The world is adjusting to the prospect of another Trump term in the US. The Democrats suffered a defeat far worse than 2016. Not only did Kamala Harris lose the Presidential election, the Democrat party lost its Senate majority while the Republicans increased its lead in Congress. Add to that, Trump won the popular vote and the GOP won a majority of gubernatorial races. In short, the Democrats were demolished. It’s time for the party to recoup and strategize for the four years ahead. The Democrats need a DOGE of its own: a ruthless project of self-reflection willing to surgically remove the problems within the party.
Trump 1.0: Democrat Attack
During Trump’s first term, the Democrats took a loud frontal approach. In four years, the party impeached the President twice; it peeled off several members of the GOP who were concerned about contested re-election bids; and generally took advantage of Trump’s political and governing inexperience. A favorable media and entrenched government institutions certainly helped the cause. Despite three fairly successful years as President, the Democrats took advantage of the crises of 2020 to sink Trump’s re-election efforts. A chain reaction started with a lockdown and ended in a lock-in on Capitol Hill. The riot in January 2021 led to Trump’s second impeachment, securing the end of the Trump era – or so the party thought.
A new approach
But Trump is back and the Democrat approach during his last term will not work this time round. The moderate success they achieved is outweighed by the passion that Trump supporters have for him – and the disgust the majority of the country now has for the party.
On the whole, Democrats appear to be somewhat aware that a new strategy is needed. Operating in a total minority for the first time since Trump’s first election, the party has matched Trump’s speed in preparing for January. The party has largely left Harris to fall out of significance as it targets Trump’s cabinet nominees. The outcry around Matt Gaetz as Attorney General pick was successful. Gaetz not only withdrew his name from consideration, he also left politics altogether.
The Democrats are trying a similar strategy with other appointments, especially Pete Hegseth. Hegseth, however, is winning that battle. Earlier this week, he received a pivotal semi-endorsement from Senator Joni Ernst. Other targets include former Democrats Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F Kennedy Jr., although initial furore has died down.
Posturing for President
The only other notable resistance to the incoming administration came from two governors. Gavin Newsom recalled the State Legislature to “Trump-proof” California. JB Pritzker was quick off the mark with posturing around maintaining Illinois’s sanctuary state status. These actions, though, were nothing more than cheap headlines ahead of a potential 2028 candidacy. The Democrat party as a whole has been more targeted in its opposition to Trump, but it needs much more than pressure campaigns in the media to effectively regain control in 2028.
Preparing for 2028
Democrats need to take the long view. They will not get significant victories during this term and the midterms should be nothing more than a scorecard for the pre-2028 rebuild. The party needs to reassess its policy platform and start preparing candidates for the next Presidential election.
Policy Matters
The Democrat policy platform is unpopular. Bidenomics is an unmitigated disaster and woke policies were major motivators of Trump voters last month. Harris’ failures over the last four years are a viscous rebuke to DEI. The outcome of the Daniel Penny trial in New York marked the final descent of BLM into insignificance. The expected judgment in the Skrmetti case at the Supreme Court suggests a turning tide for the trans movement. It’s time for the Democrats to slowly back away from the failed experiment that is cultural Marxism.
The most successful aspect of Trump’s campaign was its political realignment. MAGA is not a conservative movement. It is inherently anti-elitist. Trump’s policies are remarkably un-extreme. Even on abortion – supposedly a vote driver for Democrats since the Dobbs decision – Trump has put out a position that captures the center of American sentiment.
Democrats need to emulate this approach. As the party moves towards the center it can highlight the extremes of the administration like repealing Obamacare or pulling aid to Ukraine. Tariffs and DOGE will push the country into economic difficulty even if only in the short term. It is incumbent on Democrats to highlight this if they want to get a leg up on Trump’s successor.
A New Democrat Party
The Democrats lost out on candidates who could reasonably defeat the MAGA movement. Tulsi Gabbard and Joe Manchin are no longer options. The party must sideline the faces of Democrat failure in recent years. Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes must not get any party backing.
Instead, the party must recruit lesser-known figures with a proven record of bipartisanship. The only way to make the rebrand authentic – thus believable – is to pair a more moderate platform with a more moderate candidate.
Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema was a moderate Democrat Senator until she left the party in 2022. As she leaves the Senate, an authentic rebrand of her former party could entice her back into the fray.
Henry Cuellar, a long-standing Democrat Congressman in Texas, is another option. A moderate Hispanic border district representative would certainly lend credence to a party learning from its mistakes.
Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire is another option. A Governor-turned-Senator, Hassan has experience beating a Republican incumbent in a swing state. She positions herself as a moderate but with strong Democrat bona fides on abortion and climate change, she would not lose the left flank of the party.
Ultimately, the Democrats need to promote qualified members who have not been in the spotlight to spearhead the rebranded party into 2028. They will crowd out Newsom and the others as relics of a past era, further confirming the rebrand.
The Democrat Party has run its course as the conduit of radical left policies at this point in US history. A slow, deliberate shift back to the center – where the average American voter is – will keep it competitive after another four years of Donald Trump.
