Democrats had a great midterms result.
asserted
Democrats → have → result
Big wins in Ohio, Georgia, Iowa, Maine and Texas show the potential for a majority coalition that reaches well beyond traditional liberal strongholds.
asserted
that → show → strongholds
That’s a good sign for the party’s chances come 2028.
asserted
That → ’ → chances
Surveys showed that the economy was the top issue for the election, with a third of voters citing cost-of-living concerns as their number one issue, and nearly 40% of voters claiming their personal financial situation has worsened over the past year.
asserted
situation → show → year
It’s clear that voters don’t approve of Donald Trump’s economic management.
asserted
voters → ’ → management
That’s good for Democrats in the short term, but voters kicking out the party in charge doesn’t mean they’ve been convinced by progressive appeals, nor that they will stick by the party come 2028.
asserted
they → ’ → 2028
Remember, 2024 was also an “affordability” election, one that Democrats lost.
In fact, despite the victories, the midterms revealed a few troubling signs for Democrats.
asserted
midterms → remember → Democrats
While populist, pro-worker candidates in purple districts such as Sherrod Brown, Brian Poindexter and Bob Brooks did have a great showing in blue-collar districts, overperforming expectations, these “Bernie-dog” candidates are few and far between.
asserted
candidates → have → expectations
The reality is only 47% of voters without a college-degree pulled the lever for Democrats, as compared with 51% of whom voted for Republicans.
asserted
% → pull → Republicans
That’s an improvement over 2024, but there is a long way to go.
asserted
That → ’ → 2024
Democrats did win (53%) the lower- and middle-income brackets ($30,000-$99,000 per year).
asserted
Democrats → win → year
But the party performed best among higher-income voters – about 60% of those who make more than $300,000 voted blue.
asserted
who → perform → 300,000
Repairing it should be the major priority for these next two years.
asserted
Repairing → repair → years
To do so, Democrats need to address three key weaknesses before 2028.
1 ‘Affordability’ is not an economic program
First, it’s good that Democratic candidates were able to endlessly hammer Republicans on their failures to address pocketbook issues; that’s a step in the right direction.
asserted
that → do → direction
Unfortunately, it’s no substitute for an economic program that can actually address the problems we face.
asserted
we → ’ → problems
There is a real danger that, thanks to the success of “affordability” politicking, Democrats will neglect building a credible, and ambitious, economic program.
asserted
Democrats → be → program
Fixing our lopsided, K-shaped economy is going to require major new investments in domestic infrastructure, industrial policies to revive manufacturing, crackdowns on corporate gouging, and new means to generate public funds.
asserted
Fixing → fix → funds
Worryingly, despite all the populist sounding rhetoric, many “affordability” ideas proposed by leading liberals point in the opposite direction.
asserted
ideas → sound → direction
Booker campaigned to exempt all residents making under $75,000 from federal income tax –that would mean a $5tn dollar tax cut, enough to make Grover Norquist blush.
asserted
Norquist → campaign → cut
Of course, this kind of cash-in-hand promise can win blue-collar votes in a cost-of-living crunch but it won’t win their loyalty in the long run.
asserted
it → win → run
Democrats need to address the affordability issue as a wage and job crisis, not just a price problem, and that means it’s an expensive problem to fix.
asserted
it → need → crisis
A better message: pledge to balance the budget on the back of rich tax cheats, big pharma, Silicon Valley and Wall Street, all of whom have grown fat off taxpayer largesse.
asserted
whom → pledge → largesse
Democrats need a post-Trump economic model for shared prosperity, it won’t be built on policy gimmicks.
2
asserted
it → need → gimmicks
The revolt against globalism isn’t going away
Relatedly, there is a danger that in reaction to Trump’s tariffs, Democrats might end up ignoring the worldwide working-class revolt against globalism.
uncertain
Democrats → go → globalism
In 2016, liberals were blindsided by Trump’s attacks on free-trade; he excoriated Nafta and the “American carnage” that unfettered globalism wrought.
asserted
globalism → blindside → that
Then, in 2024, Trump again capitalized on Democratic aloofness by attacking Biden’s border failures.
asserted
Trump → capitalize → failures
Both issues, and they are linked, suggest a hunger for a step back from hyper-globalization.
asserted
they → link → globalization
And yet, despite a decade of experience, Democrats spent no effort making a positive case for a post-free-trade, post-neoliberal economy.
asserted
Democrats → spend → economy
In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, Democrats spent more than $58m on ads bashing tariffs and exactly $0 on making a positive case for a new trade agenda.
uncertain
Democrats → accord → agenda
Obviously, Trump’s tariffs have failed to bring good jobs home, and nary a Republican will defend them today.
asserted
Republican → fail → them
But without making a positive case for a world beyond free-trade, beyond the neoliberal global order, Democrats are unable to address one of the central concerns that propelled Trump to power in the first place.
asserted
that → make → place
If the anti-tariff message hardens into an embrace of the economic status quo ante, Democrats will be in trouble.
asserted
Democrats → harden → trouble
The same goes for immigration.
asserted
same → go → immigration
And it remains among the only issues where voters still trust Republicans more.
asserted
voters → remain → Republicans
Democrats are right to decry the brutality and illegality of Ice tactics, but they should not conflate anti-Ice sentiment with a sudden embrace of liberal border policies.
asserted
they → decry → policies
Working-class voters want humane border enforcement and a path to citizenship for peaceable residents.
asserted
voters → want → residents
But if Democrats can’t make the case that they can reduce illegal immigration, they will suffer.
asserted
they → make → immigration
3 Winning working-class votes means reflecting working-class values
Finally, Democrats are still far from working-class voters on many moral-cultural issues.
asserted
Democrats → win → issues
While leading progressives have signaled a retreat from the liberal-to-the-max approach of the recent past – as evidenced by AOC’s admission: “Woke 1 was crazy” – the shift is tactical and superficial, designed for political expediency.
asserted
shift → lead → expediency
No doubt, some social liberals in the party will take yesterday’s results as reason to reanimate the spirit of 2020.
asserted
liberals → take → 2020
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
