WHAT WILL IT TAKE?
With an estimated 7 million people turning out for the second “No Kings” protests, Democrats, liberals and other anti-Trump folks have been taking something of a victory lap over the past few days. Mobilizing millions to fight Trump provides people a way to get involved and feel solidarity in these dark times, and hats off to Indivisible and many other groups for making it happen. At the same time, we need to confront a very big problem with all of this resistance: It isn’t actually working.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, completed the Monday after No Kings, showed Trump’s approval rating has gone up by two points to 42%. His approval ratings are now above those of both George W. Bush and Barack Obama at this point in their respective second terms. Apparently, the notion that Trump will destroy himself and his movement from within is wishful thinking.
Of equal importance is the fact that the opposition party, the Democrats, are far more unpopular than Donald Trump, with less than 30% approval. Seventy percent of Americans view the Democrats unfavorably. Seven out of ten. And, although the GOP has so far caught more of the blame for the government shutdown, the gap is beginning to narrow.
The fact is that the relentless attention to the horrors of Donald Trump and his administration have done nothing to persuade people that there is a better alternative. The Resistance has been singing this tune since the beginning of 2024 – in many respects, since 2015 – and while we may be a louder chorus now, we have not succeeded in adding new members.
It is past time to rethink our strategy on the Left. That’s what the Beyond Resistance campaign is about. Here are three essential next steps we believe we must take if we hope to prevail:
First, the DNC and the Democratic Party more broadly must make the struggles of millions of working-class people central to almost every email they send, every social media campaign, every event they help organize. Democratic and Independent candidates should do the same. Rural Democratic Committees, Indivisible groups and others should launch Community Works chapters or similar initiatives to make this commitment concrete. This need not be at the expense of fighting for immigrants and others experiencing the cruelty of this administration. It’s an addition, not a subtraction.
Second, there is a subtraction Dems and affiliated organizations should make: Talk less about Trump. Who in this country doesn’t know how much the Left hates Trump and all the harm that he’s doing? If cataloging and hollering about Trump’s destruction of democracy was an effective strategy, we would have won the 2024 election or, at the very least, we’d be seeing an inexorable decline in support for Trump throughout 2025. But we’re not. Because millions of Americans have more immediate and pressing concerns they’re focused on.
Third, we must stop defending a system so many people hate. Instead, we should put forward a clear plan to build a much better system. RUBI and our allies have been asking this of Democratic leaders for a long time now, and in a very concerted way since February. We’re yet to see anything. It’s not for a lack of options: There is the Rural New Deal, co-authored by RUBI and Progressive Democrats of America. There is the Rural Policy Action Plan from a coalition of groups led by the Rural Democracy Initiative. There is the just-released Contract with Working Families, an excellent framework produced by Mike Lux and labor leaders.
Any or all of these plans could change the narrative, could show that the Left is serious about unrigging the system and addressing the long-standing grievances of so many working and rural Americans. But none of these, or any other such plan, is being put forth by national Democratic groups, Indivisible, MoveOn or others. The rationale seems to be that “now is not the time” (to quote Indivisible) to put forth our own plan; that the focus must be solely on stopping Trump. This is a mistake, a huge miscalculation. Putting forward clear plans and unequivocal commitments to working Americans is precisely what we must do, now, to dramatically broaden the base of those fighting Trump and to have a chance of reaching swing voters, including those who’ve soured on Trump.
It’s all too easy to obsess on Trump and those doing his bidding. Watching his second term unfold has been like driving by an accident on the highway – It’s almost impossible to look away and keep our eyes focused on the road ahead. But that’s precisely what we must do. The sooner we start, the better shot we have of saving and rebuilding our nation.