The Great Paralysis: Why Democrats Still Can’t Fight Trump
They won't fight for change because they don't want change.
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The Great Paralysis: Why Democrats Still Can’t Fight Trump
The dynamics of American politics haven’t just continued since the inauguration; they have accelerated. Democrats have not gotten bolder. They have grown weaker, retreating further into paralysis. Trump has not slowed down; he’s going harder.
We are seeing this weakness play out in real-time. Right now, Chuck Schumer is already maneuvering to get the Senate Dems to cave to Trump and fund the government without demanding any concessions. It is a pre-emptive surrender, and a perfect distillation of the core crisis: Democrats are unable to fight because they refuse to admit that the system is totally broken.
They persist in defending an economic order that takes from the poor and gives to the rich, because they are slaves to that system. They just want the extraction done kinder and gentler, with decency and grace.
They defend the economic structures that relegate people to daily struggle, while pretending they want to help them get ahead. People want to thrive. And they want a country they can be proud of—something that feels impossible as we watch our government actively participate in a genocide, arming Israel and vetoing any efforts at the UN to curtail their genocidal campaign.
Do Dems have a new vision? An economic agenda? Are they fighting an ideological battle for the hearts and minds of America? No. They are waiting, hoping for a return to a “normal” that created this crisis in the first place.
When you look at the weakness and the moral bankruptcy of the current Democratic party, understand this: They cannot fight Trump because they don’t really want to.
For years, Democrats have clung to the same exhausted message: Trump is bad. Trump is dangerous. Trump is breaking everything. They call him a threat to democracy, a criminal, an existential danger to the world. And yet—he keeps winning. He keeps consolidating power. He keeps getting stronger.
Why?
Because Democrats still don’t actually have an alternative to offer. That remains the dirty secret of American politics. They aren’t fighting Trumpism in any real sense because they don’t fundamentally disagree with him on the biggest issues of power, economics, and governance. They don’t want to stop the corporate takeover of the state; they just want it done more politely, with better PR.
The Persistence of Paralysis
Democrats and their consultant ecosystem want you to believe they are fighting. They flood the airwaves with hand-wringing speeches, file doomed lawsuits, and issue increasingly hysterical warnings that “democracy is on the brink.”
But what are they actually doing? We hear from the Ezra Kleins of the world that Democrats are powerless, a helpless minority caucus. But this narrative of impotence is a lie. They are not some powerless heap of officials; they are a party that refuses to lead. They could be a resistance, a renaissance. They could start by taking accountability for their part in how we got here.
We haven’t seen a bold new agenda. We haven’t seen an ideological battle. We haven’t seen them admit that the economic and democratic system is fundamentally broken. Instead, they persist.
They persist in their paralysis, and the public can see it clearly. This isn’t just an illusion; it’s a statistical reality. Fresh polling from CNN reveals that Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to be seen as the party of strong leaders and the party that gets things done, in large part because most Democrats don’t even believe that’s true of their own party.
The prevailing strategy, embodied by the upcoming capitulation on government funding, is still “strategic retreat.” Just avoid the shutdown, let Trump win the immediate battles, and hope to eventually restore the pre-Trump “normal”—a normal that was already failing most Americans, and a normal that a majority of Americans now believe is gone for good. For the first time in nearly a decade of polling, more than half of the country says its best days are already behind it.
This isn’t a party that’s fighting Trump. It’s a party that’s adjusting to him.
The “Save Democracy” Message is Dead
For years, Democrats have played the “Trump is destroying democracy” card. It’s failing now more than ever.
Why? Because most Americans already know democracy is broken.
Gerrymandering means their votes barely count. Citizens United lets billionaires buy elections.1 Super PACs launder dark money into politics. Supreme Court justices take unlimited billionaire gifts with no consequences. People already live in a country where their government doesn’t reflect their will.
Furthermore, the moral high ground Democrats try to claim on democracy is collapsing under the weight of their foreign policy. How can you fight for democracy at home while funding atrocities abroad?
So when Democrats scream “Trump is breaking democracy”, the response is: “What democracy?”
