Democrats Need to Realize that They Suck Too: Pathway to Regaining Support

Photo via The Economist/Getty Images

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The Democratic Party is currently sitting at a near 60% unfavorable rating. Yet, U.S. President Donald Trump is not far behind that number either; he is currently at a 53.2% unfavorable rating, and the Republican Party as a whole is just shy of 54%.

If Democrats hope to win back power in the 2026 midterm elections, they need to do more than just view that data as a strange paradox. To put it plainly, the American people are divided. For over a decade, the people have been fed a constant regurgitation of partisan slop. Corporate media on both sides of the political spectrum rake in millions of dollars by hooking viewers on narratives that vilify the opposing side. Entire policy platforms have been raised with the primary goal of defeating Donald Trump or the opposing party. And practically every political event is almost immediately used to blame the other side. The most recent U.S. government shutdown is a clear example of this. 

So, how can the Democrats move forward and restore political power in the 2026 midterms? Well, first, they need to realize that they aren’t the best either. For almost a decade now, Democratic candidates have been campaigning on platforms that almost exclusively highlight the idea that Donald Trump sucks. Sure, this has been helpful in some cases and was an effective political strategy. For example, former U.S. President Joseph Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign was perhaps the most successful in deploying this strategy. Some of his primary campaign ideas were defending democracy, defeating Donald Trump, and battling for the “soul of the nation.” 

However, Democrats need to do more than just blame Trump and Republicans. They need to look inwards and realize they suck too. The American people do not like Trump or the Democrats. And it is time they realize that fighting against Donald Trump is not actually a governing strategy, but rather an ideological vision that provides no real content that empowers voters.

Democrats need to fight for something, not against something.

While the media, and Democratic Party leaders themselves, such as Jeanna Repass, the chair of the Kansas Democratic Party, claim that “there are no magic fixes.” The truth is that there are fixes, and while they may not be magic, they are very real. The answer is the working class. The Democrats need to shift their platform from one that exhaustingly scolds Donald Trump to one that unapologetically supports the working class. 

Democrats need to shut down all billionaire and corporate money and rewire their campaign fundraising into a pure grassroots movement. This does not have to happen immediately, but there should be a gradual shift to grassroots fundraising. They also need to push firm anti-elitist rhetoric while simultaneously fiercely advocating for the working class. Pursuing policies such as working-class tax cuts, healthcare reform, and food assistance are widely popular and would do well to win support from the working and middle classes.

Democrats must understand that fighting Trump, defending democracy, and pretending the economy is great is going to make them lose elections. The 2024 presidential election was essentially a donation to MAGA. Author and law professor Joan C. Williams writes, “Only 18% of voters said ‘preserving America’s institutions’ was more important than ‘delivering change that improves Americans’ lives.”

Too many Americans feel politically homeless. Tens of millions of Americans do not vote in presidential and congressional elections. Americans are tired of both Democrats and Republicans not representing their interests. They feel as if political parties lecture rather than listen to their issues, but at least Trump and Republicans would actually mention that grocery prices are too high and that the economy is unfair. Since 2020, Democrats have operated on a bizarre platform of moral grandstanding, lecturing voters that the economy is good, and pretending to be relatable. It is as if they almost entirely disregarded the core issues that Americans face and thought that attacking Donald Trump would be enough to win elections. Maybe it did for a time, but that era is long gone, and Americans have woken up. Attacking Donald Trump is not going to lower healthcare premiums, rent, or groceries. The economic data is so obvious, yet Democrats seem to be beholden to their corporate and billionaire overlords. It is high time that they break from elitist money and return to a finance and policy platform system that functions solely for the majority of Americans.

The two best and most recent examples of how the Democrats can regain working-class voters and engage with those who do not vote are U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy Tour” and New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign for New York City. 

Bernie Sanders started this tour shortly after Trump won his second term. His mission was to mobilize working-class people all over the country–from deep red pockets in Iowa to blue cities like Denver. He meant to show the American people that the current economic challenges are not because of the left or the right, but because of the billionaires and elites.He appealed directly to the attendees, asking about their current economic situations and how these problems are impacting them. The tour drew record crowds, often causing overflow rooms and capacity issues. The success of these rallies shows that the American people are hungry for solutions to their economic problems and want politicians who actually listen to them. Bernie upended previously held political norms by drawing huge crowds in red districts, showing that worker-first politics resonates across party lines. The fact that Bernie Sanders, a renowned democratic socialist, can bring in crowds of over 30,000 in districts Trump won over three times, shows that the problem with Democrats is policy, not ideology.

This is not to say that ideology is not an issue for Democrats. The Israel-Palestine conflict has deeply divided the core of Democratic voters. Even though a new peace deal was just agreed to between Israel and Hamas, this issue has split the Democratic base for almost two years. Democrats had already been struggling with young voters, but Democrats’ complicity with Israel’s genocide against Palestinians has fractured the youth base even more. 

The large majority of Democratic congresspeople have consistently voted in support of aid packages to Israel while refusing to condemn Israel’s actions. Furthermore, many Democrats have met with Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently facing charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes under the International Criminal Court. And Democrats have overall been biased in favor of Israel through rhetoric, messaging, and legislative support. It is also important to note that a large swath of Democrats receive large amounts of campaign funding from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. This organization is an extremely controversial political action committee that spends big money to both elect and take down candidates that support or oppose American-Israeli policies, respectively. As time has only gone on with Israel’s genocide, division has grown increasingly entrenched with both Democratic politicians and voters themselves.

Yet, the mayoral campaign of Zohran Mamdani has shown that both standing up for working people and standing against genocide can bring massive electoral success. While the general election for NYC mayor has not taken place yet, the Democratic primary has. In a huge underdog story, Mamdani went from polling less than 1% to winning the primary by almost 13 points. Mamdani went up against disgraced former Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo, whose campaign was fueled by corporate and billionaire donors such as Bill Ackman, who also backed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. 

So, amidst a deeply divided economic and ideological base, how did Mamdani manage to win the democratic primary and continue to be polling widely above Andrew Cuomo? Well, Mamdani campaigned similarly to Bernie Sanders. He went to the city districts that swung the largest towards Trump and asked people why they voted that way. He listened instead of lecturing and developed a campaign that is unapologetically in support of the working class. Almost his entire platform is built around affordability through programs like free and faster buses, freezing the rent for rent-stabilized units, and developing free child care. He shut out all billionaire and corporate money, fiercely advocated for the working class, condemned Israel’s genocide, and promoted policies that directly support working people. 

The fix for Democrats to regain public support does not have to be magic. In fact, it is not even close to magic; it is real and visible. Democrats can still–and should–fight back against Trump, but they need to fight harder for the working class. They need to fight for the everyday American who is fed up with the economic system and feels politically homeless. As wealth inequality continues to grow and the current Trump Administration continues to wage war on the working class, the time is now for Democrats to harness this political disdain and shift their platform into one that puts working people first. If Democrats hope to regain the people’s support, they must acknowledge that they suck too, and lead a new age of unapologetic working-class empowerment.

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This article was edited by Anna Gehres and Cameron Ma.