Cracks in the MAGA base and lessons Democrats can learn from Democratic Socialists

A bevvy of polls this past week consistently show that Trump's approval ratings are sinking to his core base of true believers and core followers. https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/steve-kornacki-new-poll-shows-cracks-forming-in-trump-s-maga-base-254388805882 

 It remains to be seen how many of those left in Trump's 2024 winning coalition will suck it up like good patriots. The conclusions of a variety of pollsters are that some pretty angry and disillusioned MAGA voters feel Trump failed them to make good on the cost-of-living issues and feel he lied to them. However, there is also a word of warning for Democrats in the MAGA unrest. Democrats could also fail to deliver, as well, if they ever get both houses of Congress and the Oval Office again. The lesson is: do not make promises you know you cannot keep. The success of Democrat Socialists in the primaries contain some very good pointers for traditional Democrats as well.

The "old 'house built on sand is the first to perish ' "is as good as any old saying ever devised. That sand is what Trump promised to do what he did not have the power to do in 2024. He then doubled down on the inevitable failure by shoveling more sand into a developing sinkhole of quicksand while blaming Biden for it. (Given Biden left the economy with 3 percent inflation, now creeping up, and under $4 a gallon gas seems to have been conveniently forgotten by MAGA. )Wth Trump, the buck never stops at the Oval Office desk.  

The issues that poll the worst are the management of the economy (the poor get poorer, and the oligarchs and the Trump family get richer). Even foreign policy, launching the Iran war, is hitting the part of the economy l already left in the dust, and most of them get the connection. In the price of oil per barrel raising costs to farmers). The tax cuts to benefit the rich obviously did not trickle down to the rest of us.  Subverting Obamacare and cutting health insurance coverage do not lower, but raise the cost of insurance. (Clever of the GOP to implement it after the midterms, but a warning will be mailed just before Nov. 3.) Launching foreign war ads to the cost of groceries, as well.  

Bitten once, voters are not inclined to be bitten again soon. They rightly should be sceptical of anyone of any political stripe promising what they cannot deliver. The Democrats need to be specific about solutions that also sound plausible and limited to the doable.   A vague insinuation that voting for Democrats, instead,  will simply reverse the trend and punish the person causing it may sound appealing, but those who are specific about exactly what they plan to do and have the power and ability to do it will have the most credibility. The most disillusioned are the younger voters who have the sword of Damocles of student debt hanging over their ability to buy a home or even make day-to-day ends meet. It would be wise for Democrats to address these problems, too, if they fear the disillusioned younger generation flees our form of democracy and the wake of a run-amok capitalism that they feel failed them.

A reader responded that at least Trump is transparent when it comes to potential charges: what he is doing is criminal or in violation of the Constitution. Careful there: Transparency with Trump is not because he is honest. With him, it is a strategy to make you think that since it is in the open, it is not a crime. 1) We do not know what or if, anything else is not disclosed or if he is hiding it; especially any tit-for-tat, quid pro quo, and bribery. 2) he has immunity from prosecution thanks to SCOTUS. 3) He knows his immunity ends when he leaves office so he is trying to get immunity from IRS audits and other potential prosecutions.

There is much handwringing and fear permeating moderates in the Democratic Party, and all in MAGAland. Instead of quaking, there are some lessons for all to learn from these upstarts of Democratic Socialists (DA). Democratic Socialists have had some success in primaries, and here is what Democrats should take a page from their playbook. They are plainspoken, ID the winning issues, and give specific achievable solutions. Democratic Socialists have not promised blue sky, but they have been very specific in what they promise, while sounding feasible, too. (Yes, that current DSA message eclipses some of their very unpopular platform planks). They proposed Medicare for all, an easy-to-understand solution to the cost of health care, for example.  They propose building more low-income housing and flooding the market with availability and competition to lower rent costs or the ability to buy the American dream of homeownership., They propose fighting greedy corporations who try to buy up all of the housing they can to control the market, both purchase price and rental. That is another concept voters can grasp.   Getting the heck out of futile wars of choice in the Middle East may be a tough one, given the predicted Iranian chokehold on Hormuz. Simply declaring victory and withdrawing will leave Iran having the Western world slung over the high price per barrel for years is not a good outcome. 

