Like many liberals, I spent the last few months, weeks and days hearing incessantly about how President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” would be a disaster for Americans. Democrats vowed to fight, even though they don’t have enough votes in Congress.
Now, we know how the story ended. Democrats wouldn’t do anything, and so-called “fiscal conservatives” would ultimately cave to Trump. But at the end of it all, we were treated to a most meaningless and performative stunt — a speech that accomplished nothing.
As Democrats crow that Trump is unpopular and that his actions will be destructive to most Americans, they are missing the biggest warning sign of all — they are polling worse than Trump. Yeah, a lot of people don’t like Trump, but let’s be honest. There are more than a few that voted for him despite their misgivings because they didn’t like the alternative. And it’s not that they don’t want things like health care, education, national security and overall safety. They do; they just don’t trust Democrats to get the job done.
And can you blame them? It seems that the Republican slur of Democratic elected officials suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome” might be on to something. Democrats seem inclined to yell the sky is falling over every Trump action, but in doing so, they end up looking ineffectual and hypocritical.
Take immigration. It has and will be a major point for many Americans, liberal or conservative, to fix our immigration system. Trump is trying to fix it in his own way. I do not agree with his inhumane treatment of immigrants at all. But I must ask: What is the Democrats’ policy? They will crow they deported more people than Trump and then cry or get arrested outside detention centers — performative actions that won’t stop Trump and give a very confusing message to Democrats and Independents. And of course, it gives plenty of ammo to Republicans.
We can talk about the deficit. Every group, from the tea party to libertarians to the Department of Government Efficiency, has raised concern about deficits. They have watched as Republicans continually vote to raise the federal debt to record levels.
Surely this would be something that Democrats could take advantage of? Guess again. We got House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’s (D-N.Y.) eight-hour speech, but no serious plan from the Democrats to balance a budget or pay down the debt.
Democrats back in the day had a great game plan on balanced budgets and reduced government spending (see President Clinton). But nowadays, the plan sounds more like, “Our deficits won’t be as bad as Trump’s.” That’s hardly a winning message, especially with deficit and economic numbers on your side.
We can also look at foreign affairs. Democrats waffled so badly on the Israel-Palestine conflict because they were so intent on trying to make both Jewish and Arab voters happy. That clearly didn’t work. Trump made it clear he was pro-Israel and managed to get plenty of Arab American votes. It’s not because these people are stupid. It’s because he appeared decisive about ending the war one way or another, whereas Democrats attacked former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris for not being decisive enough. And they weren’t wrong. Calling for a ceasefire in Gaza while sending Israel weapons to use there isn’t exactly a good policy or practice.
This dysfunction in the Democratic Party isn’t new and didn’t start simply because of Trump. Democrats have been embracing outsiders for some time, just like Republicans. In 2008, President Obama was considered an outsider against Hillary Clinton. Clinton also had a second outsider threaten her 2016 campaign in Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Time and time again, we see Democrats try to win the moderate vote and then watch their base elect far left candidates. See Zohran Mamdani in New York.
Democratic voters, contrary to Republican attacks, aren’t turning into card-carrying Communists. They are looking for people who have decisive and definite solutions to problems. Mamdani, Sanders, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) are the types to bring this energy. Even Jill Stein of the Green Party appears every four years with a strong leftist platform which siphons off progressive votes in presidential elections. But at the Democratic mountain top, we get theatrics and hypocrisy.
Color-matching, kneeling in Kente cloth, marathon speeches, stunts during press conferences and TikToks won’t help you win the midterms, much less in a presidential run. You need a strong unified platform that has decisive solutions for all the things the Republicans are messing up.
Democrats need to come to the understanding that this country is too diverse to try to be friends with everyone. You definitely aren’t going to win elections by pretending you have everyone’s best interest at heart. It is an impossibility and voters see it as disingenuous. You are going to have to make decisions on what policies matter and which ones can wait.
It’s not an easy decision to choose which fights are worth fighting, but you can’t fight any of them if you aren’t in power. It is very clear that the American electorate is mad at Trump and the Republican Party. It is not clear whether Americans will ditch Republicans for Democrats in 2026. Voters have no idea what Democrats stand for.
Jos Joseph is a published writer and is a graduate of the Harvard Extension School and Ohio State University. He is a Marine veteran who served in Iraq. He currently lives in Anaheim, Calif.
