Missing the Point – A Plan for the Democrats to Consider

The Democrats in Congress, in both the House and Senate, seem to be flailing about – like the flubby-doodle man we see at car dealerships, arms and legs going which way and that.

They think they are unified in knowing what they want to accomplish.  They’re not, not really, in general maybe, but not specifically.  Not incidentally, the blitzkrieg chaos…  “Blitzkrieg” is German for “lightning war.” …that Trump and Musk have created makes it difficult for any opposition movement to coalesce, to devise and respond with a single strategy.

Careful not to give President Trump too much credit.  He’s not nearly as clever as his base thinks he is.  Far from it.  Most of what he’s doing is being shoveled into his brain and out his mouth by the creators of “Project 2025” and the likes of Stephen Miller and Elon Musk.  Trump believes he’s a leader when he’s effectively a puppet of his narcissism, intellectual weakness, and upbringing.  That said, it makes no difference whether President Trump is brilliant or idiotic or who’s really in charge.  What’s happening is happening.  The question is, what can the Democrats do about it?

To say that a viable reaction by the Democrats is urgent is putting it mildly.  As I’m writing this, Trump has ignored a federal judge’s order to “pause” deportations based on the old Alien Enemies Act.  In the less than two months since he took office, Trump has broken existing law multiple times, selectively reinterpreted the Constitution, proceeded with executive orders as if Congress doesn’t exist, and now disregarded an order of the federal courts, having already fired certain Generals, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  All while removing many of the administrative guardrails designed explicitly to keep a President’s authority in line with the principles and traditions of our democracy.  Sounds a lot like the beginning of a coup to me.

“What to do?  What to do?”

Okay, what the heck, I’m going for it.  Here’s what I recommend.

Let’s start with the definition of what should be the objectives of Democrats in Congress.

1. To counteract the mess the Trump Administration is creating, before it’s too late. There’s no waiting until the next election cycle.  Without further delay, Democrats in Congress need to break the momentum Trump and his cronies are continuing to build.  By doing nothing, Democrats are coming across as impotent – which, given their current mindset, is exactly what they are.

2. To give serious consideration to the legitimate, reasonable elements of what Republicans think their party’s leader is trying to accomplish and offer specific, less disruptive means of accomplishing those goals on which Republicans and Democrats can agree. How, for example, to make the federal government more efficient without destroying it and trashing the rule of law in the process.

3. To retake control of the House and Senate by the 2026 mid-term elections. Preferably, by significant margins.

How do they achieve these objectives?

First and foremost, Democrats in Congress need to do their job.  They need to legislate.  Trump and Musk are pushing the envelope of legality and constitutionality to its limits and then some.  Congress is the legislative branch of our government.  Starting immediately, every time Trump and Musk break something, legally or illegally, the Democrats need to introduce counter-legislation.

No large bills that address multiple problems.  Large bills take forever to pass, confuse the public, and distract the media.  Complex legislation discourages bipartisan support as Representatives and Senators reject legislation that contains positions they oppose – even though there are other elements of those same bills they are willing to support.  Legislatively speaking, the negative tends to overwhelm the positive.  So, one bill, one piece of legislation per issue at a time.

Democratic leadership in the House and Senate should allow different factions of the party to take the lead in introducing bills about issues they feel most deeply about.

What you’re doing is forcing the Republicans, each one of them individually, by virtue of their vote on these individual bills, to affirm or deny their complicity with the President.  Refusing to hear a bill, should that be the Republican strategy, is a sign of cowardice, of the fear too many Republicans harbor of what going on the record might cost them when voters in their respective districts find out.

Document, explain, and promote the hell out of every bill the Democrats introduce.  Win, lose, or draw, it’s the effort that counts.  For each bill, there are three possibilities:  It passes, and that’s a good thing.  The Republicans, who control both the House and Senate refuse to hear the legislation.  The legislation is heard but fails to pass.  Whatever the outcome, the Democrats need to let American voters know what has happened, making clear the implications for their families and how Republicans in each Congressional district voted.  Loud and clear, local voters, in red, blue, and purple districts and states, need to know what their elected representatives have done or not done.

Democrats need to make a big deal about every bill, through email, regular mailings, and personal appearances everywhere they can.  At every opportunity, with all hands on deck, in no uncertain terms.  The country is going to hell in a handbasket and the Democrats in Congress need to be the party upon which most voters rely to tell them what’s happening.

Erode voter confidence in the President.  Look for and expose potential conflicts of interest and personal illegal behavior in the Administration.  More specifically, for example, demand – again and again, as many times as it takes and through the courts, if necessary – that President Trump, Elon Musk, their families, and companies disclose their financial holdings.  Trump and Musk need to confirm that they have not benefited by virtue of decisions they have made that affect the stock market, government contracting, and/or the flow of private information that gives them an advantage over their private sector competitors.  Failure to comply will be taken as a sign of having something to hide.

In the process, make it abundantly clear to voters what you are asking.  It’s reasonable.  More to the point, voters, whatever their political preferences, do not want their elected leaders benefiting financially – making millions, even billions from the policies they create and enforce at the expense of those voters who are worried about keeping their jobs and struggling to put food on their kitchen tables.

Not incidentally, it’s time to test the specific limits of the Presidential immunity conveyed by the Supreme Court, including the extent that it provides umbrella immunity coverage to senior Administration personnel, Elon Musk included.  Insider trading, for example, is certainly not the worst crime the President and others around him have done, but public awareness or even just the assumption of it will affect their standing in the polls.

Whatever you do, you can’t wait for mid-term elections to aggressively reclaim the authority, as a co-equal branch of government, that Republicans in Congress have ceded to the President.

Go on the attack.  Command the news cycle.  Put President Trump and his supportive Republicans in the House and Senate on defense.  Most importantly, listen to and engage the public.  Ask your constituents for their advice and help.  Pay attention to what they tell you.

This is no time for ordinary Congressional politics.  This is not a moment of same old, same old business as usual.  Not even close.

This is not a drill.

And, for God’s sake, while disagreements can be healthy, stop airing your differences of opinion in public.  The kids don’t like seeing Mommy and Daddy arguing.

Do anything less and you’re missing the point.  Ladies and gentlemen in Congress, like it or not, you’re in for the fight of your lives.

Democrats, you need to be, in style and in fact – as Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote – the embattled farmers, “by the rude bridge that arched the flood, their flag to April’s breeze unfurled.”  History is demanding nothing less of you.  This is not a ball you can drop or a can to kick down the road.