Update 8/31/26  Some on the right are trying to brand all Democrats as "communists". While the planks of the Democratic Socialists of America are closer to Marx than to FDR, their embrace of the GAZA issue, their impact has been limited, mostly in local or district races. Even many who look or talk like them on some issues are quick to say they do not agree with all of DSA's specific planks. However, their success has given MAGA a talking point and a scare tactic.

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/democratic-socialist-candidates-show-gains-but-limited-reach-in-2026/.

Before falling into the trap of swallowing the MAGA line hook, line, and sinker, understand that the DSA appeal centers on affordability, which cuts across ideological and practical concerns for many voters. Consider and accept or reject each candidate's solutions to affordability concerns, Part of DSA's success is that they have been specific in their proposals, limited to popular legislation like Medicare for All and building more low-income housing. Both moderate Democrats and Republicans have failed to provide their plans to tackle the affordability issue, relying instead on anti-this or anti-that.

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However, the price of groceries and gas at the pump was never totally in Trump's power to make good on his promises, but they were in his power to make it worse, which he has done. We do not have a centrally planned economy, so "Zap", he could not edict prices, but he could monkey with elements that would affect grocery prices a bit. Instead, what he did do was tariffs, and Hormuz caused prices to rise. Voters seem to get that. He is right now proposing to flood the market with Argentine hamburger meat to force the price of beef down. In so doing, he is really ticking off ranchers and agriculture-related MAGAs within his base. I feel their pain living in an ag community, and I feel mine at the grocery store, too. 

Update 9/4/2026: Not only did Trump tick off his rural ag supporters by intending to flood the markets with Argentine beef (and Brazilian beef that went uninspected) earlier, he had cut the program to inspect beef coming into the USA. Imported beef must meet the same standards and pass inspection for contaminants as domestic beef; they also must meet packaging requirements and disclose the country of origin. But when those inspectors are understaffed, what then? https://www.propublica.org/article/foreign-food-safety-inspections-historic-low-fda?fbclid=IwY2xjawUHk1RwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMXNGODJTcnBwcjd3OHM1UDFzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeIk3AgXMSJ5kDzDpmpAzEiTjQPxJIBzlyFOC0hMz9LTBVjtd1SlORYCOzW1Y_aem_ufrN43wR1F7EYkLKOmOSRg

To add insult to injury, when the EU banned Brazilian beef because of evidence of antibiotic use and contamination, Trump immediately removed tariffs on imports of Brazilian beef USA, likely per Forbes, in support of his billionaire donor. Not only did Trump tick off his rural ag supporters by intending to flood the markets with Argentine beef (and Brazilian beef that went uninspected) earlier, he had cut the program to inspect beef coming into the USA. Imported beef must meet the same standards and pass inspection for contaminants as domestic beef; they also must meet packaging requirements and disclose the country of origin. But when those inspectors are understaffed, what then? https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/09/03/how-a-brazilian-billionaire-won-a-us-tariff-exemption-for-beef-the-eu-wont-buy/

The price per barrel of oil is, and never was, in Trump'scontrol. It is a commodity that is marketed worldwide, immediately sensitive to the forces of supply and demand, and under the control of oil cartels.  One part of the world sneezes, and the rest of the world, including us in America, gets sick, too. Trump has already released oil reserves, and now our reserves are among the lowest in our post WWII history.

