In 2006, a second-term Republican president was on the ropes. A wave of Democratic wins in the midterm elections showed the party was likely to win back the White House in the next election.
Democrats began planning immediately what they would do with that power, settling on a broad outline of a health care proposal that eventually became the Affordable Care Act.
Twenty years later, Democrats are already talking about a wave election. The results of recent races in Wisconsin and Georgia are just the latest signs, as they have consistently outpaced expectations in key races around the country.
Now people are starting to ask: What would Democrats do with that power?
It’s a more important question now than ever because, this time, winning will come with more risk and more responsibility. It’s imperative that they begin planning what they will do over the next two years, as well as what they will do if they win the White House in 2028.
Because if Democrats win one or both chambers of Congress in November, it will not just be a rejection of President Donald Trump. It will be an expectation that they can use power in a way that actually changes people’s lives.
It’s important to plan ahead. As it turned out, the window to pass the Affordable Care Act was seven weeks — from Sen. Al Franken’s belated swearing-in to the unexpected death of Sen. Ted Kennedy. If they had not been able to move quickly, the window would have closed.
This time, there is no guarantee of that kind of window. And that is exactly why the mindset must change.
If Democrats win both chambers of Congress, the default assumption will be that divided government means compromise. It does not.
If they win, it will not be because voters are asking them to meet Trump in the middle. It will be because voters are asking for something different.
The job isn’t to compromise with Trump. It’s to make him answer to a country that has already started to move on from him. And more than anything else, the job is to do something.
Not messaging. Not posturing. Not explaining why change is hard.
Democrats need to do something people can see and feel. They need to do something tangible that shows up in the cost of living, in the cost of rent and in the leftover money at the end of the month that helps a family breathe a little easier.
Republicans had a plan, although they denied it. Project 2025 was the product of years of preparation, outlining policies and screening people ahead of time. That’s why the first few months of Trump’s second term felt so overwhelming. The administration wasn’t improvising; it was executing a plan.
Democrats do not have a single document like that. For now, there is no Project 2027 sitting on a shelf with step-by-step plans for next year, much less a Project 2029.
But they do have something just as powerful. They have an agenda that is already written, tested and even partially built.
Pieces of the care economy, child care, housing and cost of living relief were debated, drafted and in some cases partially passed just a few years ago during the Biden administration. They did not fail because they were unserious. They failed because of tight margins and poor timing.
That means Democrats are not starting from scratch. They are starting with unfinished business.
Housing is the clearest example. For years, leaders such as Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., have pushed to expand supply, support renters and make homeownership more accessible. The need is urgent and the solutions exist. And increasingly, even some Republicans are feeling pressure to engage.
That is not a reason to water down the agenda. It is a reason to move it.
Because under a divided government, power does not come from agreement. It comes from direction.
Congress can pass the bills anyway. Congress can center the issues people are living every day, including rent, child care and the cost of just getting by, and force the administration to respond. Sign it, block it, explain it. But respond.
That is how you use power when you do not control the presidency. You do not wait for permission. You set the terms and make the other side react.
There are two risks ahead for Democrats, and both are real.
The first is that they win power and spend two years only looking backward. Not because accountability does not matter, but because it does. There are serious questions about the conduct of this administration, about the use of power and about decisions that demand scrutiny. Oversight is not optional. It is a constitutional responsibility. And frankly, it is what many voters will expect.
But oversight alone is not governance. Democrats need to investigate and hold this administration accountable while also using their power to do things that improve people’s daily lives. Voters can follow along. They want accountability and relief.
But accountability only speaks to what was done. Governance speaks to what will be done next.
The second risk is that they move policy without clarity of purpose, chasing wins that are disconnected from the mandate voters actually gave them. Passing bills is not enough if those bills do not add up to a clear direction or a felt difference in people’s lives. If everything is a priority, nothing is.
That is how you lose the thread. That is how you blur the contrast voters asked you to draw in the first place. The answer is not to choose between these paths. The answer is to be disciplined enough to do both, and to do both in a way that is clear to the people who sent you there.
Hold the line on accountability, and deliver relief that people can feel.
Because power unused is indistinguishable from power lost. And power that people cannot feel might as well not exist at all.
Don’t forget to subscribe to “MS NOW Presents: Clock It,” Symone Sanders Townsend’s new podcast series with Eugene Daniels on the latest political news, the catchiest cultural moments and how they converge. Listen to the latest episode here.
Symone D. Sanders Townsend is an author and a co-host of "The Weeknight."