It Takes Two to Tango
Before getting to today’s article, I want to say a word about Trump’s tariff war. I don’t think what we are watching is three-dimensional chess. I’d describe it more along the lines of a monkey trying to hump a football. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board published an op-ed calling Trump’s tariffs dumb. I’m still waiting for someone in the mainstream media to call Trump’s tariffs what they truly are: a glaring display of Trump’s gross incompetence.
In November 2024, Trump announced his plans for sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. On February 1, 2025, he signed executive orders implementing these tariffs, but then, two days later, he temporarily paused the tariffs. Still, the reprieve was short-lived, and on February 27, Trump announced that the tariffs would go into effect, and on March 4, 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports were enforced. But then, on March 6, he issued temporary tariff exemptions until April 2 for a wide range of goods, partially reversing the sweeping 25% duties he imposed on the two trading partners just days earlier. And then, on Friday, March 7, he said he would put reciprocal tariffs on Canadian dairy and lumber, claiming their current rates were exorbitant. Whiplash for everyone.
Trump’s contradictory messages and unpredictability have created significant uncertainty in global trade and financial markets and chilled consumer confidence. Economic indicators are all heading south except inflation, which looks to be heading northward. The only thing Trump seems to have a firm handle on is generating headlines that feed his narcissism. What an idiot.
Now, let’s talk about the Democrats.
For the past couple of weeks, everyone has been writing and talking about the rudderless Democrats. I wanted to add my two cents. So, here we go.
I, along with every other sane person on the planet, know our nation needs the Democratic Party to get its act together and to do it soon. Donald Trump and Elon Musk are making a mess out of our federal government and trashing the post-WWII world order, which, for the past 80 years, has kept the world from blowing itself up. None of us, including Trump and Musk, know what will still work after they are done hacking up the government. The government is not a business.
We need a viable opposition party offering alternatives to the madness, but the Democrats are currently incapable of mounting any opposition. A mid-February Blueprint poll showed 65% of voters agreed with the statement “No one has any idea what the Democratic Party stands for anymore, other than opposing Donald Trump.”
James Carville, the seasoned political strategist and elder statesman of Democratic political campaigns, wrote in an op-edthat the Party should “roll over and play dead.” Carville says the Democrats should “Allow the Republicans to crumble beneath their own weight and make the American people miss us. Only when the Trump administration has spiraled into the low 40s or high 30s in public approval polling percentages should we make like a pack of hyenas and go for the jugular. Until then, I’m calling for a strategic political retreat.” Sounds dumb? It is, and if that weren’t enough, Nancy Pelosi tells Democrats to “Let him [Trump] stew in his own juice.”
For a couple of very smart political operatives, these are really dumb ideas. Holding pat with a historically low favorability rating of 31% doesn’t make sense. Do the math. Carville suggested that Democrats wait until the Trump administration’s approval rating drops into “the low 40s and high 30s” and then “go for the jugular.” However, if the Trump administration’s approval ratings drop into the high 30s, they’ll remain more popular than the Democrats, whose approval rating sits at 31%. Not only does the math not add up, but telling American voters that we’re not going to do anything until the other side sucks worse than we do is just sad. Besides that, what are the Democrats going to do, carry on doing what cost them the presidency and both Houses of Congress? Democrats must figure out what they stand for, other than opposing Donald Trump.
Recommending Democrats roll over and play dead while hoping MAGA/Republicans will sink low enough that the American people will turn to the Democrats is pathetic and reflects how lost the Party is. The American people deserve more than a Democratic Party that waits for the other Party to sink. We deserve an opposition party that provides a clear alternative to the current regime. Voters are weary of the at least we’re not as bad as them argument.
What about the claim by Democrats that Donald Trump is going to destroy our democracy? Democrats have been shouting from the rooftops for the past decade that Donald Trump is intent on destroying our democracy. If true, is now the time to roll over and play dead? Or is Donald Trump no longer dangerous for our Republic? Are Democrats telling us, “Oops, our bad. I guess he isn’t as dangerous as we said?”
The Democratic Party has moved too far to the left, and it has cost them their working-class base. Democrats moved from being a coalition of moderate Bill Clinton Democrats with working-class voters to a left-leaning progressive Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez party that is more upper class, college educated, and urban in its base. That is fine if you never want to win again.