Parts of the following also appear in my Substack and Facebook posts and comments :

Semantics:: Democrats do have a problem in messaging. They sometimes use more than 3-syllable words or words not in common usage by "ordinary" people. Trump ridiculed "affordability". Whoever used that in a conversation, he asked.. Maybe it works (and so far it has) because the first four syllables are in plain English. (affordable, get it?). The other pet peeve I have is the use of "grift".  Even I had to run to Webster's for that one to see what it encompassed. However, "grift " for sure was never used as a common term in our family, but it covers much,  from padding one's pockets, greed, to bribery and a lot of dirt in between.  Corruption comes close enough to be nearly encompassing. (Being greedy does not always result in getting rich) . Whatever both are, affordability and corruption, they are part of the same: unfairness. ...which is very much in common usage. "Fairness" brings up another overriding issue: the rich are getting very rich, and the rest of us are seeing our standard of living decrease.  There is a growing outrage that "It just ain't fair!"

"No Kings" served for a time as a substitute for Trump's non-democratic behavior and power grabs, but that sounds quaint, even if it is a non-hackle-raising accusation. Actually, the best parallel to Trump's obsession with gathering all the wealth he can while he can, issuing his own laws, ignoring laws that stand in his way, and punishing those who disobey them or him, or do not comply,  fits the "mob boss" role model the best. Since the venue is government, the best tag is "political mobster" or "political mob boss". Dictator or autocrat he may aspire to be, but he has not beaten down the lower courts totally yet. His preoccupation with vengeance, punishment,  and greed for power and wealth, only for him and those loyal to him, qualifies him as a "mob boss" the best. His corruption is in your face and in the open. The problem with tagging him as a mob boss is he does not look like one; he just acts like one.  The failure of the GOP-dominated Congress and the 6 Trump loyal justices on the Supreme Court who have not put the brakes on him, who have approved his power grabs, are this political mobster's enablers.

Democrats need a winning one word or two that describes what they are about:. How about " being fair" Update/ 7//10/2026

This November, Democrats will be mostly about: we are not Trump/MAGA. There will be those who are not this kind of GOP but would like to register their disgust with it.  When they cast a ballot, they have a choice, and if they cannot swallow Democrats either, they can either skip the line, stay home, or hold their noses. That may work in November 2026, but in 2028? How about getting a jump-start on both 2026 and 2028 and coming up with a theme that is both an implied attack on MAGA/Trump and also contains a positive message? And do it in one or two words: How about "being fair"?

(Update 7/10/2026: Here is an example of being clear on issues that was devised by my local Democratic Party...in Grand County, Colorado.  It may not have a one-word umbrella, but it is at least a step in the right direction and a political plank that local candidates can run on. https://grandcountydems.org/?utm_source=Grand%20Dems%20email%20list&utm_campaign=a20073d1d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_04_30_06_49_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-0560435747-522472729    )

That is still not enough because the credibility of such a theme depends on what and how Democrats plan to do about it. For 2026, since all politics are local, each Senate or Congressional race may be tailored to local needs and gripes. However, in 2028, Democrats had better have their act together on public policy issues, which seem fair to more than just those who register with their party.  Exactly, for example, are you going to get lower prices, less corruption, and less chaos fairly? 

I proposed using "fairness" as a theme almost a year ago. Since then, there has been a lot of political water under the bridge that makes it even more relevant today.  It is even more true today as both an attack on MAGA and a vision of a positive value around which public policy and a party platform can be shaped.  It is about bringing fairness back to America.

Public policy words like cost, chaos, and corruption fit neatly into both an attack and a vision of the future.   It is especially true as the self-dealing pocket-stuffing Trump and family ask to be exempted from IRS scrutiny and laws in their outrageous slush fund proposal to reward criminal activity committee on their behalf, from J6ers to Tina Peters, a county clerk. The stigmatizing of concentration camps of those who MAGA see as undesirables in our country, whether they had followed the law or skirted it while otherwise leading exemplary lives, is n not fair, and it is related to an administration peppered with white Christian nationalists who see themselves as superior to others.   When one group strives to repress another group, racial, religious, or cultural, that is not fair, but the chaos it creates results in conflicts on steroids and a feeling that everything is short-term, depending on the news cycle and Trump's midnight tweets. When golden ballrooms and triumphal arches dominate Trump's view of prosperity for himself, while so many he governs see the affordability of everyday living decline, as evidenced by the price tags, it is not fair.  When the ultra-rich and the corrupt determine public policy, it creates an unfair advantage, and those who are neither corrupt nor ultra-rich are not treated fairly because their voices are dismissed by a corrupt ruler.  When one party tries to suppress the turnout of the other, that is not fair. Thankfully, the SAVE Act went down in flames, as had the attempts to unseat African American congresspeople in South Carolina and in Alabama on 5/26/26 through racial gerrymandering. https://www.vote.o   rg/save-act/

