This midterm cycle has granted the Democratic Party an opportunity to tell the American people what it believes. So far, Democrats have largely let this opportunity slip away. Rather than building a coherent, affirmative political platform, the party has once again settled for an identity that is based mainly on anti-Trumpism. Opposition to an unpopular president is certainly an electoral asset. However, the Democratic Party cannot define itself simply by what it stands against. The Democrats must abandon the habit of negative partisanship and build a positive vision of Democratic governance in a post-Trump nation. Voters right now are weary of unclear messaging and aimless leadership. As Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen remarked, “We [Democrats] need to be clear what we’re fighting for, not just what we’re fighting against.”
There is a real irony here: the surest way for Democrats to more effectively counter Trump’s influence is to talk about him less. It is indisputable that Trump is a lawless president who exhibits autocratic tendencies. And Democrats certainly have a responsibility to mitigate his undermining of our democratic norms as much as possible. However, it is equally important that the Democrats also present a sharper and more substantive policy agenda to offer a robust alternative to the current governance and regain the trust of Americans, particularly the working class. Currently, they are not doing this.
The Democratic Party has not given a definitive set of answers to the questions constituents are asking. Voters need to know what the Democratic Party stands for. The New York Times editorial board posed a series of rhetorical questions in an article in July critiquing the party’s spinelessness:
What is the party’s answer on immigration, moving beyond its proper outrage at President Trump’s methods to include an affirmative account of who should be allowed in and how? What would it do about the cost of housing, beyond lamenting it and suggesting inadequate fixes? What does it want from the public education system? What is its response to the disruption that artificial intelligence is about to send through the work force and society more broadly?
Voters demand change and action on these issues, and the party is failing to deliver. Multiple Associated Press-NORC surveys show that many Democrats label their party as weak or ineffective. The polling also shows that nearly 30% of Democrats view their own party unfavorably, a striking figure for a core base of the party. The frustration and dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party is deeply internal.
If the Democratic Party hopes to make change, it must be willing to provide answers, even if those answers are divisive. Much of the party’s leadership is afraid to state what they believe in because they think that it will expose internal disagreement. After all, why not just stay quiet and let Trump’s unpopularity do the work? However, it is this type of thinking that is incredibly counterproductive. Democrats must concretely convey how their vision of the future can improve the lives of the American people. Not doing so, and being silent, is not unity. It just comes across as the Democrats being weak-willed and irresolute.
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