TIRING OF FEAR, MAKE YOUR OWN WEATHER, BUBBLING ORANGE PUDDLE

Democratic think tanks make the case that the party needs to move to the right in order to win back voters in ’26 and ’28, trying to prove that voters are more moderate on many social and cultural issues, but a counterargument in The New Republic by Monica Potts provides a road map for candidates that won’t require candidates to throw vulnerable coalition members under the bus. A compilation and analysis of the surveys and focus groups done since the 2024 election by Way to Win, a left-leaning ‘strategic donor collaborative and strategy hub,’ founded after the 2016 election, looks at swing voters including 2020 Biden voters in addition to those who sat out the election. This analysis provides a fuller picture than the conclusion that the electorate swung right in November, concluding that those who sat out the election are much more politically aligned with Democrats but weren’t motivated to vote for Kamala Harris and downballot Democrats, while determining what they want from future candidates.

Way to Win pinpoints several problems: Voters were upset about rising prices and longer-term economic trends — movements on the left around issues like Gaza, racial and economic justice and immigration weren’t aligned with the party. Potts says, “Fundamental to the report is an important corrective. While many Democrats lost last year because the party had moved too far left, Way to Win makes the case that voters don’t actually apply neatly defined ideological frames when they evaluate candidates’ policies and choose whom to vote for. Their decisions are more complex and filtered through their social, family, and work lives — a conclusion supported by much political science research. ‘When you go knock on doors, you hear all kinds of stories, but they almost never have to do with detailed policies or ideological framing,’ the report says.”

A path forward suggests moderation on some issues like immigration, the environment, or trans rights, and while it might be true that the party’s positions are to the left of the majority on some specific issues, there’s no evidence that those issues drove decision-making in November. Jennifer Fernandez Ancona of Way to Win found that other issues highlighted in their report are much bigger factors, especially true of those who failed to vote — they didn’t want moderation, but a stronger economic message and Democrats who would fight for them, who had failed to deliver in the past. By moderating, it was more likely to reinforce Republican talking points, weakening the Democrats’ position. Fernandez Ancona says, “We’re really saying we need to actually go towards strength, which is what we define in the report as basically standing for what you believe in.” The perception of Democrats as weak was partly shaped by Republican attacks rather than Democratic messages themselves, and Harris didn’t work to counter that impression, her campaign messaging failing to break through.

The issue of economic equality is a major factor to Democrat voters who want a strengthened enforcement against wealthy tax cheats, and making the wealthy pay what they owe. Fernandez Ancona says, “It’s making the case that the system is not working for a lot of people because of this inequality and this imbalance, and we have to make that more fair.” Political strategist Anat Shenker-Osorio believes Democrats need to embrace ‘magnetism,’ which is similar to the ‘strength’ that Way to Win advocates in staking out forceful positions that risk pushing some voters away but are also much more likely to attract voters than simply taking whatever positions the polls suggest. These arguments are strengthened by wins of Zohran Mamdani, Mikie Sherrill, and Abigail Spanberger in recent elections, despite the fact that they had ideological differences, but share an approach to politics that was combative on behalf of their constituents, by promising to tackle the big issues like affordability, and working hard to deliver without ceding ideological ground to Republicans. As Fernandez Ancona offers, “They actually went after it head-on by standing up for their values and who they were. The playbook going forward is, name it, call it out for what it is — because the voters don’t like this fear and division. They’re tired of it.”

The havoc and wreckage of the second Trump administration is motivating voters to show up for Democrats, evidenced in the recent elections, but to win big and retain power, the party must work harder to build a party brand that answers voters’ real concerns, differentiating them from the GOP. Potts concludes, “That doesn’t mean behaving like a weather vane, turning in whichever direction the political winds blow. It means having the courage and strength to make your own weather.”

David Rothkopf on The Daily Beast says, “It is hard to know whether Donald Trump or the MAGA movement he created is falling apart faster.” The 79-year old president is deteriorating rapidly — puffy cankles, bruises with bandages and makeup, slurring of speech, erratic behavior and conspicuous naps during televised events — not to mention his painful sensitivity to his health issues, suggesting that those who mention it are guilty of treason. As Rothkopf says, “Of course, every effort he makes to prove he’s not one step away from melting into a bubbling orange puddle seems to make it clear he’s losing it.” He points out that prominent Republicans are defecting at a rapid clip, former loyalists are willing to stand up to The Donald, with several speaking out against Trump’s opposition to extending health subsidies, and the courts have shot down many of his cases — most noteworthy being the James Comey and Letitia James retribution fabrications.