Democrats could use the value of fairness to specific proposals: Following the rule of law instead of the rule of one who thinks executive orders are issues, the laws that are not enforced are a beginning.  The rule of law enforced without fear or favor is one way to achieve fairness.  That includes restoring the independence of the DoJ and the checks and balances of Congress.  The Voting Rights Act they support is another means of restoring fairness.  A tax policy in which everyone pays their fair share is, well, "fair". Those are just the beginnings of a fairness platform that looks not to the past but to a way forward. An immigration policy that provides due process and protections of constitutional rights and secure borders at the same time is also fair..  There is another way "fair" could be worked in: anti-corruption and anti-gerrymandering could be "fairplay";  

Here is what I wrote in this blog a year ago.

June, 2025: Once upon a time, I thought Americans valued fairness.  It was a value people embraced.  I will make the leap of assuming that it is still a value held by more voters than by those who are completely self-absorbed and self-promoting. What about a good gut cry:  "It ain't fair" and proposing a " fair deal for all".  The implication that "all" means rich who need to chip in their fair share and ordinary people, who are just hard-working people, trying to make ends meet, caring for others or themselves and their families, who are very disadvantaged, sick, aged, uneducated, or victims of racial or cultural discrimination. 

Packaging is always a challenge, but I recently heard about a way to do it. Whatever you think of former Rep. David Jolly, who morphed from a Florida Republican Congressman to an independent and finally to a Democrat to run for Florida governor, or even if you think he has no chance to win, he has a way with words 6/6/ and 6/7, 2025. He had two short phrases in a recent CBS interview that hit home to me, and he repeated them on other media: He is for Democratic values that "fight for an economy for all and a party that lifts up everyone," providing a context for the economic fairness and cultural issues he then fleshed out in short soundbites of issues relevant to Florida. 

Perhaps I am a cockeyed optimist, but Democrats I think understand that the goal of the anti DEI application of the radical MAGAs is to roll back the civil rights movement and it is not fair to all, tax policies that give great deals to the very rich at the expense of the very poor are not fair to all, or propose tariff policies that screw the budget conscious families to satisfy some notion of a power grabbing president, are also just not fair.

 Democrats' messaging to date has not been put into clear, sharp words.  Democrats have backed into it by decrying each issue as it comes up as bad for ordinary people. It has become a predictable background noise. Democrats should reverse the order and state the value up front, rather than delivering it as a conclusion before getting into the brain-numbing weeds of public policy issues and data, as cable talkers, those at political rallies, town halls, and sound-bite interviewees often do.

 Democrats have a history of the New Deal, the war on poverty, and promoting consumer and environmental protections that attempt to bring fairness in public policies to more than just the rich.  Why not resurrect the slogan from a true populist president, Harry S. Truman: "a fair deal". It's roots go deep in Democratic party traditions and Truman's version was as timely then as it is today, if more so."President Truman's Fair Deal ensured the survival of social security, preserved the American welfare system, and prioritized civil rights legislation." Truman's Fair Deal | Overview, History & Significance - Lesson | Study.com    It just needs to be packaged a bit differently, as a value applied to our modern times. It is both an implied attack on MAGA and a positive message about what Democrats stand for today, with appeal across party lines.

The truth is, the MAGA core group will never be moved off whatever appeals to them, including dog-whistles and attempts by Trump to execute unconstitutional policies that favor one race or economic power over another. There are voters out there who still value being fair or who count themselves as victims of the MAGA unfairness policies. Democrats do still have to make sure those being hurt know who to blame, but that is a subpoint, not the theme alone.  It needs to be put in the context of fairness.