Now that Dems have a new leader, it’s time to figure out what they actually stand for

This is an adapted excerpt from the Feb. 2 episode of "Ayman."

When Donald Trump entered office again last month, a Gallup poll showed him at historically low inaugural approval ratings, with only 47% of Americans approving of him — similar to the 45% approval rating he boasted after his first inauguration. For comparison, Joe Biden entered office with a 57% approval rating from Gallup.

Trump’s low approval rating is a reminder that, contrary to what the president and his MAGA allies have said, his win in November was not a “landslide” and the American people didn’t give him some sweeping mandate. But if that’s the case, you may be asking yourself: How did he win the White House? And why are Republicans in control of the House and the Senate too? 

Well, it turns out, people dislike the Democrats even more. A recent Wall Street Journal poll showed 60% of Americans view the party unfavorably. That tracks with what we saw in November’s election, in which Democrats lost ground with nearly every demographic group.

It’s in this political wilderness that Democrats gathered to elect a new Democratic National Committee chair. On Saturday, the party selected Ken Martin, a longtime leader of the state Democratic Party in Minnesota. He defeated Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler, even though Wikler had the support of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Martin takes over a political party in desperate need of new leadership and a new strategy. We’re in a time when Americans badly need a functioning opposition party to push back against the madness we’re seeing from Trump and his billionaire co-president, Elon Musk.

But it’s not just the average person asking Democrats to put up more of a fight. The New York Times reported on a tense call last week in which six Democratic governors pressed Schumer to be more aggressive in fighting back against Trump’s agenda. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was on the call and reportedly argued that “Democrats needed to be more visible on television presenting an alternate vision of governing — not just complaining about what Mr. Trump is doing.”

That’s good advice: Don’t just say what you are against. Lay out a vision for what you are for. But before the party can lay out a vision of what it is for, it needs to actually figure out what that is.

Last week, when the Trump administration was making a big show out of deporting undocumented migrants, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy bragged in a post on X:

“In the first week, Trump removed 7,300 people. On average, Biden was removing 15,000 a week. Under Biden 72% of ICE arrests were criminals. Under Trump it’s dropped to around 50%. Trump is removing less people and less criminals. These guys are terrible at everything.”

So what’s the Democratic position here? Are they confronting Trump because they think he’s pushing racist and fascist immigration policies? Or are they confronting Trump because they think that Democrats are better at executing those policies?

That’s not the only contradiction within the Democratic Party. Democrats are rightfully railing against oligarchy — a small group of extremely wealthy people ruling the country with its own interests in mind. But their righteous condemnation of Republicans is undermined in part by their own close relationships with billionaires.

At a DNC forum last month, Martin was asked about this exact idea and whether Democrats should still take big money from billionaires. “There are a lot of good billionaires out there that have been with Democrats, who share our values and we will take their money,” Martin said. “But we’re not taking money from those bad billionaires.”

While Democrats can’t unilaterally disarm on fundraising, this billionaire issue is among many lingering questions that await the Democratic Party and it better start coming up with answers — fast.

Basel Hamdan and Allison Detzel contributed.