Trump is losing at the ballot box, suggesting that he is now electoral poison. The economy is floundering. Deficits are exploding. Tariffs are unpopular. His inhumane and draconian immigration crackdowns are alienating many, and his foreign policy has alienated allies and empowered adversaries. His overt corruption, his grifting, and catering to billionaires at the expense of our citizens is driving a tangible backlash — not to mention opinion regarding his mega-ballroom and turning the Oval Office into a gilded ‘Nawlins-looking bawdy-house. As Rothkopf says, a common view held by over 40% of Americans, is that humans and dinosaurs coexisted, making it likely that Fred and Wilma Flintstone live alongside their pet snorkasaurus — a larger percentage than those who believe Trump’s lies that he has made America the hottest economy in the world. Even so, it’s worth mentioning that when he wishes to placate his base he moves to attack science-based policies such as vaccines or climate change.

Rothkopf ends his piece with: “What those of us who do believe in empirical facts can see that the president and his movement are in deep trouble. They are entering uncharted territory in which even some of the most gullible among us are no longer buying what our president is selling. That is not to say Trump and MAGA have no future. Their presence will likely be felt by most of us for years to come, like a shiver down our collective spine. And that’s not just because something like 60% of Americans believe in ghosts.”

Andrew Egger points out in The Bulwark that the House passed a bill overturning a Trump executive order stripping union protection from some federal workers, a bill that began as a petition circulated by Democratic Representative Jared Golden of Maine. This was a slap in the face for House Speaker Johnson who has been able, up to now, to keep things clicking away for Trump. Only now is he being seen in the spot where many expected him to be from day one — a weak speaker who leads a fractious party who basically ignores him to do what they wish. Egger brings up the pessimistic assessments of party members who see a “looming disaster” headed their way, “facing certain defeat,” and “going down hard.” He says those statements would be expected from disgruntled GOP operatives outside of MAGA, but coming from Joe Gruters, a die-hard Trumper and chair of the RNC, expounding on conservative radio is pretty crazy.

Gruters isn’t throwing Trump under the bus with his statements; rather, he is making a specific case to the party, that, “The only person that could bring the nose up and help us win is the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.” Predicting doom risks further depressing GOP voters and encourages office holders to retire early, and it is far from clear who the party needs to step up to get elected, repairing their predicament. In speaking to swing-state GOP operatives, they told Egger bluntly that it isn’t the historical mid-term dilemma facing them, it is the world that Trump has built for them in competing for public office. One operative said, “His message sucks. It’s absolute trash. Nobody believes the economy and particularly affordability is getting better.”

Another strategist feels Republicans will be in particularly bad shape in ’26 because Trump demands that they stay loyal to him. Past presidents have accepted some disrespect, or strategic distancing, simply to have congressional majorities without enforcing personal purity tests — hardly what Donald Trump wants. This panic has led Republicans to take steps to get the president to at least change his messaging, and treat affordability as a major concern. As he headed to Pennsylvania last week for a speech purporting to focus on that topic, he revealed that he had been advised not to call it a hoax — contrary to his earlier statements. “I can’t call it a hoax, because they’ll misconstrue that,” he said. Trump still maintains that he inherited the “worst inflation in history,” but ‘tariff’ is still his favorite word, with that commitment creating the headaches we now suffer.

The GOP can only grit their teeth, cross their fingers and hope against hope that the economy will improve down the line. One of the GOP operatives interviews stated, “This isn’t going to get any better unless he either, one, shuts off the tariffs and starts a real economic turnaround, or two — well, I don’t know what two is — the GOP is looking at a very rough midterm.” So the party isn’t looking for a number three, obviously! After The Bulwark published their story, RNC spokesperson Kiersten Pels commented that The Bulwark is a bunch of shameless hacks, and that, “Republicans will defy history because of President Trump and the successful policies of the America First movement.” And number three is…?

Amie Parnes writes in The Hill that public interest lies in a third party for both Republicans and Democrats as well as those who didn’t vote in the ’24 presidential election, according to a survey released by Voto Latino. The number three we are looking for? Last month’s survey revealed that 9% of US respondents were open to a third party candidate for the next presidential election. Of those who did vote last year, 7% voiced support for a third-party candidate, with voters across party lines being concerned that both parties are doing a poor job — 45% pointing fingers at the Dems, and 50% frowning at the GOP. A majority also said both parties have become too extreme, the Democrats too liberal or progressive, with Republicans being too conservative or right wing. “Neither party is cutting it,” says Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO of Voto Latino. She felt that Biden’s economic agenda was headed in the right direction but didn’t translate fast enough to benefit local economies.

