Opinion: It's Time For Drastic Change in the Democratic Party
Democrats need to shift focus, but being more moderate or centrist isn’t how we fight what the country is facing
After major losses in the last election, Democrat strategists continue to suggest that the party move more to the right to court the same conservatives who support President Donald Trump and his fascistic policies. Let’s be clear, Trump voters knew exactly what he was about in the lead-up to the election, and empowering those policies is dangerous, particularly for nonwhite and other marginalized groups such as the LGBTQ community and women.
From migrant concentration camps to enacting Project 2025 under the guise of his America First policy agenda, rational people aren’t interested in meeting these ideas in the middle. The losses Democrats suffered were largely due to validating far-right conservative claims of “boys in girls sports,” the pejorative phrasing of “woke” and “DEI” (diversity, equity, and inclusion), and villainizing Latinos under the guise of “criminal aliens” – manufactured issues designed to fear-monger because Republicans can’t win otherwise.
In Texas, we watched Colin Allred bite into the hype. When Ted Cruz wrongfully suggested that Allred supported “boys in girls sports” in an ad, Allred started running response ads saying he didn’t support it while proclaiming he’s a Christian father of daughters. His reaction validated those concerns by treating them as if they were reasonable instead of pushing back and debunking them with reality: trans kids in sports are rare and the issue should be left to the experts, that is, doctors and scientists.
Republicans initially tried to run on immigration, but like what happened in Texas, they got called out for tanking the bipartisan border bill. They then shifted to trans kids and Democrats across the country did exactly what Allred did. They were on their heels. They were running defense when they should have maintained an offensive similar to calling Republicans out for their hypocrisy on the border. Even Kamala Harris’ campaign fell into the trap.
Democrats went from “trans rights are human rights,” protecting migrants seeking asylum because “asylum is a human right,” and criminal justice reform during Biden’s campaign – which won at the height of Black Lives Matter and “Defund the Police” sloganeering – to taking a defensive stance on all those issues. This came after Biden issued two executive orders restricting asylum access, giving police $37 billion, and enacting an enforcement-only policy at the border along with pushing the bipartisan border bill that was a gift to the far-right.
That broad shift came under a single presidential term.
Harris wouldn’t say that trans rights are human rights and instead responded by saying, “We’re going to follow the law” when she was asked. Her campaign also came up well short of addressing a genocide in Gaza in any actionable way. She tried to appeal to conservatives by saying, “I have a Glock in my house” and giggling about it. What became clear was that her campaign intended to replace any voters it may have lost due to these issues by replacing them with Republican voters. What resulted was a lower voter turnout for Democrats.
Now, after this broad failure, strategists are suggesting Democrats should meet hate and bigotry in the middle, something that should never happen. The truth is, the United States didn’t pass the Civil Rights Act or the Voting Rights Act by meeting Klansmen in the middle; the country didn’t abolish slavery by meeting slavers in the middle despite the reluctance of many white people at the time; and the world didn’t defeat Nazis by meeting them in the middle either.
Meanwhile, the consultant class is trying to push John Fetterman as a candidate for president in 2028. This is the same guy who said he would never sell out Dreamers and then put them at great risk by co-sponsoring and voting for the Laken Riley Act. Many other Democrats did so as well because consultants keep pushing this meet-them-in-the-middle narrative. These are the same consultants who were advisors to Harris who just lost to an aberration like Donald Trump; the same advisors who just cost Democrats their elections across the country.
As the Trump administration makes moves to pause the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Pride Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and other cultural and historical events while banning DEI and pushing white nationalist agendas in agencies like the State Department, the Democrat consultant class is trying to sell us on being more moderate and understanding of the Republican voters needs and wants.
Their logic: Fetterman’s approval ratings received a slight bump because he is doing better with Republicans in Pennsylvania while shedding support from Democrats. According to the Morning Consult, only 32% of Democrats “strongly back” his performance, a 9-point drop since he first took office. Meanwhile, his approval rating among Republicans (Trump voters), increased from 14% to 27%, which is great if you want to run a right-wing conservative platform.
The consultant class sees his approval among Republicans as a victory. However, 80-90 million people don’t bother to vote because they don’t feel represented and view both parties as the same. Fewer than 50% of Texans voted for the same reason. Picking up one side of the political aisle while shedding voters from yours is the opposite of winning. Instead, the focus should be on growing the base among the tens of millions who don’t currently feel represented.
Alienating even more voters instead of focusing on mobilizing those who stay home is a losing strategy. In other words, these consultants seem to think that fighting with Republicans for Trumpers is the way forward while alienating many voters under the so-called “big tent” rather than building an even bigger tent. This logic doesn't track unless they intend to appeal to white nationalists and agents of white supremacy.
These are the same voters who have voted against Democrats since the passage of the Civil Rights Act; who represent a backlash to conversations about equality and justice; who took sides with a blatant racist who was endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan and hate groups like the Proud Boys; the same people who supported and whitewashed the January 6 attack on the Capitol and who deny Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
Is this who Democrats really want to appeal to?
These consultants have their data but it’s only as accurate as who you ask and where you’re asking. That same data had Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris beating Trump. The problem with the data is it lacks real-world context. People lie and only asking “likely voters” offers biased insight. When commenting on the current state of affairs across all of my social media I received thousands of comments saying it’s time for Democrats to change strategies and that the Nancy Pelosi/Chuck Schumer way of doing doesn’t work anymore.
Another unsurprising reaction was when I mentioned consultants suggesting Democrats should pay attention to what Fetterman is doing and indicating he run for president in 2028. Hundreds of responses were a loud “no” making it pretty clear that it’s a bad idea. Let’s also be clear about these reports, they are akin to putting out feelers to see how people react. Again, relying on comments to their articles and social media provides reactions that lack context.
But when people say “no,” it’s pretty clear: bad idea.
If the last election taught us anything, it’s that people are sick of oligarchs controlling everything, including elections. Maybe the consultant class doesn't see this because they’re in cahoots with the billionaires who pay them to help with campaigns. But one thing is clear: Progressives who ran with an economic populist message while still speaking up for trans rights, immigrants, and marginalized groups won their elections with few exceptions, including in Texas.
I’m a freelance journalist. Find my work at Latino Rebels, Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, and more. I’m also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support my work, become a paid subscriber or donate via Venmo, PayPal, or CashApp.
I guess one can talk about them being in cahoot with the oligarch if one means that they share the same class interests.
I totally agree that the issues that are important to me are very progressive. I feel the opposition party is not acting oppositional enough. The crux of the matter, as you say, is the data.
And this, as far as how we deal with the “data” reported now:
“These consultants have their data but it’s only as accurate as who you ask and where you’re asking.”
And that is my biggest concern: How many people didn’t vote at all? Where are they? How do we appeal to the folks who say they are burned out and want nothing to do with politics, as if politics existed somewhere outside our daily lives. Who has data on them?