I have spent the time since Trump's second inauguration thinking about what went wrong for Democrats and what we can do to win the 2026 midterms and the 2028 Presidency. I actually saw his win coming. In late October I called VP Harris's campaign. "We aren't seeing her fun side. Most voters aren't paying attention to all this policy. They are going to decide based on who looks less boring." Two days later she made her surprise SNL visit right before the election.
Let's Fix the Party!
Problem: We campaign like voters are following politics closely, understand policy, and care about these things. The average voter is detached from political news. They don't really understand what government is doing. They blame government for their problems but don't understand what government is doing to help. They generally don't care. Just like high school, politics will always be a popularity contest where few care about the issues and instead ask themselves "who do I like more?"
Solution: We have to do both. Address the problems and how we will solve them. It will be easier to do this round but the next time a Democratic president is running for re-election we need to make a point of saying "the work isn't done let me continue to fix this problem that is better but still a problem". But we can't just come across as the serious and scolding professors. Bill Clinton played the saxophone, Obama played basketball. They showed their "regular guy" credentials. Clinton made kids want to play the saxophone, Obama felt like someone who might join your pickup game. George W was someone you could have a beer with. Biden also was seen riding his bike and generally capable of having fun. We lost touch of how out of touch voters are.
Problem: The best thing for us was when Nancy Pelosi stepped aside, and Hakeem Jefferies became the Democratic house leader. I think she was a great leader for a while, she just stayed too long. Now, he's the best person to guide the entire party on how to change marketing, policies, and in general what to do. Shumer has been at this for too long and his approach is outdated. We don't need to rehash the same candidates we need new blood. New stars. New faces.
Solution: Start with making Amy Klobuchar the new Senate leader. She is younger but experienced in working with everyone. She is one of our best Senators and is someone Moderate Republicans can even get behind on some bills if she were to become Majority Leader. But we can't stop there. The future of the party is buried in the democrats who have won in red states. The Democrats in state legislatures who understand how to understand the voters we don't understand. These are who we should be talking to now and encouraging to run in 2026. These are the ones who should be advising our campaigns all over. Because voters think about the candidate that seems to understand them. We need candidates that can understand a large variety of experiences. The 2028 Democratic primary needs to have some of these faces. That includes Rep. Maxwell Frost D-FL among others.
Problem: That brings me to our next problem. Identity politics. We listened too much to the progressives and lost track of the kitchen table issues that won us the house in 2018 and the Presidency in 2020. It became about cultural, racial, gender, and sexual identity as opposed to about our own non-complicated solution to rising prices. We need catchy slogans about preserving health care and making life more affordable. Abortion wasn't the winning topic we hoped because poll after poll showed inflation was the biggest concern. There is a progressive purity test to the "are you supportive of my issues" and a lot of people who couldn't meet that purity test just get tired of trying. Men's rights became a counter to the "me too" movement because men didn't know what was okay and what wasn't. Not all masculinity is toxic but, those purity tests made a lot of men feel like they couldn't do it right so, they went in the other direction.
Solution: Stop catering to the extremely high bars of these purity tests. Address these issues but set the example for where a non-perfect but still respectful and supportive bar should be. You will never please extremists. They will never find that "perfectly aligned with me" candidate. But you can bring back those voters who abandoned the party because of those purity tests by focusing on candidate credentials and not on their gender, race, or anything else. Voters didn't vote on identity. What we need to focus on are the kitchen table issues. Instead of college debt forgiveness, we should have focused on universal preschool starting age 3. That is, putting preschool starting at age 3 in public schools. Like kindergarten is. We have a childcare crisis and a lot of parents, regardless of party have that need and can get behind this. It's a kitchen table issue that is a modified version of a progressive idea. Still addressing progressives but in a way with more broad appeal then just the college educated. Education starting younger leads to a better workforce later benefitting the country as a whole.
Problem: For many years Republicans have been seen as stronger on the economy and immigration. DACA meant well. But it wasn't executed or described well, and it wasn't written preparing for all contingencies. It became an easy win for Republicans. We had a good immigration plan that Trump squashed, why wasn't that mentioned more on the campaign trail? We are seen as too immigrant friendly even though most of us support a mix of, add to border security but, also have resources to help those entering legally navigate the complicated immigration system. We don't talk about this enough. As for the economy, we keep talking about Raising taxes on the rich. Republicans talk about lowering taxes. Voters aren't hearing the "rich" part, they are hearing "Democrats raise taxes, Republicans lower them".
Solution: For immigration we do need to address it in a way easy for the average person to understand. A plan on how to catch more people entering illegally while helping those entering legally. That requires a lot more boarder agents. We didn't hear Democrats say "hire more boarder agents" much in the election. That was a mistake. As for taxes, people hear "close the income gap" and are thinking they will be robbed by the government Robin Hood to help the poor. They start resenting and blaming the poor for things out of the poor's control. Ironically, most of the poor we tried to help vote Republican. So, new wording and a new method. "We need to make life cheaper". That's the catchphrase. Because that helps EVERYONE not just the poor. How? I don't know all the tools available so I can't mention anything specific. But it can't be through raising taxes (all people hear is taxes raised and not the rest of it). It can't be through caping executing income (because people just hear income cap and think it applies to them even if it doesn't). Finally, it can't be through regulation because businesses always find loopholes. However, seeking the advice of Democratic business owners on what to do here might be a good idea. Just word it under the impression that our "only half listening" society will only hear the key words but not the add on words like "rich" or "income above".
In March of 2017 I did a similar piece and sent it to the DNC. They listened and 2018 happened. This will also be going to the DNC. We don't need to build from scratch, we just need to rediscover our roots. We need a remodel The biggest thing is how to market; it's time to hire young (under age 32) PR professionals and give their "new ways to sell it" a try. Rep. Maxwell Frost D-FL is the youngest Democrat in the house, he's a great place to start!
