The Democratic Party in the US is more unpopular than ever. For the party base, the reason is clear: the timid response to Trump's policies. However, the party leadership is trying to change its strategy, writes ARD.
Jennifer Estein is a nurse and trade unionist. The 44-year-old woman is dissatisfied - with high prices, with layoffs in the public sector, with the policies of the Trump administration. But most of all with the Democratic Party, for which Jennifer tells ARD she voted last fall. According to her, her country is in danger, and the opposition party lacks motivation and leadership.
Millions of other voters in the US share Jennifer's concerns. Even liberal sociologists report that the popularity of the Democrats has hit unprecedented lows. The party leaders demonstrate only uncertainty and are still searching for the right strategy for their future.
Support for the majority?
In the Senate, the principle of "don't raise your head and continue to cooperate" seems to work best, ARD further writes. Democrats recently voted in both chambers of the US parliament together with Republicans - for example, on a new law that makes it mandatory to detain immigrants who have committed certain crimes.
The US government also approved its latest temporary budget with the votes of some Democrats - although it included savings that contradict the campaign promises of the Democratic Party. The explanation of the party's leader in the Senate Chuck Schumer, who also voted “ for the budget, was that it was better to avoid a government shutdown, which occurs if there is no budget passed. If that had happened, the Trump administration would have been free to shut down all ” non-essential” government services.
Schumer's decision was met with much criticism from his party colleagues, who argue that even if the government had been shut down, the party would at least have opposed the planned cuts to the health care budget instead of supporting it, ARD points out.
Restraint instead of confrontation
Discontent with the Democratic Party has recently been increasingly evident among the party's representatives in Congress, we read further in the publication. According to rank-and-file members, its leadership listens too often to its strategic advisor James Carville. The political consultant became famous during the Clinton administration for his line "The economy, stupid," suggesting that economic issues would ultimately decide the vote.
Precisely because the economy is not in a good place right now, Carville advises Democrats to be restrained and let Republicans do as much damage as possible. Instead of seeking an immediate confrontation, they should focus on the upcoming midterm elections in 2026, the political consultant believes.
People want real opposition
Democrat supporters, however, do not seem satisfied with this strategy, opinion polls show. Voters expect to see political initiative. They find it in people like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, ARD writes. She is one of the few Democrats in Congress who is currently aggressively opposing the administration.
Ocasio-Cortez’s political views, such as universal health care, a higher minimum wage and climate protection, have long been considered radical and extreme on the American political spectrum. But the way she is currently criticizing her party has put her at the center of disgruntled supporters of her party.
Ocasio-Cortez is currently traveling the country and appearing at rallies with Bernie Sanders. The independent senator from Vermont is 83 years old, and his tirades against big business and its role in American politics have long resonated with some voters. But now he is enjoying a newfound popularity - 30,000 people gathered in Denver, Colorado, to see Sanders. "We are fighting the oligarchy" was the slogan of the event. Criticism of the excessive influence of billionaires in the Trump administration, and also on the Democrats, seems to be attracting people.
The Democratic Party is currently unable and apparently unwilling to fulfill its own promises to its electorate and be a real opposition, ARD points out. Protests against Donald Trump's actions are only outside the Senate, but even those are few.
A party without its own profile
Nurse Jennifer says that Democratic voters are confused. There is no common strategy, no vision, no real leader. "The politics of good intentions and diligence continue to dominate the Democratic Party. We should not be good intentions at the moment", the woman tells the German public-law media.
The next test of the Democratic strategy is coming this summer: Republicans in Congress plan to raise the debt ceiling to finance US government spending, as President Trump has demanded. However, the plan is controversial even for the Republican Party. Then the administration will be able to count on the support of Democrats again, especially in the House of Representatives - provided they cooperate, the ARD publication also says.