I was recently invited to tape a cable news interview about the Trump administration when the conversation veered sharply to the Democrats’ response. Or, more accurately, what many see as the party’s lack of a response.
Each day brings new headlines pillorying the Democrats for failing to rise to the existential threat posed by Trump’s wrecking-ball second term. Everyone seems to be asking: Where are the Democrats?
I disagree with the notion that Democratic leaders aren’t responding effectively to Trump’s daily (sometimes hourly) outrages and abuses. Trump wants us to chomp at that bait, feeding his voracious appetite for conflict and attention and, at the same time, numbing and nauseating the electorate.
How about this for a strategy: Instead of being drawn into Trump’s house-to-house combat, focus on winning back the House of Representatives? We won’t restore democratic norms through rapid-fire press releases, but by winning elections.
I can hear the restless grumbling as I write. In an existential battle, strategic patience isn’t popular. But leaders like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) understand how you build a winning midterm strategy against Trump. As she said, “Let him stew in his own juice.”
Already, Trump’s actions have caused the stock market to plummet. Consumer confidence is low. The Wall Street Journal reports that “Trump’s stop-and-start trade policy and uneven economic messaging have rattled some of his own allies, triggering a flood of calls from business executives, concerns from Republican lawmakers and tension in the White House.”
Trump supporters still have every reason to adore him, as he institutes the catastrophic tariffs he promised repeatedly on the campaign trail. But notion that “he means what he says” is now disqualified. He’s turning the bully pulpit into an economic death-defying trapeze act, swooping back and forth, barely gripping one rung before grabbing another — to the gasps of Main Street and Wall Street alike.
And yet, Trump’s job approval still remains fairly steady. It has declined from its post-inaugural sugar high of 50.5 percent, but remains (barely) above water at 48.3 percent — hardly a major collapse. So, if all the chaos he’s caused hasn’t dealt a significant blow to his political standing, Democrats need to think long game.
Trump’s favorability is declining, but not catastrophically so. For all his extreme policies, voters just haven’t felt the impact of his actions. Intelligence sharing with Ukraine doesn’t come up in the dinner table conversations of independent voters. Tariffs can be complicated economic arguments. The one issue that dominates the headlines, the actions of Elon Musk’s DOGE, hasn’t yet pushed swing voters away from Trump.
For all his policy flip flops, inconsistencies and uncertainties, Trump has made one thing clear in the minds of many voters: he’s driving a bulldozer (possibly made by Tesla) across the federal government. Even if he’s going too far, the pain he’s causing isn’t felt by most voters — it’s felt by families who’ve lost jobs in the federal workforce and by hyper-informed politicos who understand the destruction of all Trump’s done. Voters may sense it’s bad, but until they actually feel the pain, they’re less persuaded to vote to stop him.
Which brings us to the pivotal question: “What are the Democrats, lacking a majority in Congress, to do to resist?” The answer is that every tactical and strategic decision must be filtered through one imperative: Does this help or harm our ability to pick up the handful of seats needed to win the House in 2026?
That means a relentless focus on the laborious tasks that don’t get you on a frothing cable news set: recruiting quality candidates who can compete in purple districts; building campaign war chests; updating voter files; building out infrastructure; and perfecting messages that work in the specific competitive media markets that will matter.
History strongly favors the Democrats. Midterms are ugly for the president’s party, and this administration is already overreaching in ways likely to garner a backlash. Only twice since 1946 has the president’s party picked up House seats in a midterm — most recently in 2002, right after 9/11.
Democrats giving fiery speeches on the House floor will make good television, but does nothing to check the far-right. The party needs to patiently position itself as the sane, moderate alternative to Trumpism and run a disciplined campaign to win in 2026. Then Democrats will have the power to halt Trump’s abuses.
The groundwork is the grunt work in winning elections. The Democratic leadership in Congress understands that.
Steve Israel represented New York in the House of Representatives for eight terms and was chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2011 to 2015.
