolute chaos. One moment his team is tapping into secure data systems, the next they’re trying to take over the Gaza Strip. Without an end in sight, what can Democrats do to stop it?
Listen to Americans
Trump is a 34-time convicted felon and rapist. His policies, by and large, are not popular with the vast majority of the electorate. Yet Democrats lost. Why?
This is the question all Democratic leaders should be asking. Yes, there’s election interference and disinformation. Yes, Trump’s team isn’t playing by the rules, and all of these things make it harder to win. But if Democrats can’t even win the popular vote against that fool anymore, they’re clearly doing something wrong, too.
The proof is in the pudding. In the 2024 election, there was an overall shift to the right across most of America. There was also a drop in voter turnout of roughly 7 million, many being Democrats. With Trump looming, why didn’t they turn out?
☀ MORE IN OPINION
There are many reasons, but one theme in particular likely rang hollow: The good economy. Over and over again, Democratic leaders touted Biden’s strong economy, and in some ways for good reason. We were one of the strongest countries coming out of the pandemic. Under his leadership, investments, GDP per capita and the job market reflected strong numbers. All things considered, Biden did well.
But that doesn’t mean voters felt the economy was good. Economic growth never fully recovered and voters felt the pinch. Yet few Democrats stopped to really listen to the voters on this pain point. Instead, they opted to continue messaging about how well Biden was doing. Except voters didn’t really care if Biden was doing well. They cared that they weren’t.
Moving forward, whatever the issue, Democrats must stop citing numbers of success and heed the average voter’s woes. Facts don’t win elections. Emotions do.
Vision
As a Democrat, I’m not sure even I can tell you what we collectively stand for anymore. We’ve become a Big Tent, the party of everyone who is anti-Trump. But what does that mean? What is our vision?
Being anti-Trump was never a winning strategy. Reciting progressive policy isn’t going to work either. Like anyone in marketing can tell you, you need a vision. A good example would be wanting to beat the Russians to the moon in the 1960s. It gave us clear direction and united us as Americans. This is what Democrats need; the next big thing.
It could be almost anything from curing cancer to ending poverty so long as it is lofty, relevant and uniting with a clear direction forward. Saying we won’t go back isn’t enough. People need to know what they’re moving toward.
Opposition
While resistance to Trump may not be the winning vision for the polls, it will be the winning strategy of action. Democrats have been proven right that Trump is a threat to American democracy, and it’s time we start acting like it.
Moving forward, Democrats must resist Trump on all fronts. No more playing nice and trying to find a compromise. Republicans have thrown out the rule book. It’s time to go toe-to-toe. Reject all of Trump’s nominees. Tie up the legislative bodies. File lawsuits. Basically, employ all the tactics Republicans have been using on us for years.
Reframe
Democrats may be morally right on progressive topics such as diversity, equity and inclusion, but oh boy do we suck at communicating it. Progressive slogans are especially cringe-worthy, no matter how good or correct the sentiment may be.
Take, for example, phrases such as “defund the police.” The general public hears that and has absolutely no idea what it really means. That’s not helpful. Insider baseball is great for shooting the shit at caucus, but it’s not going to win campaigns. Democrats need better talking points to support a clearer vision that can be more easily understood by the average voter.
Democrats also need a better balance. If we want to talk about women’s equality, and we should, then we also need to talk about what it looks like for men when equality happens. Same for race. Because if all you do is blame huge swaths of the voting block without helping them see a way forward, eventually it backfires.
This is not some grand insight. It’s a lesson many progressive greats, including the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, have long understood all too well. In Ginsburg’s case, she fought for gender equality under the law not by arguing only for women, but often by leveraging cases of discrimination against men to appease a male-dominated Supreme Court. Democrats would do well to learn this lesson of practicality. Fight for your causes in a way that brings most people to the table.
As much as we might wish, there’s no quick fix to Trumpism. Even this list is a mere fraction of the changes needed. But we’ve got to start somewhere, and Republicans aren’t heeding the call. So, Democrats, it’s time to step up. It shouldn’t be this hard to beat a buffoon.
Trish Zornio is a scientist, lecturer and writer who has worked at some of the nation’s top universities and hospitals. She’s an avid rock climber and was a 2020 candidate for the U.S. Senate in Colorado.
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