Caffeinated Politics

Some Democrats are already tying themselves in knots searching for the perfect “message” for 2026. Should it be inflation and price pressures? Should it be the controversial military attacks on Venezuela and maritime trade? Should it be some new economic slogan or kitchen‑table issue framed in a way consultants can test‑market it in suburban focus groups?

But here’s the uncomfortable truth many Democrats don’t want to say out loud: The American public shouldn’t need a new message. The message is already blaring like a five‑alarm siren.

The country is watching a sitting president wage an open assault on the institutions that hold the republic together. Many commentators have noted that Donald Trump has challenged the legitimacy of the federal government, the Constitution, the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary, and even the fundamental principle that laws apply equally to leaders and citizens. Observers across the political spectrum have described this as an unprecedented challenge to constitutional norms.

And yet, some Democrats seem convinced that voters won’t act unless they’re handed a fresh slogan.

This is the tragedy of the moment.

The threat to American democracy should be more than enough to mobilize every Democratic voter in the country. Every independent voter. Every Republican voter who grasps the necessity and urgency of our time.

This administration has: 

• Ignored court orders and attempted to undermine the judiciary’s power to hold the executive branch accountable.
• Issued unconstitutional executive orders that threaten the freedom to vote and our nation’s guarantee of birthright citizenship.
• Intimidated citizens who are critical of the president’s agenda.
• Attempted to assert control over our elections that is reserved for the states and Congress.
• Dismantled ethics rules and fired watchdogs within the executive branch.
• Threatened the sovereignty of states and cities by deploying federal agents and the National Guard to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
• Begun an unprecedented effort to amass private data about Americans, often in violation of law.
• Attempted to seize control of independent agencies that don’t fall under the authority of the executive branch; and more. 

No party should need to invent a clever midterm theme when the stakes are this stark. The banner headlines are already written in letters a mile high: the foundations of American governance are under strain, and the people responsible for enabling it are asking for two more years of power.

Every election cycle has its issues—prices, foreign policy, taxes, trade. Those debates matter. But 2026 is not a normal midterm. It is a referendum on whether the country still values the rule of law, constitutional limits, and the idea that no leader is above the system.

If Democrats feel compelled to craft a new message, it should be this: You don’t need a new reason to vote. You already have the biggest one imaginable.

The fact that some voters still need to be persuaded—after years of turmoil, division, and institutional strain—is a commentary on how numb the public has become to political chaos. But numbness is not an excuse. It’s a warning.

Democrats don’t need to reinvent their pitch. They need to remind Americans that the stakes are not abstract; they are real. They are not theoretical. They are not distant. They are here, right now, in the form of rump’s MAGA political movement that many analysts argue has shown open hostility to constitutional guardrails.

If that isn’t enough to bring Democrats to the polls in November 2026, then no message—no slogan, no ad campaign, no consultant‑approved talking point—ever will be.

I can not be plainer spoken than what I have posted in this column.