Many Democrats are angry at the eight senators who struck a deal with Republicans to end the shut-down because they feel that the Democrats were (surprisingly) “winning the shut-down” with their never-back-down “insistence” on restoring the health insurance premium subsidies of Obama-Care. These people feel that the Democrats folded without getting anything for the pain caused to the American people by the shut-down (with the added sentiment: “as Democrats always do”).
On the contrary: Democrats won, and they won big. Now they must stop squabbling and loudly claim that win.
By losing a smoothly running air transportation system, non-biased economic data, even SNAP benefits and health insurance premium subsidies, Americans got a glimpse of the good things government does that they take for granted. (Most of these good things come from the efforts of Democrats, and the people need to be told this again and again.) They saw that Republicans don’t want a government that works for the people; Trump and Republicans want to inflict as much pain as possible upon them. Holding out for reinstatement of health insurance premiums would have again been a case of fighting hard to save Republicans from the political pain that their own actions warrant. Now, Democrats are fired up like never before and they must stop attacking each other, take the win, and pound the argument in every district in the country:
Democrats fought hard for the people during the shut-down; Trump and the Republicans fought hard against the people and sought to inflict as much pain as possible.
The opposite message is the one Republicans have been peddling for years, while Democrats have mistakenly believed that their own sincere actions would speak for themselves. This new Democratic Party message has the advantage of being true.
Democrats have always worked for good government without regard to credit
Example 1: Throughout his term, the Biden administration had taken a multi-prong, long-term approach to addressing from many angles the festering problem of immigrants coming into the country illegally. By December 2023, he had brought Democrats and Republicans together to formulate legislation to codify a policy for a long-term solution for border control. In January 2024, the House and Senate were on the verge of passing “the most conservative border-control legislation that conservatives could dream of passing.” It would have funded more enforcement agents to patrol the border, more judges to expedite the processing of asylum claims, and it would have deployed a fleet of devices that could detect fentanyl being smuggled across the border. But Trump wanted to preserve the problem as an issue that he could run his campaign on; maintaining a festering social ill that he could scream about while casting blame was more important to him than allowing life to get better for Americans if someone else was going to get the credit for it (and Republicans agreed and voted against the bill they had enthusiastically supported). Democrats failed to adequately drive home this truth during the 2024 election.
Democrats, generally, are far more concerned about good outcomes for the American people than about who gets credit for the outcome, so they let the party brand take a beating as long as good policy ensues.
Example 2. During COVID, Democrats passed legislation—despite opposition from then-President Trump and almost all (if not actually all) Republicans—to allocate money to rescue an imploding economy in order to shield the people from the worst effects; Trump delayed stimulus checks to the people by two weeks so that he could put his signature on the checks and get credit for the Democrats’ work.
But we are no longer seeing any movement toward good policy. Only bad, bad, and worse. It is time for a new ferociousness informing our actions.
Action going forward
The Affordable Care Act is a mess, and Republicans have wanted to kill it since it was introduced (amid much furor from the Tea Party). But now even MAGA Americans know that it is much better than what we had before. Democrats should not waste the Republican effort to destroy Obama-Care; Democrats must pound on Republicans for wanting to deprive Americans of affordable access to quality health care, and they must propose what most health care consumers know would be better: good health care for everyone paid through a single-payer system (with maybe some boutique, private plans available along-side). Insurance is a mechanism to share the burden of risk; it should not be a profit center. Americans shouldn’t have to be sifting through endless lists of plan descriptions and corporate profiles to pick the one insurance plan that is most suitable to their unique (??) situation; they shouldn’t have to repeatedly divert hours distracted away from productive activity to justify their worthiness to receive care; they shouldn’t have to search endlessly for a provider who will accept the insurance they end up with. Every small business employer shouldn’t have to hire specialists to do this either, and doctors shouldn’t have to hire an army of professional litigants to argue with insurance companies. Patients should be able to go to see a good doctor for routine health maintenance or emergencies alike without anyone needing to worry about how the doctor will get paid.
Beginning now, Democrats must come out swinging in all districts of the country to drive home this message:
Democrats ALWAYS fight hard for good government that works for the people without regard for who gets the credit. Republicans ALWAYS try to make themselves look good while actually bending government to enable the rich to live and do as they please.
There is no reason why the 2026 election can’t be the election that rehabilitates the Democratic Party brand throughout the entire country and the election that wins MAGA voters over to the party that actually fights for them.