While an increasing number of veteran Democratic lawmakers are facing progressive primary challenges — even as calls to replace Schumer continue growing louder — party leaders are showing a new, more unified front against the president.
“I do not feel a Democratic civil war. If anything, I feel more unity in our party than I've ever felt,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) — who just broke the record for delivering the longest speech in Senate history — told Raw Story. “The threats of what Donald Trump is doing are so real, so urgent, that I see people working in ways and coalitions that are inspiring to me.”
The midterm elections are more than a year and a half away, but Democrats say their new strategy is about more than the next election. With House Speaker Mike Johnson controlling a mere seven-seat majority, Democrats say pressuring vulnerable Republicans now is their best chance to derail Trump’s aggressive agenda.
“If we can win over three or four people in the House, we win”
After a handful of Republicans faced vitriol at recent town halls, GOP leaders have been coaching rank-and-file members to avoid the public gatherings when back in their districts these next two weeks.
“Town halls have become a tool of the left to shout everybody down,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) — who says he still plans to meet with constituents over recess — told Raw Story. “It's a hate Trump rally.”
Democrats say that’s because the American people hate Trump’s policies, especially the dismantling of the federal government by billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency — or DOGE. And they sense an opening.
“If you're not doing town halls, you're not really doing a big part of your job,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) told Raw Story. “They can run, but they can't hide.”
The seven-term congressman is chair emeritus of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. While he knows how to rally progressives, he says the anger on display at town halls nationwide has been coming from voters of all stripes. So he gets why Republicans are hiding from their voters.
“They're p—ed, they're nervous, they're scared,” Pocan said. “And so they express that.”
Instead of deflecting that anger and angst, Democratic leaders are now trying to harness that energy.
That’s why over the next two weeks Booker, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), and other younger, popular House Democrats are fanning out across the nation and rallying the party’s base at town halls in battleground districts. The funny thing is that this isn’t an election year.
“Normally in election cycles, I'm all over the country trying to help people, but I'm working even harder now trying to help local parties, trying to help congressional candidates,” Booker said. “This is all hands on deck.”
“Is this a little too early to rev up the base for the midterms?” Raw Story pressed. “Or they're already revved up?”
“What the effort is right now, it's not the ‘26 midterms; simply, it's getting a few Republicans to switch their votes,” Booker said. “If we can win over three or four people in the House, we win.”
And Democrats haven’t been winning lately, at least not in Trump’s Washington.
At the Capitol, even though the GOP’s been divided on some big ticket times — like over whether extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts needs to be paid for or not — Republicans on Capitol Hill have pushed their differences aside to advance Trump’s controversial nominees and agenda, from dismantling federal agencies to speeding up mass deportations.
Being locked in the minority on both sides of the Capitol leaves Democrats few legislative options to combat Trump, so Democrats are taking their show on the road and supporting grassroots pressure campaigns on more moderate Republicans’ home turf.
“This is why me and others are looking towards swing districts, where clearly the stuff that's being proposed is not popular amongst some of these Republicans. And we know their base in their districts, Republican and Democrat, are against what's happening,” Booker said. “So we just want to do everything we can to lead in this moment, and the elections will take care of themselves.”
Elections may take care of themselves, but party leaders in Washington are helping with these efforts a great deal.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC), Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and Association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC) sponsor the town hall tour.
In just the last three weeks, they report hosting 71 town halls across 35 states. They say the momentum’s only just beginning to build, even as they feel emboldened for one of the first times since getting shellacked in November.
"People are engaged and paying attention"
Even as they’re locked out of power in Trump’s Washington, Democrats are feeling new wind in their sails after the party overperformed in two recent Florida special elections, while also besting Musk and Trump in the record-shattering $100+ million battle for control of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court.
“These are all positive things. Like, do they mean any one result? Like, no, but it's all going in the right direction,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) — the number three most powerful Democrat in the House of Representatives — told Raw Story. “People are engaged and paying attention.”
While Democrats’ ultimate aim is winning back majorities in Congress and recapturing the White House in 2028, party leaders are hoping energized and vocal voters can help them do what they’re otherwise powerless to do: derail Trump’s agenda.
“Politics takes care of itself if we focus on people, and I think standing up for people right now and leaders — leaders, whether they have title or not — leaders need to be standing up for others,” Booker said. “That's going to create momentum to stop Donald Trump.”
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