Peter Cunningham

The real crime in America today is not that a gangster has been elected to the White House but that so many others from his party are standing by and doing nothing. Republican ethics, Republican morals, and Republican conscience are now complete contradictions in terms.

Team Trump is setting the table for a golden feast of looting and self-enrichment. Crypto ventures, Saudi money going straight to his family and his businesses, and the firing of federal watchdogs are all happening in plain view and no one on the right has anything to say about it. Instead, they shrug and dutifully approve his appallingly unqualified cabinet picks. Amidst a blizzard of hateful executive orders, they are silent.

History will record the complete capitulation of Republicans to Trump. The question is, will Democrats hold them accountable at the ballot box?

In the last election cycle just a handful of Senate races and only a few dozen House races were competitive. There is more competition at the state level, but we have to start going hard at more and more members of Congress.

We only need three seats to flip the House and four to flip the Senate. Another 200,000 votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin and we would have won the White House. It’s not even close to a mandate, and it is notable that Trump’s agenda is not popular. Tax cuts for the wealthy, ending birthright citizenship, restricting abortion and abandoning climate change are all under water. As we learned on election day, however, bread and butter economics rules and we were too slow to respond to inflation.

For Democrats, that means starting fresh with a renewed push around supporting working families and a sharp message about how Republicans will always screw the little guy. The evidence is everywhere from the staggering level of economic inequity to the increasingly elusive American Dream of a good paying job, an affordable home, affordable and reliable health care, free or low-cost education for the kids, and a dignified, secure retirement.

We will never be running against Donald Trump again, but we will be running against Republicans. Over and over again, Democrats must remind people how Republicans have screwed them. Instead of railing against the madness from the White House, we need to put much more pressure on Congress and Governors.

Do they really want to cripple farmers by deporting agricultural workers?

Do they really want to punish our two biggest trading partners with tariffs?

Do they really want to saddle the American people with more debt?

Do they really want to put school children at risk by making vaccines optional?

Do they really want to eliminate FEMA and leave it to states to cope with disasters?

Get them on the record and make them choke on their words.