Are Democrats Doing Enough? If You Had To Ask…

Today, MoveOn-dot-org emailed me a link to a survey, asking if I think Democrats are doing everything they can to stop Trump. That’s cute. Is that a real question or a rhetorical one? Just wondering.

Let’s cut to the chase: If Democrats were actually fighting as hard and, let’s face it, as strategically as they should be, this half-hearted survey wouldn’t exist. We wouldn’t be here, tapping little bubbles on our screens to confirm what we already know—that the party that’s supposed to be the last firewall against authoritarianism is out of ideas. It’s standing there, hands in pockets, watching the fire spread. The GOP is actively looting, smashing display cases, and grabbing everything in sight.

Are We Doing Enough? Hell, No.

That first question hit me like a slap in the face: Do you believe that Democrats in Congress are doing everything in their power to stop Trump? Excuse me. I think I just choked on my drink and it shot out of my nose.

I strongly disagreed. Because, let’s be real, they are not even in the same ballpark. The GOP is killing democracy with a vengeance. Democrats are still holding town halls and press conferences.

Meanwhile, Senator Chuck Schumer—a modern-day version of Neville Chamberlain—decided it’s better to go along with a crappy funding bill than risk a shutdown. Really? That’s the hill you want to die on? The lesser of two evils is still evil. What. The. Actual. F**k. Apparently, some Democrats suck at poker.

Here’s a thought: instead of letting Republicans hold the government hostage every time they don’t get their way, how about making them pay a price for it? Instead of pretending bipartisanship exists, how about calling them out before they slash vital programs and leave communities scrambling? I mean, they literally wrote a playbook and published it.

The problem isn’t that Democrats don’t shame the GOP—it’s that it always happens after  the damage is done. Come on, Dems!

The first to market dominates the market. The first to frame the message owns the message. So why the hell are Democrats not playing hard ball? Instead of watching the GOP wage a war, how about setting the damn narrative before they do? Make the GOP own their behavior.

The Survey: A Cry for Help

Then came the next reality check in the survey: Are you more or less likely to volunteer for and/or donate to the Democratic Party and/or a Democratic candidate since seeing Democrats’ response to the Trump administration?

I picked a little less likely, but now that I think about it, I should have picked the stronger response. Why? Because I’m tired of mediocrity. If I wanted to watch someone trip over his own tongue and telepathically beg “please stop,” I’d rewatch the 2024 U.S. vice presidential debate. A self-deprecating good guy like Coach Tim Walz, who values truth, is no match for the Rock ’em Sock ’em antics of an arrogant shapeshifter like JD Vance, whose biggest concern was avoiding fact-checks.

FFS! Democrats have had years—years—to learn how to fight fire with fire. And yet, here we are, still getting the crap beaten out of us. Debates are not about winning on policy; they’re about controlling the moment.

MoveOn asked if Democrats should follow congressional norms or take aggressive action to block Trump’s agenda. I selected take aggressive action. The fact that this is even a question shows how little fight the Democratic Party elders have left in them.

Republicans aren’t pondering whether they should be polite. They never have. And yet, Democrats are still worshipping bipartisanship like it’s a Victorian virtue and not a relic of a political era that died with flip phones.

Wrong Fight, Wrong Time

MoveOn also asked: What matters more, policy positions or willingness to push back against Trump? I chose willingness to push back. Because we can’t even have a policy debate if we lose democracy. This isn’t about tax plans or healthcare reform. It’s about whether we still get to vote in a few years. If Democratic leaders in Congress don’t get that, they’re more out of touch than I thought.

MAGAts have spent their entire lives learning how to get around rules they don’t like. And let’s be real—any rule that keeps them from getting their way is a rule they don’t like. They don’t compromise. From the minute they uttered their first words as a child, they learned that “no” didn’t mean no. They don’t care about boundaries. They don’t care about history. They don’t care about facts. They just don’t care.

And us? We’ve been raised to play by the rules—conditioned to be civil, to walk the straight line. Democrats have a deep sense of right and wrong, rooted in social justice. But that very instinct—the drive to “be good”—is precisely why we struggle to anticipate and counter the worst. We simply don’t think in terms of just how low the other side is willing to go.

Gasp! How Dare You!?

It’s time to stop being surprised when the GOP pulls another dirty trick. Expect it. Plan for it. And for once, beat them to it. If we know they’ll cry election fraud no matter what, let’s have a full-scale, preemptive PR war mockingly calling out their voter suppression tactics before they even open their mouths. If we know they’ll fearmonger about crime, hit them first with the actual data and own the law-and-order narrative. Democrats must expose GOP tactics long before election night. Stop waiting for them to define the playing field.

Culture wars are a trap; flip them against Republicans. Instead of just reacting to the insanity, paint the GOP more clearly so every voter can see, whether they want to or not. The GOP is the party of authoritarian overreach. Frame them as big government extremists controlling speech, families, and education. They want to dictate what people can read, how families can exist, and whose votes count. Democrats need to stop treating these issues as side battles and start tying them to the larger GOP agenda.

Get in the Damn Fight

I’ve been a registered Democrat since I turned 18, and my beliefs aligned with the party long before that. I’ve donated. I’ve volunteered. I’ve done my part. But I’m tired of feeling like the only ones actually putting up a fight are voters like me. Our elected Democratic officials must fight for the soul of the country. Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight, for God’s sake!

Democrats, here’s your wake-up call: You cannot out-decorum a party that has abandoned decorum. You cannot shame the shameless. You cannot town-hall your way out of fascism. Either you fight fire with fire or step aside and let someone braver do what must be done.

And for the love of all things holy, Democratic orgs should stop sending me surveys asking if my party is doing enough. If you have to ask, the answer is already no. But you knew that already, didn’t you?