Democrats had solid leads over Republicans on only three issues: women's rights and the environment (which are liberal-coded) and healthcare (which consultants tell Democratic politicians to talk about incessantly, even when they're asked about other issues). In the Reuters poll, Democrats had a small lead on respect for democracy -- and trailed on crime, immigration, foreign conflicts, the economy, guns, and -- despite the fact that Donald Trump is president -- extremism and corruption.
Now we have an AP-NORC poll with similar results. It's not quite as bad for Democrats, but only because AP-NORC asked respondents about a smaller number of issues.
This is what happens when Democrats, following the advice of consultants, treat reporters' questions on every conceivable subject as opportunities to "pivot," usually to healthcare, the only issue on which Democrats are favored in this poll.
I think these "pivots" are a terrible idea, as you know if you happened to read my comment in response to Yastreblyansky's post on Monday. Yas favorably quoted a remark by Establishment congressman Ritchie Torres of New York in an NPR interview on the shutdown:
Look, my constituents want the Democratic Party to fight. Like, those of us who are Democrats have a simple choice. We can either stand by passively and allow Donald Trump to gut our democracy, to gut our health care, or we can fight. And we've chosen to fight for the health care of the American people. And the majority of Americans want to see an agreement that both reopens the government but also preserves health care - affordable health care for tens of millions of Americans.Yas's take:
Note how he doesn't dismiss the democracy issue in favor of the kitchen table issue in there, the way you might have expected his kind of "moderate" to do, he incorporates the democracy issue into the argument, which is pretty good.But what I see is Torres dodging the issue of democracy and pivoting to healthcare as hard as he can. In a short answer, he says "healthcare" four times. It seems to me that he can't run away from the subject of democracy fast enough.
We can disagree on this, but it should be obvious from the polls that voters aren't hearing what they want to hear from Democrats on most issues. They're not even hearing a clear, coherent message from Democrats on the economy and inflation -- issues on which Trump is wildly unpopular.
How unpopular? Nate Silver's polling average has Trump's overall job approval rating at -7.4% -- but on the economy overall, he's at -14.6%, and on inflation he's at an abysmal -27.2%. In one September poll, from Marquette University, disapproval of Trump's handling of inflation was 71%. Approval was only 29%. That's -42%. Why aren't Democrats hammering away at Trump specifically on inflation? Why aren't they calling it "Trumpflation"? Whty aren't they denouncing the inflationary tariffs every chance they get?
Every so often you'll hear a proposal for a "shadow cabinet" -- a team of Democrats who'll critique Trumpism point by point. Here's an American Prospect piece on the subject from March:
Imagine a shadow Treasury secretary explaining the tangible downsides of [Scott] Bessent’s pro-billionaire actions; a shadow interior secretary condemning Doug Burgum’s public lands giveaways; a shadow labor secretary denouncing Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s attacks on worker protections; a shadow transportation secretary underscoring how [Elon] Musk stands to benefit from the privatization of air traffic control infrastructure; a shadow health and human services secretary defending public health from RFK Jr.’s ill-informed blitz; a shadow housing and urban development secretary slamming Scott Turner’s attempts to hurt low-income tenants; a shadow Environmental Protection Agency administrator ripping Lee Zeldin’s accommodation of polluting corporations; and a shadow U.S. trade representative explaining how Trump policy is undermining a nascent manufacturing renaissance.Okay, so what happened?
In April, Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin announced the formation of a "People's Cabinet" --
a new project from the DNC that will leverage a deep bench of qualified policy experts, national and local leaders, as well as community voices who – all working together – will cut through the lies and speak directly to the American people about the reality of the Trump administration’s reckless and dangerous agenda.The announcement happened, a few members were named (including Robert Reich, Martin O'Malley, and former Wisconsin lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes), and then ... nothing. Or next to nothing. Google tells me that a New York state senator, James Skoufis, was named to the People's Cabinet in May. That's all I see in the first couple of pages of search results. There's a Democratic-leaning podcast called The People's Cabinet, but it isn't having much of an impact either.
What I like about the shadow cabinet idea is the belief that it's important for Democrats to talk about every issue. What I don't like is the fact that the members of the DNC's shadow cabinet aren't in office and are struggling to get airtime.
Meanwhile, reporters are already interviewing Democratic officeholders. Why can't they "cut through the lies and speak directly to the American people about the reality of the Trump administration’s reckless and dangerous agenda" -- all of it, not just what he and congressional Republicans are doing to healthcare?
If you're in the House or the Senate, you should be able to talk articulately about every issue, foreign or domestic. This is especially true if you're a party leader. Obviously, some members of Congress will have issues they're particularly qualified to address. But Democrats need to talk about everything. They need to have serious proposals on every subject. No more pivots. Otherwise, the polling on the two parties will continue to look the way it does in those Reuters/Ipsos and AP-NORC polls.
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