Watching the medterms shape up, I get the impression that Democrats are on two separate tracks, yet the two are joined at the hip. One was the fear that Trump was destroying democracy to be replaced by something more akin to fascism, and the other was affordability and other related pocketbook issues. They are just separate sides of the same coin: Trump the authoritarian believes he can ignore the economic pain of the masses to stay in power because he is so powerful. Tyrants and dictators have always believed they can ignore the unrest of the masses they govern because they gain the power, not from the voters, but from control of the reins of force. In mid-August in Michigan, rumbles of complaint about the cost of gas were met by Trump with "suck it up" .Trump has called "affordability" a "hoax", a "con job".
JD Vance was reported to tell a Florida political candidate with affiliation with Democratic Socialism that she did not belong in America. Aside from his insult to the First Amendment, it was an obvious appeal to Cuban-Americans in that state, and reminded them that they fled to America because of socialism. I am no Democratic Socialist, and I object to replacing capitalism with that failed economic system. However, Socialism as practiced in Scandinavian countries is also firmly grounded in democracy. It works for them, and polls show them among the happiest in the world, and it works well for their traditions and sociology. What is different about those from Cuba, Latin America, and others that sparked the surge to the US in the past recent history is socialism and /or capitalism combined with dictatorship forms of government wth disdain for human rights, punishment of dissenters, rule of a strong man instead of the rule of law, and control of courts and police powers. Leaders were stuffing their pockets, or so devoted to retaining power that they failed to deal with poverty. That created the exit from their country of those seeking "freedom", freedom from poverty and freedom from oppression of their human rights. Desperate people with no hope for the future take desperate measures.
When dictatorships are combined with the captains of private industry and the military elsewhere, we have called that fascism, but the instruments and methods of governing by a dictator are similar even if the ideology is communism or a form of socialism. Elections are for show; the strong hand of the leader dictates who, where ,and how the elections happen. When the agenda is set, and government chosen that is responsive to the people, directly or through their elected representatives, in free and fair elections, we call that one a democracy.
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/angie-nixon-jd-vance-ashley-moody-florida-senate-october-2026/
(My preferred economic system favors "capitalism with a social safety net, in case you wonder. No one goes bankrupt being sick or giving birth; everybody can have an education; no one is left on the streets. Basic human rights" as expressed so well in a recent post I saw.)
Others abroad are watching us closely, and how they view us may come as a shock. They are seeing how this midterm is unfolding and are disturbed. How some in the German press see it, MAGA is on the fascist track, offset or challenged by a revolt against Trump's economy that favors the rich at the expense of a struggling middle class. They see the connection between the two tracks, too.
From my prior post: https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2026/09/once-us-was-model-to-world-of-how.html
Until recently, and since my junior year abroad in Berlin in the late 1950's, a unified Germany had sought to construct a liberal democracy using the US as a model (though the parliamentary system differs). Der Spiegel's editorial expressed fear that the rest of Germany was just hand-wringing, with no idea what to do when the far-right political party, the AfD, won a state election in Saxony. Were the neo Nazis reviving? AfD has sometimes been accused of promoting fascist governance. (Der Spiegel is the German magazine version of Time or Newsweek, centrist) The new model of how to stop this AfD march to more power was: brace yourself- the resistance to Trump in the USA, and in particular, the immediate reaction of his banning reporters from CNN, MSNBC, and Politico, followed by the boycott of other media in solidarity to even cover the White House. (Update: the judge reviewing the suit filed against Trump by the banned networks temporarily restored their press passes.)
The Der Spiegel opinion piece was a shocker to me, too, that Trump was even viewed in the same category as the AfD, and that instead of the government of the US being the role model for how democracy should be run and act, it was the USA's local grassroots resistance movement to Trump and his policies that was now a model. If anyone understands "far right", or fascism, it is Germany. There is a great fear among many there of its resurgence.
How does Der Spiegel see Trump and his regime in the US? "Compared to the situation in the United States, the far right has not made significant inroads in Germany. .... In the US, by contrast, Trump holds the most powerful office in the world – for a second time. He is surrounded by a nationalist circle of advisers, backed by majorities in both chambers of Congress, supported by paramilitary police units, and secure in the knowledge that three of the nine justices on the Supreme Court were chosen by him."
The Der Spiegel opinion piece was inspired by examples of US resistance, such as the immediate boycott by unbanned White House reporters also refusing to cover the White House media pool when Trump attempted to ban CNN, MSNow, and Politico, because he did not like how they reported his news. Also cited as examples of resistance in the US were the local nature of the anti-AI data centers, the Minneapolis grassroots action against ICE, and more. Der Spiegel urged those in Germany who feared the AfD to go and do likewise.
I might add that NO Kings Day on Oct. 17 is an opportunity for those in Germany to see how peaceful resistance is done, and to add their moral support to the "resistance' in the US."
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2026/08/17/michigan-gas-prices/91335542007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z1150xxp001050l001050c001050e1150xxv002267d--55--b--55--&gca-ft=170&gca-ds=soph
ihttps://derspiegel.substack.com/
https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/alternative-germany-afd-party-what-you-need-know
(My preferred economic system favors "capitalism with a social safety net, in case you wonder. No one goes bankrupt being sick or giving birth; everybody can have an education; no one is left on the streets. Basic human rights" as expressed so well in a recent post I saw.)
President Donald Trump dismissed the term "affordability" as a Democrat scam and a "con job", claiming that cost-of-living concerns are a fake narrative pushed by political opponents despite ongoing high prices for housing and groceries. [1, 2, 3]