Kumar accuses the Democrats of trying to sell a poverty agenda — not what Americans want to hear, and Trump’s success at selling “a false good” only resulted in inflation, inviting criticism of his unaffordable tariff hikes. The poll also revealed that Black and Latino respondents had skipped meals to conserve money reserves. Both groups also indicated that side jobs, or side hustles, were important in making ends meet. “It’s a tremendous opportunity to come up with a thriving economic agenda. Now is the time to think really big and offer voters something,” said Kumar. She pointed to the winning campaigns of Spanberger, Sherrill and Mamdami, who did “a good job” of speaking about economic issues and seeing voters where they are. “There’s no other place but to go up. People stay home because there’s nothing to go vote for,” Kumar concludes.

As America looks forward to abandonment of our healthcare by the Trump administration, and his lackey Robert Kennedy, Jr.’s Make America Unhealthy Again thrust, satirist Andy Borowitz has come up with a perfect solution: “After decades of anticipation, on Monday congressional Republicans finally unveiled their healthcare plan, urging all Americans who seek coverage to move to Canada. ‘Under this plan, the American people will gain full access to the doctors, hospitals, and medications they deserve,’ House Speaker Mike Johnson declared. ‘They just need to wear lots of layers.’ The proposal drew widespread support from Americans, a majority asserting that they had already considered implementing such a plan since January of this year. But it sparked a strong pushback from Canadians, who called on Prime Minister Carney to build a wall.”

Cities with Democratic Party mayors have been on President Trump’s enemies list for a considerable amount of time, with one of his threats being withdrawal of the June 2026 World Cup matches from their locales. But rather than push back or intervene in any way, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has chosen to offer The Don a pacifier in the form of a specially created peace prize medal for “making the world a safer place.” The pathetic looking gold bling was awarded by FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, in the bootlicking ceremony held at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, commenting that Trump had been selected “in recognition of his exceptional and extraordinary actions to promote peace and unity around the world.” This was yet another attempt, as we have witnessed over the past year, in which other major institutions, companies, and prominent individuals have bent over backwards in a transparent effort to gain favor and purchase themselves immunity from either Trump’s political retribution or criminal prosecution — an embarrassing new low for FIFA.

As Daily Dose of Democracy’s post reads, “One of the world’s most corrupt sports organizations decided to create a participation Nobel Peace Prize to give to Donald.” Dave Braneck of Jacobin writes, “There’s a lot to dislike about the FIFA World Cup. A bloated forty-eight-team tournament spanning all of North America would be tough to pull off in the best of conditions. FIFA openly ripping off fans and charging thousands for tickets ensures that it’ll be, at base, and ugly cash grab. But there are also ills facing fans such as the United States’ immigration regime, roaming National Guard deployments throughout the country’s urban landscapes, and disconcertingly persistent threats to move match venues at President Trump’s whim. The world’s biggest sporting event will have one of its most authoritarian backdrops yet. FIFA president Infantino has responded to concerning developments in the cohost country the same way he responds to despots the world over — shameless groveling.” Braneck asks, “What could be unserious about an award presented ‘on behalf of the billions of people who love this game and want peace?‘”

He goes on to say that Trump was so “jazzed” about “one of the great honors of his life,” that he even stayed awake long enough to graciously accept it. The medal ceremony was squeezed into the formal World Cup draw, providing a bit of levity in the boring lead-in to the tourney proceedings and furnishing a look at “Trump’s authoritarian lurches and FIFA’s sycophancy.” Braneck concludes, “Faced with all this, fans need to exert their power before a terrible World Cup renders the game fully unrecognizable.” Tournaments in previous years faced more criticisms than the upcoming events, those being held in Russia and Qatar, and instead of getting pushbacks fans simply asked with a bemused, “can you believe this crap?” Sports bars in Germany even refused to show the matches on their TVs for the clientele. While Trump doesn’t seem particularly concerned with how he’s perceived prior to the upcoming tournaments, it still is feared that he could continue his threats to Democrat-run cities after the kick-offs. VP Vance offers his comforting words about foreign visitors, “They’ll have to go home, otherwise they’ll have to talk to Secretary Kristi Noem.” Sure, if there IS a next time for her!

