Facing Trump 2.0, Democrats Fall into Infighting: Economy vs. Democracy? Midterm Election Prospects Worrying

As U.S. President Trump openly considers sending troops to more American cities, Democratic leaders in Congress have almost unanimously described his actions as a means of “diverting attention”—an attempt to shift public focus away from other issues, whether it be the rising cost of living, his signing of legislation to implement massive Medicaid cuts, or the controversy surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein files.

CNN reports that now, the term “diverting attention” is completely splitting the two competing theories within the Democratic Party on “how to respond to Trump’s radical second term.”

The Democratic leadership in Congress believes that focusing on economic issues gives Democrats the best chance to make progress in next year’s midterm elections; but many activists within the party counter that they have failed to convey the urgency of “Trump taking comprehensive action to erode American democracy.”

The top political strategists of the Democratic Party are also similarly divided. Some believe that Trump’s victory in 2024 indicates the need to be “highly focused” on the economic difficulties of ordinary families; others are convinced that taking a mild stance on Trump’s actions undermining democratic safeguards (especially the domestic deployment of troops) is not only a moral failure but also an electoral miscalculation.

Veteran Democratic pollster Celinda Lake stated that describing Trump’s actions as “diverting attention” is “completely wrong,” adding, “I think this completely misunderstands what Democrats are truly concerned about.”

Lake pointed out that if Democratic leaders stick to this strategy, Democratic candidates in 2026 “will face voter turnout problems that will make the turnout dilemma of 2024 look trivial.”

Other key Democratic figures believe that only by winning back control of the House of Representatives next year can Democrats slow Trump’s pace, and that “primarily focusing on economic issues” is the best way to achieve this goal.

Democratic pollster Ben Tulchin said: “Based on my research on those voters we ‘once lost and now need to win back’... there is only one key issue: the economy, the economy, and still the economy.”

Democrats in this camp cite “the victory of a Democratic state senate candidate in Iowa in last week’s special election” as proof that their strategy is correct—the candidate ran in a deep red district (traditionally Republican) with the campaign slogan of “improving affordability of life,” and ultimately won the election.