Short, Simple, & Sweet:
Democrats Especially Need to Make Their Message Relatable. Here Are Some Templates:
Feel free to check the past Biden Era archives and follow the editions to come in the Trump Era on Substack, Medium, and LinkedIn (First Come, First Serve!).
To begin, here’s why Democrats should oppose the stopgap “continuing resolution” to fund the government:
The government has already been de facto shut down by Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the DOGE team, which is hurting everyone
Despite being a “clean” bill, the measure would actually increase funding for defense and immigration deportations
The appropriations process would be completely bypassed for Musk and DOGE to do whatever they want with the government, and pause current earmarked projects
Disaster relief is not in the bill, and cuts will be made to Washington DC’s government services, IRS enforcement, child abuse prevention, homeless services, community health care grants, and National Institute of Health research
It allows Trump and Musk to further dismantle the federal government and make Congress irrelevant as an institution
I have two more campaign endorsements for 2026:
Peggy Flanagan for US Senate (Minnesota)
Garlin Gilchrist for Governor (Michigan)
Related to my general take, I must recommend a new blog by Jared Bernstein. Should call it the Economist 101 class for regular readers. Terrific work.
Also worth considering the newly released book Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful by David Enrich on Trump’s attempted power grab to control the press as he is trying to do with Congress. From the press and the justice system, to law enforcement and the church, we must defend these institutions from weaponization, politicization, and repression by the Trump Administration.
Alright. Democrats need to make their message shorter, simpler, and sweeter. Easier said than done, I will admit.
That is the only way to fight Trump, who floods the zone with everything. It’s easy to get stuck in the details, as we should most of the time. But for Democrats, there also have to be moments where the party can summarize its main themes to the American people, because it will take more than just being an oppositional party to succeed in 2026 and beyond:
Americans have been feeling ripped off for too long. They’re right. It is the wealthy and the well-off who have treated them like garbage.
As Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, and many Democrats have been saying, America is an oligarchy not in inevitability but in choice. We chose to give crumbs to the American people while rewarding the prosperous elites, instead of investing in the working class.
The government is not serving we the people, but rather, they the elites and oligarchs.
America has never been more unequal now than since the Gilded Age. The top 1% own more wealth than the bottom 50% of Americans.
Most Americans are stuck living paycheck to paycheck while costs have astronomically gone up on just about everything, from healthcare and education, to rent, groceries, and energy costs.
Economic inequalities have increased by 20% from 1980 to today, including inequalities by race, child poverty, and the rise in homelessness.
Healthcare costs twice as much in the United States as it does in other countries—including Great Britain, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Needless to say we also get less and have nowhere near the level of satisfaction in our healthcare.
The ladder of opportunity has disappeared for so many middle class and working class households who no longer can afford a college education and live in struggling public school districts.
The climate crisis threatens to destabilize the nation and the planet without bold action that would otherwise create millions of good paying jobs.
There is no question free trade has major “Race to the Bottom” downsides, especially those agreements made in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. But tariffs need to be strategic, coordinated, and targeted; not broad, rash, inconsistent, and irresponsible.
American farmers have been exploited by policies that empower agribusinesses and factory farms to consume and consolidate smaller family farms, resulting in bankruptcies, debts, and suicide.
Union-busting, until recently, has driven membership to its lowest levels in decades, with middle class incomes subsequently following suit.
Corporate spending in our elections continues to be record breaking, with 2024 a notorious example of such spending from Big Tech and the cryptocurrency industry.
Rural America has never been more behind urban areas than now in income, job opportunities, small business capital, housing supply, and access to the web.
Congress has failed to increase the minimum wage on the national level since 2009.
Life expectancy even has gone down by 7 years based on income and wealth alone.
Artificial intelligence, even for its benefits, can leave and displace so many communities behind without the right leadership and priorities
These are just some of the examples of the society created by Donald Trump and the Republican Party that Democrats must call out endlessly and directly.
But there’s more. Democrats have to also say point blank that they stand for the antidotes to inequality and poverty in this very order: “Fairness, Equality, Justice, and Opportunity.” Let’s “Unrig the System.” They have to mean it too.
And show what Democrats stand for beyond specific policy prescriptions (which are important). Like:
Universal healthcare for all people, as a human right
Free public education guaranteed to all Americans as a right, including for college
Ambitious, historic climate action agenda plan on a Marshall Plan-like scale
Pushing for and keeping instigators of drug epidemics, environmental pollution, and other forms of corporate greed accountable for their actions
Unequivocal solidarity for labor rights and workers’ rights
Undebatable stands for consumer safety and protection (including trust busting)
National affordable housing & food security action plans
Preserving & expanding the social safety net so it will be there for generations
Fair taxation that uprights the system and reigns in the corporate welfare state
Full-scale reforms and overhauls to free trade and industrial policy to benefit manufacturers and blue-collar factory workers
Holding Big Agriculture accountable and supporting small, family farmers
Prioritization of veterans’ services and competent diplomacy over endless wars
Take a new approach to public safety away from the failed War on Crime & War on Drugs
Comprehensive immigration reform that secures the border, protects law-abiding undocumented immigrants, and puts pressure on corporate exploiters and drug cartels
Campaign finance reform instead of election buying from people like Elon Musk. To recap, Musk spent $280 million this past election cycle, and has just pledged another $100 million directly to Trump after the Tesla White House car dealership event. Nothing like another quid pro quo!
Protecting and expanding civil rights for everyone—including voting rights, rights to fair maps, and equal rights for women and minorities
Keeping military-style weapons off the streets-especially bump stocks, high-capacity magazines, AR-15s, and AK-47s; with input from gun owners
Codify reproductive access so we can lower maternal mortality and improve care
Putting an end to GOP Cancel Culture
To summarize all of this in a sentence: Democrats stand for our democracy. Republicans stand for the oligarchy.
The big fundamental question in 2025 and 2026 will be who does the government work for.
A post that lives up to its advertising.