The anti-immigrant policies and a proliferation of masked ICE agents throughout the country aren’t especially welcoming, and many foreign fans will be unable to even consider attending FIFA matches — Iran and Haiti citizens are banned from entering the country, a disappointment for Haitians whose team has qualified for the first time in fifty years. FIFA’s Infantino has chosen not to mitigate the situation, lauding his great relationship with Trump and prompting him to book the Village People as ‘entertainment‘ for the World Cup draw to please our brutish president. California’s Governor Newsom mocked FIFA’s ‘peace prize’ award, calling it a participation trophy that means little. However, Newsom’s press team piled on as they reimagined a rendering of a medallion, inscribed ‘If You Had Fun, You Won!‘ — accompanied with a cartoonish and smiling gold star.

Basking in the flood of flattery from Infantino, Trump commented that the sport of American football needs to change its name to allow the current terminology of ‘soccer’ be changed to ‘football’ to replicate that of its global counterparts. “When you think about it, shouldn’t it really be called, I mean, this is football, there’s no question about it. We have to come up with another name. It really doesn’t make sense when you think about it. This is really football.” Got that? Maybe we can call it Kennedyball since that name will soon be discarded at the Kennedy Center…or how about Donnyball…or perhaps Pardonsball? Count on the prez to come up with a self-congratulatory honorific.

After Trump appointed himself chairman of the board at DC’s Kennedy Center, dismissing all Biden appointees, he had no qualms giving FIFA exclusive use of the Center’s Concert Hall for the World Cup draw from November 24 to December 12, reportedly allowing the organization use of the prestigious center for the week. A leaked copy of the FIFA contract involves no rental fees for its use, which was offset by a $2.4 million donation and $5 million in sponsorship opportunities, for a total of $7.4 million for the Center, with FIFA covering event operational costs and security. This deal disrupted Kennedy Center programming, drawing the ire of Senate Democrats for potentially sacrificing millions in revenue for favorable political optics. It should be pointed out that the Center provided staff, utilities, and basic services at its own cost.

Eleanor Clift of The Daily Beast suggests it’s time someone red-carded Donald Trump. She reports that The Concert Hall, which seats 2,465, has been repurposed for the main event, with the Eisenhower Theatre serving as an overflow hall, and that the Roof Terrace Restaurant was reserved for a ‘VVIP‘ dinner. FIFA team seminars were held in the Terrace Theatre, along with a broadcast compound and a media center. A ‘green carpet’ will welcome arrivals, and a few fortunates will have access to a ‘Legends Lounge‘ to meet soccer greats and sports admirers from the Trump world who are lucky enough to be granted access to the inner sanctum.

Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board and ranking member on the Environment and Public Works (EPW) committee, which oversees all public buildings owned by the government, last month launched a ‘cronyism and corruption‘ investigation into the center’s management under former ambassador Germany Ric Grenell, a Trump choice. The Senator is demanding cost estimates to show the impact of the FIFA accommodations, asserting that contracts and invoices reveal the center is being used as “a playground for the President of the United States and is allies,” and is “being looted to the tune of millions of dollars…an unprecedented pattern of self-dealing, favoritism and waste.” Whitehouse alleges the FIFA event amounts to over $5 million in losses, amid broader reputational suffering and declining sales. Eleanor Clift writes that FIFA is the big winner, gaining prestige cost-free, and Trump is a winner as well, gaining a trophy, and wheeling and dealing to one of the world’s biggest sports events. “But he’s also scoring a goal by reducing a world-famous venue for the arts to another crassly branded saloon.”

According to CNN, ticket sales to this season’s ‘The Nutcracker‘ are down by 33% compared to tickets sales seen in 2002 through 2024, echoing problems of other productions since the Trump takeover. Even with a sellout on the ‘Nutcracker,’ production costs would outweigh revenue from ticket sales, and other productions have been cancelled due to the imposition of a new policy requiring all performances to ‘break even,’ or from artists resigning their leadership roles for previously scheduled events — ‘Hamilton‘ being a notable cancellation. Broadway productions touring schedules are eliminating Kennedy Center as a venue, and with Trump’s board of trustees vetting performers for their gender identities, the Center is not viewed as a safe venue.

