1 week Ago
Encouraging as it is to see people mobilizing for events such as the nationwide protests, Mondays with Mackenzie, the real local town hall meeting and other attempts to pressure their representatives to grow backbones in the face of Donald Trump’s onslaught of chaos, many non-Trumpophiles have been appalled at the impotent response from congressional Democrats. They were particularly angry to see Chuck Schumer, John Fetterman and other Senate Democrats supply the votes Republicans needed to pass a stopgap bill that funded the government through September. I get the frustration.
But I have no doubt that: 1. The Republicans wouldn’t have given them a better deal, even if it meant shutting the government down. They’ve become nihilists.
Trump certainly is. 2. The Democrats somehow would have come out as the bad guys for the consequences of letting the government shut down.
If you’re still wondering how a vile creature like Trump could have been elected not once, but twice, messaging is the answer. The Republicans are much better at it. Trump, Fox and other MAGA mouthpieces managed to turn Democrats into the symbol of runaway inflation.
Children’s sex change operations. Rioters and looters. Runaway tax increases.
Rampant political correctness. Caravans of criminal immigrants rushing through open borders and terrorizing citizens. Meritless hiring and promotions.
Hatred of police. Hatred of white people. Onerous environmental restrictions on job-creators.
Burly men crushing little girls in sports and ogling them in bathrooms. Yeah, most of this was a lie or at least grossly exaggerated. But repeated over and over, by skillful people for whom truth is irrelevant, it took hold.
And the Democrats did and continue to do a lousy job of fighting back, going high in a world of low and clueless about how to connect with blue-collar and minority communities they once could take for granted. Specifically, Republicans’ ability to sell transgender people as a dire societal problem is a propaganda triumph that I suspect will be studied with horror by future generations. I have no problem with national or state athletic organizations restricting the participation of biological males in women’s sports or in common sense provisions by schools or communities for keeping everyone comfortable in locker rooms and bathrooms.
But national elections shouldn’t turn on delicate issues that arise so infrequently — and politicians shouldn’t be rewarded for relentlessly feeding on cruelty and intolerance. I had to laugh when I saw Rep. Ryan Mackenzie’s canned reaction several weeks ago to the pressure he’s been feeling from constituents who want him to stand up to Trump.
His spokesman, Arnaud Armstrong, fired back at Democrats with MAGA’s two favorite fake talking points in a written statement that suggested Democrats are trying “to distract from their party’s positions of defending violent criminal illegal immigrants and refusing to support women in sports.” Not long after, Mackenzie dipped into the GOP playbook again on CNN by suggesting illegal immigrants are to blame for ..
. wait for it ..
. measles outbreaks. He has learned well.
I recognize the built-in advantage Republicans have with a popular cable network that acts as a wholly owned subsidiary of their party — and ratings strong enough that its most loyal viewers have no clue what’s really happening in our country. But Democrats have an advantage, too. Their potential messages are better, and unlike pretty much anything from Trump, they’re true.
And most people agree with them. They don’t think we should be deporting people who exercise free speech, abandoning medical research, dismantling early childhood education, cratering the stock market, whitewashing history books, making it easier for corporations and rich people to cheat on their taxes, snatching away people’s health insurance and food from underprivileged children. They don’t think we should be disappearing people without due process, bullying private colleges to censor themselves, trashing our loyal worldwide allies, choking off funding for disaster relief, defying our courts, following cranks instead of doctors, destroying markets for farmers’ crops, jacking up the price of cars and other products, ignoring climate science and turning back the clock to the 1950s in abortion rights, race relations, contraception, gun safety, gender roles, attitudes toward sexual orientation and pretty much everything else.
Here’s a winning message: “Unless you’re an oligarch, it’s in your economic self-interest these days to vote for Democrats.” Then tell them why, in detail. Over and over.
But to get through, they’ll have to figure out how to overpower the noise of dastardly transgender predators, caravans of killer immigrants and “Hey, they made us wear uncomfortable masks during COVID.” So far, they’re failing. The minority party always has an advantage in midterm elections, and that should be even more true in 2026 as Trump’s tariff disaster and the Musk bloodbath drive soaring inflation, lost savings and cratered government services.
But a true landslide, not just a mild shift that recaptures the House for Democrats and maybe wins back a little ground in the Senate, would send a powerful message. I think the key will be the ordinary people who want this hyper-partisan chaos and cruelty to end so both parties can be forced to govern in a way that reflects where most of us are, right or left of center. In the meantime, we’ll endure lots more pain, and Trump, Fox and the congressional Lemming Caucus will try to convince us it’s the Democrats’ fault.
They’re really good at it. Bill White can be reached at [email protected].
His Threads handle is whitebil2000..