They say the first step to resolving a problem is admitting you have one. The majority of Democrats know they have a problem. Fifty-eight percent of Democrats and left-leaning independents believe the party requires significant changes or a complete overhaul.
The Democratic Party is flailing in both political strategy and public perception. The Party lacks political strategy because the coalition that makes up the Party is broke, leaking members, and fighting amongst themselves. The progressives in the Party, who mostly come from safe districts, have berated moderates, who come from competitive districts, into supporting their extreme positions, which most Americans reject. The progressives have it wrong on open borders, sanctuary cities, defunding the police, pronoun usage, boys in girls’ locker rooms, and transwomen competing against biological women in sports.
To illustrate my point on the progressives owning moderates in the Party, early last week, the Republicans in the Senate introduced legislation to bar trans women nationwide from participating in school athletic competitions designated for female athletes. Every Democrat in the Senate voted against the bill. Democrats and LGBTQ+ rights activists denounced the measure as bullying. Not a counterargument; they just labeled those who voted for the bill bullies. Ironically, a few Democrats said they voted against it because the decision should be left to local officials. Channeling the GOP?
The Democrats and LGBTQ+ rights activists who denounced the measure as bullying are out of touch with most Americans. Unsurprisingly, 7 out of 10 Americans (69%) say transgender athletes should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that conform with their birth gender, according to Gallup. This is an increase from 62% in 2021. Only 26%, down from 34% in 2021, endorse transgender athletes being able to play on teams that match their current gender identity.
Here’s the crazy part: 67% of Democrats—DEMOCRATS—say transgender female athletes SHOULD NOT be allowed to compete in women’s sports, according to a January 2025 New York Times/IPSOS survey. Americans aren’t bullies; they’re fair-minded and see transgender sports participation through a lens of competitive fairness.
Moderate Democrats’ kowtowing to the extreme wing of the Democratic Party is not that different than the mainstream Republicans’ kowtowing to Trump and MAGA. However, the math works for Trump and MAGA as working-class voters of all identities have migrated away from Democrats and toward MAGA. In the last election, progressive Democrats managed to drive away some of the very people they claimed to be serving. The Democratic Party has been losing support among White working-class and rural voters for several years, but now they are losing support among Black and Latino men. Trump doubled his share of young Black men with about 3 in 10 under the age of 45 voting for Trump, and almost half of Latino men voted for Trump.
It could have been worse. The Democrats are lucky Trump was the nominee. The race wasn’t close because of the appeal of Harris and the Democrats; it was close because Trump was the GOP’s candidate. If the Republicans had nominated someone other than Trump, such as Nikki Haley or even Ron De Santis, the race would not have been close, and the Republicans would have been sitting on a heavy landslide. The voting public trusted a pathological liar, convicted felon, and insurrectionist who stole classified documents from the White House more than they trusted Harris and the Democrats. Many others would have crossed over to vote for the GOP if a candidate other than Trump had been the nominee.
Democrats must understand and accept just how deep of a hole they have dug for themselves with the voting public. To regain the trust, they must jettison the “woke” ideology of the progressives within the Party and move back toward the center. Their positions are very unpopular, and if there is a void from their absence, it will quickly be filled by moderates and independents. According to Gallop, independents are the largest voting block, with 43% of the voting public identifying as independents. Democrats and Republicans are tied at a low 28% each. A moderate democrat with centrist policies will pull moderate Republicans away from the MAGA extremes.
To move forward and regain voters' trust, the Democrats need new leadership. Senator Chuck Schumer must be replaced. He’s been in Congress since 1981, and it shows. The man has been in the bubble of Congress for so long that he has no idea how average Americans live. Check out the video of Schumer chanting “We will win!” in front of the Treasury building protesting Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Schumer was mocked online, and former Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan wrote on X, “Does anyone really think this is the future of the country? This is the only alternative to Trump’s America? It’s just so depressing.” Schumer’s behavior is cringe-worthy and not an isolated instance of him embarrassing himself and the Party. It is time for younger Democratic leadership in the Senate.
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries is younger than Schumer and seems more in touch with America. Still, the man has no charisma—none—and is incapable of controlling his own members. Jeffries notified the Democrats in the House that he wanted no shenanigans during Trump’s speech to Congress Tuesday night. The progressives ignored him, and made asses out of themselves and the Democratic Party. Progressives do this type of stuff almost as often as Marjorie Taylor Green and a few of the other MAGA wingnuts. Their behavior during Trump’s speech is just the most recent example. Most progressives don’t care because they are from safe districts.
