by Perry Nadreau
On Tuesday, President Trump gave his first address to Congress since beginning his second term. While the address was more of a campaign rally than anything substantive, the highlight of the night for me was Al Green, a Democrat representative from Texas, standing up and protesting the removal of Medicare and Medicaid before being removed by the Sergeant at Arms. This interruption drew harsh scrutiny from Republican leaders such as Speaker Mike Johnson as well as ten Democrats who ended up voting on his censorship on March 6. Those who voted to censor him cited the rules of decorum and the need to maintain a civilized, productive Congress. Green’s protest during the address drew a stark contrast to other Congressional Democrats who decided that their method of protest during the address would consist of wearing matching pink outfits and holding up signs that were barely large enough to read. The dichotomy between these methods spoke volumes to me about the current state of the Democratic party and its inability to function as an opposition party. Here, I will be offering some alternative options that Democrats could take to counter President Trump’s agenda and gain some favorability with the American population.
The Republican party won a clean sweep of power this past November as they gained control of the Presidency, the House, and the Senate. This sweep has left Democrats feeling hopeless, with prominent figures of the party such as Hakeem Jeffries expressing this with rhetorical questions such as, “What can we do?” The answer is almost certainly not to lay down and play dead while President Trump, Elon Musk, and others dismantle the systems of government as we know them, though this does seem to be the gameplan for Congressional Democrats. This lack of action taken by the party has left many voters, including myself, disillusioned and frustrated. While it is difficult to come up with actionable steps to take, it is my theory that Democrats just need to do something to function as an actual opposition party. Representative Al Green provides an excellent example. By standing up to the President and his agenda on Tuesday, Green garnered attention from the media and, though he was condemned by the Right, support from his constituents. Throughout the election cycle and early into Trump’s presidency, the main messaging from the Democratic party has been that the Trump administration and agenda pose an existential threat to democracy. If they do truly believe this, then the actions taken should reflect this sentiment. Authoritarian governments are not stopped by matching outfits, reposting the same social media post, or small signs that one may see at an auction. They are stopped by action. Al Green’s actions and ensuing censorship should be mimicked by Democrats en masse. Force the American public to see large quantities of Democrats lose their ability to speak in Congress. Make them wrestle with this fact. If it is just one representative, it is easy to dismiss this as a breakdown in decorum that should be punished. If there are a large number of Democrats being censored, the public will begin to view this as political persecution. This is not the only course of action that Democrats could take, however. If they are unwilling to protest, then they must offer an opposition view that resonates with the American people. Fortunately for them, large portions of the economic policy that the party supports are largely viewed as favorable amongst the population.
One example of a portion of the Democrat agenda that is viewed as favorable is the housing policy that was espoused by Kamala Harris and other prominent members of the party. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, 74% of Americans believe that the lack of affordable housing is a significant issue. Harris included plans to lower the cost of housing by investing in building houses and offered an outline for how her policies would reduce the barrier to entry for purchasing a home. However, most Americans did not seem to grasp her policy in this regard. This could, in my opinion, be largely attributed to the complexity of the messaging to the American people. While President Trump relied on simple, easy-to-understand messages to get his agenda to the people, the Harris campaign opted to fully lay out their plans with dropdown menus and long descriptions of the policy on her website. While I appreciated the commitment to detail, it is clear that this approach does not resonate with the average voter. I would like to see the party shift to more simplistic messaging such as, “Build More Homes” or “Making housing affordable for you” to relay their policy agenda. At the end of February, the Democrats’ main account on X, formerly known as Twitter, posted a list of illegible bullet points that could only be viewed if one were to zoom in and squint. This is yet another example of the inefficiencies that lie in the party’s messaging. In the digital age of social media, very few people are going to sit there, zoom in, and read all of the points listed. There has to be a change in messaging in order to gain public support. Another issue that Democrats could champion is Medicare and Medicaid. As Elon Musk and President Trump plan to attack the programs, Democrats ought to defend them strongly as they are supported by the public at 82% and 77% rates respectively according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s polling. These programs are winners, and it would be very easy for the Democrats to paint a picture of strong opposition to the Republicans’ attacks on them. Finally, the bread and butter of Democratic messaging largely centers around worker’s rights and support for Labor Unions. In 2024, the approval for Labor Unions was right at 70% according to Gallup polls. Continuing to strongly support labor rights and unions in the face of Trump’s pro-business and free-enterprise agenda could garner public support.
Luckily for the Democrats, there is a Liberal member of Congress who has proved the effectiveness of boldly standing up for popular beliefs in Bernie Sanders. The Senator from Vermont who ran a Presidential campaign in 2015 is the most popular senator in the country with a 69% favorability rating according to Morning Consult. Despite self-identifying as a Democratic-Socialist, Sanders has been able to consistently garner support since he reached the Senate in 2017. While views of socialism are, obviously, low in the United States, Sanders offers a game plan for the left in terms of policies to champion and messages to communicate. Despite being 83 years old, he still manages to post longer video messages on social media sites such as TikTok and X. In these videos, he addresses the issues facing Americans but also identifies new ways forward and courses of action for people to take. The numbers tell the story; Sanders’ messaging is working and it resonates with the average American. Despite his identification as an Independent, the Democratic party could learn a ton from Sanders in terms of messaging and policy.
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