And just as importantly, the response is: “Who is going to fix the economy, my cost of living, and the crime in my neighborhood?” On these fronts, the Democratic message isn’t just failing, it’s non-existent. Are they fighting to win the message as public attitudes shift on issues like immigration? No, they seem content to be indistinguishable from their opponents. Politics is a hard slog if you have no ideas to sell, and the numbers show this failure is a catastrophe. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows voters trust the Republican party over Democrats by massive margins on the issues that define their daily lives:
On the economy, Republicans hold a 10-point advantage.
On crime, they have a stunning 20-point lead (40% to 20%).
On immigration, they lead by 18 points (40% to 22%).
Why Democrats Won’t Offer a Real Alternative
Democrats and Republicans still agree on too much when it comes to economic power. They have different styles, different rhetoric, different culture war battles—but their core worldview overlaps in key ways:
Globalization & Free Trade – Both parties pushed every corporate trade deal that gutted American industry.
Privatization & Deregulation – Since Carter, Democrats have been dismantling the New Deal state, outsourcing public goods to corporate profiteers.
Markets are GOD – Democrats worship the market as much as Republicans do, embracing the vision of limited government.
This decades-long consensus has left the public justifiably disgusted with both options. This is no longer a fringe opinion. When CNN asked Americans whether Democrats or Republicans have the right priorities, the overwhelming winner was “Neither.” That’s the view of a staggering 42% of respondents, a higher number than either party. That is the political vacuum that Trump fills.
A Leadership in Denial
And what is the Democratic leadership’s response to this electoral freefall? Complete and utter denial.
On MSNBC this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was confronted with these disastrous polling numbers. His response was to wave them away. “Even though Democrats’ numbers are low,” Schumer said, “that’s fine because they’re still higher than that of Republicans.”
The host, to his credit, was forced to correct him on live television: “But the polls don’t show that, though.”
This is the Great Paralysis in a nutshell: a leadership class that refuses to see the crisis right in front of them, content to manage the decline of their own party rather than fight for a new vision for the country.
The Question of Ownership
At its core, this is about a fundamental question: Whose country is this?
Are these our roads, bridges, airports, power grids, and AI systems? Or are they just assets to be managed by the political elite and sold off to the highest bidder?
Right now, Trump and the billionaire class are answering that question in real time—they are seizing the keys to the kingdom. And the Democratic response? Not to stop them, but to suggest a more “orderly” approach to the looting.
They won’t fight for public ownership.
They won’t fight to take back what was stolen.
They won’t fight for a government that actually builds.
So when you wonder why our current crop of Democrats can’t fight Trump, know it’s because they don’t really want to.
If We the People take over the Democratic Party or the Libertarian Party as you suggested, one key element of building popular democracy must be to amend the Constitution so that corporations do not have constitutional rights.
The following is an update of a previous post:
What we need is a series of clear, people focused policy statements that end the takeover of government by corporations, which is fascism. Here is a sample:
1. Corporations are not people and cannot be allowed to finance campaigns or buy access to elected members of congress.
2. Universal health care - no one left out.
3. Expanded child care and improved education for all.
4. Raising the minimum wage, variable by cost of living in each state, but a minimum of $15
5. Carbon taxes to end the use of fossil fuels, and those taxes used to finance the transition to electric energy.
6. Improve transport system that reduces dependence on cars and trucks. No internal combustion engines after 2035.
7. Elimination of lead and other toxins in our water systems.
8. Tougher regulation on chemical pollution that kills bees, birds and us. The precautionary principle should have priority. You can't sell until you prove it does no harm.
9. A new civilian conservation core to actively restore degraded environments and seal up the damaging leaks from old mines and wells. This last paid for by the companies (and people) that caused the damage as far as possible.
10. Graduated income tax, with a top rate for the rich approaching 90%
11. No cap on social security payroll tax. The wealthy continue to pay 7.25% on all their income, including stocks.
These are just a few things that require pushing. Others can add more with better clarity. We must have plain, simple, people and environment centered policies or the entire global system will cease to function. We are already seeing signs of global disfunction happening now. Gaza, Sudan, and Afghanistan are symptoms, as are the collapse of coral reefs and tropical rainforests. These are not disconnected, and the fault lies with the governments of wealthy nations, foremost among them, the United States.