It’s been more than seven months since Donald Trump was re-elected — and ever since, a chorus of pundits, strategists and critics has flooded the airwaves with advice for the Democratic Party. Some say we need to start over. That we’ve lost touch. That we need a new agenda to reconnect with the American people.
Democrats have stood at this kind of crossroads before, when the winds of politics howled and the critics declared us finished. But every comeback we’ve made — every moment we’ve defied the odds — came not from running away from who we are, but from remembering who we are.
Trump isn’t fighting for working people — he’s fighting for his family’s balance sheet.
The Democratic Party has long been the party of working people. Yet recent analysis from The New York Times lays bare a sobering truth: We’re losing working-class voters across the board — across race, gender and geography. Our once-strong lead with Black and Latino voters has narrowed to record lows. Blue-collar support that once formed the bedrock of our coalition is cracking.
The harsh reality is this: We, the Democratic Party, are to blame for where we are. Republicans talk a big game about the American Dream. But behind closed doors — and sometimes in broad daylight — they’re rigging the system to make sure that dream stays just that: a dream. The problem for Democrats is that we’ve stopped connecting with the very people whose American Dreams are being thwarted by the GOP’s policies. Our message — which is a winning one — isn’t reaching the ears of enough voters.
While working Americans are holding down two jobs, stretching every dollar and praying their kids don’t get sick, Trump and congressional Republicans are handing out billion-dollar tax breaks to billionaires and gutting Medicaid. That’s not governing — it’s looting. Meanwhile, they’re stealing Democratic ideas like knock-off brands.
On Tuesday, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation to raise the minimum wage. Just weeks earlier, in a New York Times op-ed, he warned that cutting Medicaid as part of Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” would be “politically suicidal.” Suddenly, he sounds like a pro-union Democrat. But where was he during the years we fought to expand health care access for working families? Where was his voice when we championed higher wages and economic dignity for the very people he now claims to defend? Even more striking is the record he hopes we forget. When that very senator was a state attorney general and a U.S. Senate candidate, he opposed a ballot initiative that would have gradually raised the state’s minimum wage from $7.85 to $12 an hour.
Now, Donald Trump wants the government to negotiate prescription drug prices. He’s even floated a new tax bracket for the ultra-wealthy. These are Democratic policies — policies we’ve championed for years while Republicans tried to tear them down.
It’s all a performance. Trump isn’t fighting for working people — he’s fighting for his family’s balance sheet. As Republicans try to jam through a bill that would destroy the American safety net, his family is securing Middle East business deals backed by Saudi funds and Gulf monarchs. Golf courses in Oman. Investment funds from Qatar. This isn’t leadership — it’s profiteering.
It’s abundantly clear: We already have the winning ideas. What we need is to communicate them better, louder and bolder.
Democrats don’t need a new agenda. Republicans have made it clear that Democrats already have the winning one — because it’s rooted in both moral clarity and political courage. It’s the agenda that says wealth isn’t the enemy — but hoarded opportunity is. That government should not bend to the will of billionaires, but uplift the many.
We don’t resent success. We resent selfishness.
We don’t loathe ambition. We oppose a rigged game.
What we reject is a system in which a handful of billionaires guard the gates of opportunity, locking others out to keep the wealth all to themselves. Because the American Dream was never meant to be a gated community. That’s why we fight for fair pay, affordable health care, union rights and strong public schools. That’s why we’ve capped insulin prices, defended Social Security and pushed policies that help working people not just survive — but thrive. It’s abundantly clear: We already have the winning ideas. What we need is to communicate them better, louder and bolder. We can’t let Republicans plagiarize our platform — while sabotaging the very people we’re fighting for — without calling them out on their deception. That’s the message we need to reach the people. We are not fractured. We are not broken. This fight isn’t about left vs. right or progressive vs. moderate. It’s about the powerful vs. everyone else. And while Republicans protect the top 1%, we’re fighting for the other 99%. That’s what unites us as a party. Our soul-searching has never been about finding new principles. It’s about refining our purpose, renewing our faith and remembering why we fight — not for power, but for people. Soul-searching isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of conscience. And conscience is our compass. So no, we don’t need to reinvent ourselves. We need to reignite ourselves. It’s time to remember who we are. Because when we do — we win. We’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again.
Rep. Marc Veasey
Marc Veasey represents Texas' 33rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. 
