Welcome to a special edition of How We Win, a Guardian opinion series with leading thinkers, offering bold ideas for America’s political future.
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We → welcome → future
Bust up the broligarchy
Democrats should use their mandate to be Democrats again.
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Democrats → bust → mandate
That means taking on concentrated wealth and economic power – the oligarchy – with a wealth tax on multimillionaires and billionaires.
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That → mean → multimillionaires
Labor law reforms to make it easier for workers to form unions and harder for employers to fire them for doing so.
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employers → make → them
– Robert Reich, former US secretary of labor and a Guardian US columnist
Smoke out the ghost of the Confederacy
The majority of voters repudiated the corrupt, racist Republican party that made life unaffordable and committed crimes with impunity.
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life → smoke → impunity
To keep people from their pitchforks, Democrats need to use this singular power for transformation, not restoration.
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Democrats → keep → transformation
We’re not going to just move forward, hold hands and get along.
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We → go → hands
We have to vanquish the Maga spirit to ensure the ghost of the Confederacy can no longer haunt and terrorize our country.
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ghost → have → country
First, Democrats should unleash hell in the name of justice.
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Democrats → unleash → justice
This means investigations of the Jeffrey Epstein class, Elon Musk, Pete Hegseth, Jared Kushner, Robert F Kennedy Jr and Stephen Miller.
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This → mean → class
Second, Democrats must end the trade wars and the failed, disastrous war in Iran while not getting outflanked by Republicans in rejecting Israel’s interference in our politics.
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Democrats → end → politics
And how about Medicare for All?
– Wajahat Ali, editor of The Left Hook and co-host of The Democracy-ish Podcast
Make the lawyers pay
One of the most insidious aspects of Trump’s second term has been his aggressive destruction of the rule of law.
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One → make → law
Trump’s weaponization of the Department of Justice to instill fear in his political opponents has eroded the public’s trust in our system of justice.
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weaponization → instill → justice
With their clear mandate from voters, Democrats must immediately launch investigations into the actions of Trump’s former lawyer Alina Habba, former US attorney Lindsey Halligan, US attorney Jeanine Pirro and other US attorneys and federal prosecutors who furthered Trump’s intimidation campaign.
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who → launch → campaign
US attorney general Todd Blanche, who allegedly quarterbacked several of these illegal and unethical prosecutions, should be investigated first.
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who → quarterback → prosecutions
After the 2021 attack on the Capitol, at least 20 million people tuned in to watch the first hearing of the January 6 select committee.
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people → tune → committee
Public hearings would allow Americans to witness the extent of these lawyers’ complicity in following the whims of the president to pursue vindictive indictments and prosecutions.
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Americans → allow → indictments
The all-out assault on the rule of law by Trump and his justice department must be stopped.
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assault → stop → Trump
It should be a top priority for the Democrats as they begin the 120th Congress.
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they → begin → Congress
– Katie Phang, independent journalist, trial lawyer and political analyst
Root out corruption
The most crucial issue for 2026 voters was not grocery prices, or the Iran war or immigration.
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issue → root → voters
And that’s exactly the issue Democrats should start on when they gain control of Congress in January.
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they → ’ → January
The first order of business should be to pass a law banning all members of Congress and the president from trading individual stocks.
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order → pass → stocks
(Trump has made more than 25,000 individual stock trades since returning to the White House.)
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Trump → make → House
Such a bill should pass with overwhelming – and potentially veto-proof – bipartisan support.
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bill → pass → support
What better way for Democrats to begin their majority than to deliver real reform on an issue of importance to voters?
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Democrats → begin → voters
Trump’s son-in-law is a top US negotiator on every key foreign policy issue while reportedly remaining on the dole of foreign governments.
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law → remain → governments
It’s one of the biggest corruption scandals in history.
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It → ’ → history
Kushner claims he is a volunteer, not a government official.
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he → claim → ?
That makes it difficult for him to assert executive privilege.
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him → make → privilege
– Judd Legum, founder and author of Popular Information
Do the work
First, I would caution Democrats not to consider this victory a mandate, but rather an assignment.
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victory → caution → Democrats
Voters were repulsed by Trump and his actions, but they were not writing Democrats a blank check.
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they → repulse → check
They want accountability for corruption and affirmative action toward greater equality and economic relief.
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They → want → equality
However, the “blue wave” delivered neither a filibuster-proof nor a veto-proof majority in Congress.
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wave → deliver → Congress
The goal now is to keep expectations aligned with actual opportunity and ability.
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expectations → keep → opportunity
The Aporia
