Hey Democrats: Maybe Now *Is* the Time to Fight?

Trump is racing to dismantle the rule of law before Democrats can make him unpopular enough so that other institutions can push back against him. Do the Dems understand this?

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks alongside democratic senators to press in the U.S. Capitol on March 06, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

1. Asymmetry

“Democrats should stop taking unpopular positions.” You have heard this suggestion before, even from me. And as far as these things go, it’s sound advice. Popularism is generally a sound strategy.

Or at least it used to be. The Biden administration did loads of popular stuff:

• The most pro-family tax credit in American history.

• A massive infrastructure program.

• Sensible gun reform.

• The restoration of domestic chip manufacturing.

• The successful rollout of the COVID vaccine.

• Supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.

These were the big ticket items from the Biden administration and all of them were fairly popular. Yet Biden’s favorability ended up at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.¹

I propose to you that “popularism” no longer works as a mode of operation in American politics. It has been supplanted by the power of what we can call either “leadership” or “demagoguery,” depending on the valance you want to give it.

And I can prove it to you with one chart: