Democrats Must Wake Up

The “Resistance” period that followed Donald Trump’s first win in 2016 was, at times, cringe and most times based on optics rather than substantive politics. And yet, I find myself longing for those days. For all the mistakes Democrats were making, you could at least give them an “A” for effort, even if misguided.

It turns out that blaming the Russians, Jill Stein, and a hush payment to adult star Stormy Daniels for Trump’s win was far from productive and distracted from the Democrats' real problems.

The embrace of neoliberal thinking, the abandonment of the middle class, and an overemphasis on identity politics have pushed them to a level of absurdity that most progressive European countries wouldn’t dream of.

As a result of not learning the lessons of 2016 and refusing to learn the ones of 2024, the Democratic opposition to Trump has been absolutely inefficient (to say the least). The feeling among those who disagree with Mr. Trump’s agenda is that Democrats aren’t even trying. That they’re in a stasis.

The DNC chair election was an example of this. How much was said about reindustrialization or reskilling? How much was said about inflation?

The DNC preferred making a pledge that they stood on “stolen land” over addressing the American people’s main concern: the economy.

Faced with an announced tariff policy that some experts have said has all the potential to raise prices for American consumers, Democrats have had very little to say about that. Much less offer an alternative.

Democrats refuse to recognize the role their lack of a viable economic message—one that is both correct and easily understandable, and that sits at the core of their policy agenda—had in their inability to energize their base or win over independents. Yet this fact stares them in the face.

In terms of optics alone, the Republican Party has positioned itself as the worker’s party. Despite their policies that favor the wealthy donor class and anti-union stance, Republicans have managed to make it appear as though they are the ones who have workers’ backs. How did they do this? By making their case with confidence.

The Democratic Party, on the other hand, has effectively become the party of elites. They have chosen the company of celebrities and billionaires on the campaign trail over that of unionists and progressive figures like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.

As I wrote in another post, they didn’t make their case on economic grounds, so whatever worker-friendly proposals were on the Harris/Waltz campaign were presented as a footnote rather than central to why they should be elected.

Democrats banked on Roe v. Wade and democracy being enough to win against Trump. Certainly, in abstract, those two themes are important and good enough reasons to show up to vote for Democrats, but you need to talk to the economic woes of those who have been abandoned by globalization and a shift in the economy toward more digitization and automation.

If Democrats want to change their trajectory, they must develop a clear, bold economic vision that directly addresses working-class concerns. This includes stronger labor protections, a concrete industrial policy, and a stance on trade and automation that reassures those left behind by economic shifts.

As important as defending civil liberties and minority rights is, none of that will be of any good to Democrats if they can’t put forward a bold political agenda that adds to that a bold economic agenda aimed at fixing the economic woes that have driven much of the electorate to vote for Donald Trump, third party, or simply not show up for the polls in 2024.

Failure to do so will mean Democrats might just set themselves up for failure in 2028.