Democrats Are Riding High – but They Need a Game Plan, Fast

Last week’s US midterms saw American voters return a clear message to Donald Trump’s administration: we want our money back. Having watched their tax dollars flow in unchecked torrents to Israel, an illegal war in Iran and corporate welfare programmes, American workers, burdened by high fuel, food and healthcare costs, finally said ‘enough’. 

The ball is now in the Democrats’ court, with the party controlling both the Senate and the House of Representatives from January. But what’s their game plan? Big Thumps – taking aim at risky but headline grabbing knock-outs? Or Top Trumps – smaller, frequent battles for safer wins? 

And can they even play as a team at all?

If there’s one thing that Democrats historically excel at, it’s misreading the public mood. We saw that in 2024, when presidential candidate Kamala Harris failed to harness public anger over Gaza while offering little to allay growing economic distress. She was rightly punished for it. 

Misunderstanding their new position is the most fatal error Democrats could make at this juncture. It must be tempting, high on a win, to see the blue wave as a love bomb from the nation. But when you win big because a national majority loathes the president and his direction, that kind of misreading will see you sent back to school – quickly.

The risks of painful lessons in 2028 are high. While leftwing candidates for both houses received the greatest media attention, the vast majority of those headed to Washington are still, sadly, moderates (though even moderate positions on the economy have nudged left this election thanks to grassroots pressure). We’ll see whether their almost-universal campaigning on cost of living, battling the billionaires, ending the Iran war and hounding corruption out of the federal government dissolves, as it so often does with the Dems, into a tweakathon. 

Those new Congress members from the party’s left are also in a tricky position. In one way, they enjoy a greater mandate than their centrist colleagues. They won their primaries for their fresh policies rather than their blue badges, with voters choosing radical ideas (relative to the US, of course: universal healthcare anyone?) over more normie options. How they navigate a Democrat establishment hostile to their views will be their first test.

And it’ll come early. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrat leader in the house, is the new speaker presumptive. But though beloved amongst Washington Democrats, his pro-Israel stance and fondness for AIPAC money has made him unpopular with part of the base. A petition to have house Democrats pick someone – anyone! – else has received over a million signatures so far, having been significantly boosted by actor Mark Ruffalo. And while Jeffries has been endorsed by DSA stars Zohran Mamdani and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, January could provide a useful moment for the new leftists to demand a serious break with Democrats’ history of fudging on genocide.

AOC’s endorsement might be guided by a firm eye on the next presidential election. And perhaps that’s where all eyes should be. But voters will need to see progress on the issues that matter to them long before then. That’s why smaller, frequent and more certain wins should be favoured over the flashy fireworks of things like impeachments which, history shows, are generally damp squibs. 

Dems could use budget powers to improve healthcare access, strangle off the Iran war financially and, taking a leaf out of the Hungarian playbook, go hard on corruption amongst Trump’s hangers-on. Lord knows there’s gold in them hills!  Dems will be smirking after the US president cheerily admitted on Sunday that his wealth has grown by $3bn since taking office. Pete Hegseth, Susie Wiles, Jared Kushner, Elon Musk – the list goes on – should all expect a once over.   

Moves in Trump’s White House this weekend suggest he’s hunkering down. Gone is trusty lieutenant Wiles, replaced as chief-of-staff by pint-sized (allegedly) Voldemort Stephen Miller. His greatest brainwave? Project 2025 – a plan to, amongst other things, consolidate state power around the president. 

Trump’ll want that more than ever now – assuming the Democrats get their act together.