As the Daily Dose of Democracy blog reports, “the cat’s out of the bag on our vainglorious nincompoop-in-chief’s lates pathetic move to deify himself. Having already gone to great lengths to destroy the reputation and prestige of America’s preeminent performing arts center, the MAGA cult leader ‘accidentally’ let slip just what he has in store next. During a speech at the US Institute of Peace yesterday, which he had his name slapped on earlier this week, Trump said with a chuckle, ‘You have a big event on Friday at the Trump-Kennedy Center — op, excuse me. The Kennedy Center. Pardon me, such a terrible mistake.’ Donald’s constant need for praise and validation is without parallel, and he’s not about to leave the myth-making and memorializing to posthumous chance. SAD!”

In renaming the above-mentioned Institute of Peace building, adding the ‘Trump‘ monicker, the White House called it “a powerful reminder of what strong leadership can accomplish for global stability.” Or, as Robert Reich termed it, “It’s a reminder of what a strong malignant narcissist can accomplish when untethered from reality.” The absurdity of renaming the Institute building and FIFA’s medal award are part of Trump’s effort to get the Nobel Peace Prize to keep up with President Obama. He sees himself as a valid candidate despite his declaration of war against Venezuela, sans congressional approval, and for allowing SecDef Pete Hegseth to blow over 80 people to kingdom come for ‘drug smuggling‘ — or using the incorrect bait on their fishing equipment, perhaps. Did Vladimir Putin’s flattery, for ending their war against Ukraine, persuad Trump to allow takeover of Ukrainian territory? That must count for something — if we ignore son-in-law Jared Kushner’s wheeling and dealing for business deals with Putin.

Reich asks, “Peace Prize? Please. Trump is taking credit for achieving ‘peace’ between nations that weren’t even at war. According to Alfred Nobel’s will, the Peace Prize is awarded to the person who in the preceding year ‘shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.’ Nobel’s will further specified that the prize be awarded by a committee of five people chosen by the Norwegian Parliament. Memo to Norwegian Parliament and the Nobel committee: No president in American history deserves the Nobel Peace Prize less than does Donald J. Trump.”

In the midst of his myth-making efforts, Trump recently mused about his eternal fate during a White House news conference when asked about about the ‘America Prays‘ initiative which “invites America’s great religious communities to pray for our nation and for our people” as we approach next year’s semiquincentennial. Trump is quoted as saying, “You know, there’s a reason to be good,” and he wants to be good to prove to God that he deserves a heavenly reward. He seems to be preoccupied with the afterlife of late, especially after his close call on the campaign trail in Butler, Pennsylvania last year; and, he told Fox News he has anxiety about gaining entry to heaven upon his demise since “I hear I’m really at the bottom of the totem pole.” He feels he was saved from death by assassination to carry out his ultimate mission of saving America, which prompted him to make yet another appeal to his faithful — ‘send  cold, hard cash to help get the job done.‘ The grift is great, the grift is GOOD!

Satirist Andy Borowitz was inspired to fantasize Trump’s reaction upon the death of Dick Cheney: “Donald J. Trump boasted that his funeral would draw a ‘much bigger crowd’ than former Vice President Dick Cheney’s. ‘Dick Cheney, who was a loser and a terrible person, will be lucky to get a thousand people at this funeral,’ Trump posted on Truth Social. ‘My funeral will draw MILLIONS!’ Remarking that ‘nobody cares’ about Cheney’s funeral, Trump said he expects the turnout at his funeral to set records, noting, ‘Every day, people say to me, ‘Sir, I can’t wait for that day to come.‘”

Lincoln Square’s Rick Wilson speculates about what happens when ‘that day‘ comes in his piece entitled ‘When Trump Dies.‘ He writes, “Every aging dictator, every long-in-the-tooth autocrat, every once-terrifying strongman eventually feels the cold hand of Death reaching out to tap them on the shoulder and whisper, ‘It’s time.‘” Wilson says that we all understand mortality, but we should consider what comes after that tap on the shoulder with the collapse of systems built around that leader. The entire structure that pretended to be a unified movement reveals itself for what it was in actuality: a feeding frenzy for sycophants who think they were born to inherit the golden scepter. As for what happens in the post-Trump era, his daily outrages and excesses make succession the survivors unsolved problem. Reich concludes: “Autocrats are very good at seizing power and holding it. They are very bad at leaving it behind without blowing something up on the way out — personality cult regimes are especially fragile at succession because the leader spends his life eliminating rivals rather than training successors. Trump is not unique. He is just the latest in an ancient story.” What happens next will be ugly and dangerous.