With midterm elections only months away, Democrats have yet to craft a unified message for the American people that differentiates them from the Republican Party. Their only call to action and the only thing that they seem to have been able to agree upon is that the Trump administration and Republicans are bad. However, merely saying Donald Trump is bad isn't enough to change things in Washington, let alone the country.
Democrats cannot expect voters to accept their message when all that they have accomplished is vilifying the other side without making a concrete case to the American people as to why they might be the better option. Instead, Democrats have done a marvelous job of offending half of the country by attacking hardworking people for merely supporting the president. The Democrats have essentially spent their time running a smear campaign by classifying Trump supporters as a group of anti-Semitic, racist and misogynistic people. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. The majority of those who support President Trump do so out of abundance of love for country and for the direction that their country is headed under President Trump's steadfast leadership. Whether it is the Supreme Court, trade or taxes, the president is moving the country in a direction that a lot of people believe is better for all Americans. So, instead of attacking voters, Democrats should focus on educating the American people as to why their policies are better than what is currently being put into law or proposed.
However, it would seem that the Democrats are having a challenging time doing just that. It is difficult to present the American people with alternative options when the Democratic Party cannot come up with a unified position that they stand for. Democrats are seemingly unable to tell the American people what their platform is beyond being anti-Trump. As the 2016 election proved, that is simply not enough. How will they fix our trade imbalances? What about taxes and infrastructure? How will they keep our country safe? These are all serious questions that the Democratic party has not been able answer. Thus far, they have not been able to convey to a significant portion of the populous that their plans are far better than what the American people are currently getting.
Having a competitive two-party process is the foundation of our country and it is critical to the continued progress of our country. However, you cannot expect healthy debate when one side is classifying any person, who does not believe them, as the root of all evil, as if there is no legitimate basis to their grievances. This elitist mentality is certainly part of the reason why Donald Trump won the 2016 election. People are tired of being looked down upon from the thrones of Washington, DC. They are tired of being told by politicians and bureaucrats what they can and cannot do. If the Democrats are serious about trying to run competitive campaigns, they need to speak to the issues that are directly facing the American people. They cannot expect to be successful in the upcoming midterm elections and beyond if they do not form a unified stance and instead continue to focus on attacking and blaming everything on Donald Trump.
There are a lot of Americans, such as myself, who appreciate the direction that the president is leading our great nation. Perhaps Democrats should learn to work with Republicans rather than continue this childish narrative and blame-game. Sure, the political parties can have their differences -- that is expected! However, constantly attacking the president and those who support him only infuriates many American people further. Instead, it encourages the so-called "deplorables" to be more active, more aggressive, more engaged and more involved than ever in the political process.
Pundits have been discussing the near constant change in congressional numbers. I am not certain how reliable these polls are because these are the same people and polling groups that said that Donald Trump had no chances of winning the 2016 election. They were wrong then and they could be wrong again.
Many Americans have already seen the benefits of Trump's tax reform and many hard-working American families will be getting more money back in their tax returns this year. Companies are giving out bonuses and promotions like never before. Most of all, consumer confidence is at an all-time high. America is back in business and the angry, childish rhetoric of the Democratic Party is certainly not helping their cause. It is only serving to hurt it.
If the Democrats are serious about being competitive in this year's midterm cycle, they need to do more than play the blame-game and continuing to attack President Trump. They need solutions and a unified stance, because right now all that the American people hear is empty rhetoric.