With Republicans set to control a unified government next year, Democrats need to crank up the pressure on the Senate GOP, wrote former conservative turned anti-GOP commentator Jennifer Rubin for The Washington Post — subjecting them to as much voter pressure as possible to block the most damaging parts of the MAGA agenda and exacting as much political pain on them as they can if they do.
Part of that is going to start with the votes to confirm Trump's more extreme nominations, like Matt Gaetz for attorney general despite an investigation into sexual assault, she wrote — and it's also going to involve holding the line against Trump's extreme tariff plans, which economists warn would spell economic disaster.
In 2026, despite a big hole to climb out of, Democrats face a more favorable Senate map than this year, she wrote. "For example, the reelection campaigns of Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina will be two of the most hotly contested races. While they hail from comfortably red states, less rabid Republican Sens.Steve Daines of Montana, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and John Cornyn of Texas will also face the voters."
Democrats will have to crank the heat on Collins, for instance, who called herself "shocked" by Gaetz's nomination — and on figures like Cornyn and Rounds when Trump's tariffs and mass deportation schemes "drive up farm bankruptcies and destroy the rural economy."
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It is likely that in at least some cases, these senators will stick with Trump, for fear of attracting primary challengers, she wrote — in which case, Democrats will have to make their re-election prospects as painful as possible.
"That will require they immediately begin building the record that Republicans are too extreme for their states, and that a Democratic Senate is needed as a check on the administration," Rubin wrote — and they have to start preparing now for the damage they could have to educate voters on. "How many kids in a given state got sick because of anti-vaccine propaganda? How many farmers went belly-up because of across-the-board tariffs? How many residents lost benefits because of Elon Musk’s anti-government crusade?"
They must hammer this message relentlessly, she wrote. And "when voters begin to exclaim en masse 'We didn’t vote for THAT!,' Democrats will know they are making headway against MAGA policies — and laying the groundwork to return to power in 2027."