How the Democrats' midterm wave shows a path back to the presidency
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wave → show → presidency
Pocketbook populism that worked in red and swing states could be message in 2028 post-Trump election
Although thrilled by their sweeping defeat of U.S. President Donald Trump's Republican Party in the midterms, Democrats remain cautious about jumping to conclusions of what it could mean for the next presidential election campaign.
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it → work → campaign
Still, the dramatic scale of the victory has some seeing a potential path back to the White House in 2028.
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some → have → 2028
The Democrats won the popular vote for House districts by 13 percentage points, the biggest margin for either party in 50 years.
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Democrats → win → years
They ousted Republicans in Senate races in the red states of South Carolina, Texas and Kansas, which haven't sent a Democratic senator to Washington since 1998, 1988 and 1932, respectively.
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which → oust → 1998
Strategists are busy analyzing both what went so wrong for the Republicans and what went right for the Democrats.
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what → analyze → Democrats
If there's one consistent thread in this midterm post-mortem, it's that cost of living concerns made all the difference.
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concerns → be → difference
That's why leading Democrats believe the pocketbook populism that worked at the midterms in both swing states and red states is a message that could work in the next presidential election.
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that → lead → election
Mo Elleithee, former spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), says his party "isn't always the best at message discipline," but its candidates stayed solidly on-message in the midterm campaign.
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candidates → say → campaign
"Candidate after candidate, the most progressive to the most moderate, from Kansas and Texas to Maine and Michigan, every Democratic candidate was talking about cost of living and corruption, and, in many cases, tying those two things together," Elleithee told PBS News Hour.
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Elleithee → talk → Hour
'What the future looks like'
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future → look → What
Democrats who want to run for president will need to show voters their vision for the post-Trump era, Elleithee said.
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Elleithee → want → era
"For the past decade, what we have mainly been doing is playing opposition to Donald Trump," he said.
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he → do → Trump
"Now we can paint a picture of what the future looks like.
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future → paint → what
"
For a decade, Democrats have been searching for ways to win back the many working-class voters who had abandoned them in favour of Trump.
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who → search → Trump
Their winning candidates in the midterms in red and swing states focused relentlessly on pocketbook issues in a way that could seize the terrain of economic populism back from the Trump GOP.
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that → win → GOP
It's top versus bottom," the Texas Democrat senator-elect James Talarico said frequently from the very launch of his campaign.
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Talarico → say → campaign
James Talarico, the Democratic senator-elect for Texas, thanked supporters in Austin after his win on Tuesday.
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Talarico → thank → Tuesday
DNC chairman Ken Martin says the midterm victories were in part a repudiation of Trump, but also a consequence of Democrats talking about affordability.
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Democrats → say → affordability
"Our candidates across the board ran for something, not against something," he told NPR.
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he → run → NPR
"They gave people a sense of a positive vision of what Democrats would do while we're in power."
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we → give → power
The three priorities that Democrat leaders have said they intend to pursue immediately once the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3 are all aimed at bringing down costs for Americans: repealing Trump's tariffs, restoring health insurance subsidies cut by the Republicans and ending the war in Iran that triggered big jumps in fuel prices.
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that → say → prices
Midterm results shift electoral college map
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results → shift → map
Midterm wins at the state level mean next year will see Democrat governors in power in all seven swing states that Trump won in 2024: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
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Trump → mean → 2024
Democrats also now envision Ohio, which has voted solidly for Trump in three straight elections, to be a potential target in 2028 after midterm wins for both governor and Senate.
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which → envision → governor
Some are even dreaming that Texas, with its shifting demographics and its 38 electoral college votes, may no be longer a lost cause, after a Democrat sweep of statewide races.
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Texas → dream → races
It remains to be seen how long the Democratic Party's midterm-fuelled unity will last once the fight for the 2028 nomination begins.
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fight → remain → nomination
That could start as soon as next spring, given the track record of would-be presidential candidates announcing their intentions roughly a year and a half before election day.
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candidates → start → day
Trump names Stephen Miller as new chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles after midterm defeat
- Analysis
JD Vance blames Iran war for midterm thumping.
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Vance → name → thumping
Is he really blaming Trump?
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he → blame → Trump
The dominant theme in the nomination race could be the competing visions of centrist and progressive Democrats.
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theme → compete → Democrats
Progressive icon Bernie Sanders — the independent U.S. senator from Vermont who the Democratic Party spurned in 2016 as presidential nominee in favour of establishment candidate Hillary Clinton — argues the midterm results show there's only one route to victory.
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results → spurn → victory
"We can win over millions of Republicans and independents who are struggling economically if we focus on the issues that are important," Sanders told Politico Playbook this week.
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Sanders → win → Playbook
Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigned for the Michigan Democrat Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, at a rally in Grand Rapids on Oct. 25.
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Sanders → campaign → Oct.
Sanders said Democrats need to have the courage to tell big-money donors, "Thank you very much for your help, but right now we are going to focus on the needs of the working families of this country, whether you like it or not."
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you → say → it
Warnings abound for the Democrats about what lessons they should and shouldn't draw from the midterm result and how it may apply to 2028.
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it → abound → 2028
David Plouffe, who served as Barack Obama's campaign manager in 2008 and advised Kamala Harris in 2024, says the Democrats can't count on voter sentiment in this year's midterms being the same in the next presidential election.
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sentiment → serve → election
"I would say this was a vote against Trump more than a vote for the Democratic Party.
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this → say → Party
Our brand is still quite weak," Plouffe told a post-midterm forum at Harvard University's Institute of Politics.
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Plouffe → tell → Politics
U.S. midterm results won't deter Trump from 'bombastic, over-the-top' style, says strategist
- Analysis
Ohio and Texas went from red to blue in the midterms but may not stay that way in 2028
Mark Leibovich, a journalist who has extensively covered the party's Trump-era struggles, has a message similar to Plouffe's.
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who → deter → Plouffe
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