Neither Jeffries nor Schumer is capable of leading the Democratic Party. Under normal circumstances, this would not be a big issue since they are in the minority, but these are not normal times. Our Republic needs a viable opposition party to let the rest of the world know we haven’t all lost our minds. Democrats must find a way to counteract the Trump-MAGA narrative.
What the Democrats need is for a younger moderate to declare their candidacy for President now. Too early? Maybe, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The difficulty will be finding a moderate who hasn’t endorsed the progressive agenda and is willing to say out loud that the Party must move towards the center left and away from identity politics. Josh Shapiro fits the bill but has shown no interest when asked. California Governor Gavin Newsom recently broke from fellow Democrats when he said it is “deeply unfair” for transgender athletes to play in women's sports. It’s a start. Others need to find their courage.
Democrats need to drop identity politics and return to their roots as the party that protects the working class (including the White working class), defends the social nets of Social Security and Medicare, and fights for worker rights. Return to working to ensure the working class and the marginalized are provided the same opportunities as everyone else. Progressive attempts to ensure equality of outcome are misguided. It ignores the individual’s responsibility to put forth effort and make the right choices, but it also relieves the politicians of the hard work of ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity. The easy route of guaranteeing outcome equity breeds inefficiency, kills innovation, and is ultimately futile in a democratic society. American voters understand this and are not willing to compromise on it. The Democratic Party has to move toward the voters; otherwise, more will leave, especially when Trump is no longer a factor.
Democrats must stop talking down to and lecturing voters. Democrats’ go-to response for anyone that disagrees with them is to call them a bully, a racist, a misogynist, a xenophobe, etc., etc., etc. Labeling people as bullies, racists, misogynists, etc., was never the correct response, but now it means nothing. It has no value and even less effect. Democrats have called so many people so many names that words like racist no longer have any impact. Voters have quit listening. If Democrats want to convince voters they are correct, they should present a better argument and spend the time to educate voters on how Democrats will make their lives better. There are no shortcuts.
Democrats need to stop crying wolf. Not everything Trump says is a doomsday message. Accept that Trump is nuts and prone to making stupid and irrational comments. He is doing some of it on purpose to watch Democrats freak out. React to reality, not conjecture.
Adopt a simple, clear message that informs and educates. Democrats must catch up to the 21st century and learn to push their message to the unconverted. To be successful, they must learn to communicate in the new digital information sphere. MAGA and the Republicans have learned to effectively use social media, alternative media, and viral marketing to push their message and rally voters. In these spaces, their message has been the only message being heard because the Democrats aren’t appearing.
Trump’s message is intended to create a perception with his supporters that hides or denies reality, and he gets lots of help from the conservative media. Democrats must be in the same space, countering the perception and presenting the truth. Unfortunately, except for Pete Buttigieg, most Democrats haven’t been in these spaces. Democrats who appear on MSNBC and CNN are preaching to the choir, to their base. The voters Democrats need to reach have quit listening to MSNBC or CNN because they, like FOX, are shills for the Party. Democrats have to get out of their comfort zone and present a clear alternative to Trumpism, and the only place to do that is where the Trump supporters go to get their news.
The Democratic Party has a responsibility to our nation to correct course and return as a strong and organized opposition to Trump and the MAGA agenda. We must have a healthy Democratic Party to maintain a balance of power, uphold democratic norms, and offer a clear alternative vision for our country. To do so, the moderates must rein in the party's progressive wing, develop a simple, clear message, find a leader or small group to lead the response, and adapt to the information environment so the voters who need to hear the alternative hear it. If the Democrats can do that, the American people will take it from there.
If the Democratic Party remains disorganized and ineffective, it will continue to cede political ground to Trump and Musk, leading to a radical shift in America’s domestic and foreign policies—one that could permanently alter the nation’s global standing. Our country needs a credible opposition with strong leadership, clear messaging, and policies that address economic, social, and governance challenges in a way that resonates with a broad electorate. Without it, there will be no meaningful resistance to Trump and Musk, and the direction they steer us could be disastrous for both America and the world.