Even if you disagree with his policies, you have to admit that President Donald Trump is delivering on his campaign promises.
He has drastically overhauled immigration and border control, slashed government agencies and tested the limits of the presidency with scores of executive orders.
His signature piece of legislation, an extension of his 2017 tax cuts, just passed the Senate, and it’s chock full of other agenda items on everything from student loans to Medicaid.
To be fair, many of these moves are unpopular. Others are controversial because he’s attempting to do them in novel ways, brushing up against the law and even the Constitution.
To low-information voters, Trump is doing something.
But to low-information voters, Trump is doing something. Some of them aren’t sure what to think, but will eventually decide how they feel based on the results.
Democrats, meantime, aren’t doing anything. That’s not their fault, since they’re in the minority and have limited bargaining chips under Trump’s my-way-or-the-highway approach. But they also aren’t saying what they would do, even if they had power.
Instead, they mostly focus on what Trump is doing, which only makes him seem even more active.
It is the same whining that we heard during the 2024 presidential race.After the passage of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better legislation, which was a huge achievement for the administration, Democrats couldn’t sell it.
Instead they were on defense, all the time, as Republicans dinged them over inflation and the economy over and over again.
Even Trump, who’s not exactly known for message consistency, was able to focus on these issues, even finding the perfect cause: no taxes on tips.
When Trump first pitched the proposal at a Las Vegas campaign rally, there were few details. Wonks weren’t sure exactly how it would work but were mostly convinced it wouldn’t help much. Washington insiders were convinced it would never happen. Kamala Harris’ campaign dallied for weeks and then endorsed the idea as well, which was pretty much the worst way to handle it.
In retrospect, it is absolutely shocking that this wasn’t a proposal led by Democrats first. Then again, Democrats tend to overthink things like who will pay for it and how will it work.
As in his business deals, Trump didn’t care about the details but just focused on the sales pitch. And now he’s about to deliver on it with the passage of the Republican megabill.
In other words, Trump is proving to be a doer, not a talker. But even if he didn’t get it done, he would still appear to be fighting for it — and therefore, fighting for his supporters.
Instead of offering tangible ideas such as no tax on tips, Democrats have tried to shape the economy through big-picture legislation.
For years Democrats have talked about delivering for the working class, but instead of offering tangible ideas such as no tax on tips, they’ve tried to shape the economy through big-picture legislation. No matter how many times they tried to explain the benefits of their approach, voters never quite got it.
There are some signs that the left is beginning to understand the benefits of Trump’s approach. Zohran Mamdani broke out of a crowded field in the New York mayoral primary to defeat the scion of a political dynasty by making big, easy-to-understand promises such as free buses, city-owned grocery stores and higher taxes on the wealthy.
As Trump has shown, the question of whether these are politically possible is irrelevant. Just by winning the primary, Mamdani may have changed the odds of them happening already.
It is also important to recognize that Mamdani is only playing to Democrats, in a deep blue city. His ultra-progressive policies will not be helpful to Democrats running in competitive general elections nationally.
Trump may be at his high point. Voters may soon realize that no taxes on tips doesn’t net them as much in savings as they thought. Trump’s other policies aren’t wearing well. And a downturn in the economy could convince many people who voted for him in 2024 to decide his approach isn’t working.
That won’t hurt Trump, who’s term-limited. But it could be a major drag for Republicans running for office in 2026, and a Democratic-controlled Congress will be a major headache for Trump in his last two years in office.
But both parties will be looking for a new leader in the next presidential election, and Democrats will have to stop fighting over Trump and come up with their own vision for the future.
When they do, they should take a note from Trump — and Mamdani — and pick a fighter.
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