USRESIST NEWS OP ED | November 2025
Democrats lost considerable power in the 2024 elections-relinquishing control over the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. In the upcoming 2026 mid-terms they have a chance to regain at least partial control of the levers of government — if they win majorities in the House and the Senate. Can they learn from their mistakes of the past? Can they take advantage of the poor performance of the Republicans since 2024? Can they actually win in 2026? A USRESIST NEWS Editorial team recently met to consider strategic options for the Dems to pursue in their upcoming mid-term campaign. Here’s what was suggested:
- Make sure you have a populist** message to motivate working class and younger audiences: It’s a message that needs to focus on making things affordable again like groceries, health care and housing; a message targeted to working class people of all races living in both rural as well as urban areas. Wherever possible messages should be hyper-local, focused on the issues relevant to the local electorate.
- Promote your message loudly and clearly through as many channels as possible: Rely as much on social media platforms as legacy media; make sure you are messaging constantly through every kind of media available; make use of influencers; where appropriate candidates should appear on TV, including righty-wing stations such as FOX News.
- Run new candidates, especially younger ones, who are authentic and represent the audiences they are targeting: There is a general consensus that we need a new generation of leaders, less encumbered by big money donors and middle of the road platforms; who are not afraid to support and fight for new policies.
- Steer away from the middle of the road and extreme left positions: In 2024 the Dems were hurt by their focus on identity politics. While identity issues are important they tend to ignore issues of basic human needs that cut across identities. They also make it easy for Republicans to overexaggerate the role of identities in Democratic platforms.
In addition to identity politics many Democrats ran on conservative middle-of-the-road policies focused on tinkering with budgets and amending existing programs. They were hesitant to be bolder and more innovative, thus turning off voters who were looking for something other than politics-as-usual. The Democrat reliance on corporate donors often makes it hard for them to support more class conscious candidates.
- Call out Republican mistakes: Trump and the Republicans have not done a great job in governing til now. They have ignored their commitment to the middle class, and have focused instead on racist and xenophobic policies such as indiscriminate arrest of immigrants and sending armed troops into US cities. They also can be blamed for the government shutdown, escalating costs of health care, and giving tax breaks to the wealthy. But Dems need to be careful not to run entirely negative anti-Republican campaigns. They need to emphasize positive actions they will help working families,
- Make sure the voting system is not rigged: Dems need to take steps to challenge and offset any moves that Republicans make to gerrymander voting districts. The successful effort made in California on a ballot initiative that supports additional Democrat leaning districts should be copied in other states. Also Republican initiatives against early voting and mail-in ballots must be strongly opposed. It is to the advantage of Democrats to have as many people vote as possible. The Dems also need to have an army of attorneys, poll watchers, and lawyers to monitor and call out Republican voting system shenanigans. And of course the Dems need to draw down on their well oiled get-out-the-vote machines in as many states as possible,
** Here the term “populist message” refers to a message aimed at addressing the quality of life issues affecting many working and middle class Americans, and which are not being successfully addressed by the current administration.