The Democratic Party may have a simple way to fight back against the Trump administration and tech billionaire Elon Musk's rapid takeover of the civil service, Heather Digby Parton wrote for Salon Monday — and she said it's staring them right in the face.
At first glance, the columnist wrote, things seem completely bleak for Democrats because, even though Donald Trump, Musk and Republicans in Congress are underwater in the latest Quinnipiac poll, the congressional minority fares worst of all: "The numbers are very bad. According to the Quinnipiac poll, 57 percent of registered voters have an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party. That's the highest it's been since they started asking the question back in 2008. By contrast, only 45 percent of voters are unhappy with the GOP. The Democrats are at a lukewarm 31 percent favorability rating."
But there's a simple explanation for that, Parton wrote. Democrats' own voters are angry that they have no apparent power to stop Trump. This is evident in other recent polls, such as Ipsos, that word the issue differently, asking who voters would rather control the next Congress, and Democrats lead by 13 points.
Such frustration is common immediately after Democratic losses, Parton noted. "I recall losses going back to the 1980s and early 1990s when everyone was convinced that the Republicans had an unbreakable grip on the presidency because they had held it for 12 years," she wrote.
"The amount of navel-gazing that took place in those years was epic. Democrats twisted themselves into pretzels trying to find the formula that would finally get them back into the White House."
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That being the case, she said, as voters begin waking up and flooding GOP town halls in anger, Democrats should stop the handwringing, stop being "missing in action," and just plan how to fight. And despite being locked out of federal power, they do have one advantage coming up.
"Democrats are going to have a real chance to show what they are made of, and if they play this hand well, I suspect they will win back some of the respect they've lost," wrote Parton. "There is one thing left in American politics that Congress has no choice but to engage and Trump and Musk have no control over: funding the government. On that, despite their minority status, they have leverage and power because the Republicans can't agree on anything."
"While the Senate and the House are dreaming about massive tax cuts and taking a machete to Medicaid, they apparently haven't given a thought to the fact that even with all the DOGE sturm und drang, the government is about to run out of money," wrote Parton. "And as we know, Republicans in the House have a faction that will not vote for spending. They just won't.
"So with their tiny majority, they need Democrats to cover for their intransigence. But with Trump and Musk busily destroying the executive branch and seemingly enjoying the carnage they're creating while doing it, Democrats understand that the Republicans are going to have to deal with their people on their own this time."
At the end of the day, she concluded, "Sometimes the best way to show leadership is to just say no, especially to bullies, thieves and thugs. The American people will thank them for it."