This past weekend, millions of Americans took part in the “No Kings” protest to voice outrage at a range of Trump’s second-term policies. Yet, these protests are unlikely to fundamentally change the landscape for his opponents in the Democratic Party.

Since Trump first entered the political realm, Democrats’ main strategy has been to oppose him often and everywhere. From the #resistance of his first term, to Joe Biden’s “restore the soul of the nation” message in 2020, to Kamala Harris’s ‘protect democracy’ rhetoric, today’s Democrats risk becoming more defined by their opposition to Trump than any positive vision of their own. Even after losing to him again in 2024, the party’s gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia this year are still making him a central part of their campaigns.

But while it’s possible that anti-Trump sentiment could boost Democrats in these fall elections — especially in Virginia — it’s also clear that this strategy has diminishing returns. Despite employing anti-Trump and “protect democracy” messaging for years, the party hasn’t exactly improved its standing; often, the opposite has happened. If not for a global pandemic, Trump likely would have won again in 2020. Even as Democrats won some key high-profile races in the 2022 midterms, the country shifted Rightward overall. And last year, the bottom finally fell out for the party.

Now, as Trump’s approval rating has taken a big hit, Democrats have been unable to capitalize. They continue to suffer from their own abysmal ratings — worse than even those of Trump or the Republicans — including among all-important independent voters. And though doubling down on anti-Trump rhetoric might rouse the party’s base, the results of these recent elections suggest most voters have already made up their minds about him. Many remaining swing voters simply aren’t swayed by talk of his “threats to democracy”. Worse still, bigger-picture trends portend pain for Democrats in national elections for the foreseeable future if they can’t broaden their coalition and win back at least some of the working-class support that they’ve hemorrhaged in the Trump era.

One place they might start is refocusing on issues where they have an advantage. Though shutting down the government rarely pays dividends for the party that instigates it, Democrats were at least wise to use healthcare issues as their motivation. Not only do Americans trust congressional Democrats over Republicans to handle healthcare, but a recent KFF poll found that they overwhelmingly support an extension of Obamacare subsidies — the issue at the center of the shutdown. This includes even significant majorities of Republicans (59%) and MAGA Republicans, specifically (57%). Moreover, if the subsidies are not extended and premiums go up, the public is ready to blame Republicans and President Trump more than Democrats.

However, as Ruy Teixeira has written, homing in on the healthcare issue is likely necessary but not sufficient to a Democratic renaissance. Voters want to see a broader vision of America that includes “a way forward for themselves, their families, their communities and their nation that would restore American purpose and dynamism in a chaotic, populist age.” One or two policy fixes aren’t enough.

Another issue that could help the party meet this populist moment is economic inequality. Since the pandemic, voters have consistently reported the economy and cost-of-living issues as among their biggest concerns, and they were a pivotal reason why Trump won a second time. Yet, since coming back to office, Trump has done virtually nothing to fix those issues — and plenty to exacerbate them. Voters have correspondingly soured on his handling of them.

Because inflation worsened under President Biden, Americans may be less inclined to take Democrats’ criticisms of Trump at face value. But the party might have room to maneuver when talking about inequality, an issue they have spoken eloquently about in the recent past. Many voters in 2024 identified inequality as an important voting factor, including Republicans and independents, and said it was a top issue they wanted Trump to tackle during his first 100 days in office. Nagging inflation has only made things worse, as wealthy Americans continue to spend freely while lower-income families have been forced to pull back. And though they are split on which party they think is better for the middle class, a majority continues to see the Republican Party as the party of the rich, offering Democrats another opening.

Pivoting to issues that everyday Americans are focused on may be a difficult task for Democrats. Trump has made himself a constant presence in daily life, and as he pushes for more power in his second term, many Democratic voters have increasingly demanded that their leaders fight him harder. So far, the latter has largely obliged. But for a party that surely wants to become more competitive at the national level in the years to come, they’re eventually going to need more than that — and likely sooner than later.

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Michael Baharaeen is chief political analyst at The Liberal Patriot substack.

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