Memo to Democrats

To: The Democratic Party
From: BT
Re: This is really simple
Date: April 4, 2025

It’s been a tough year. Despite doing more controversial things in a few months than the last five presidents did this century, Trump’s approval ratings are still pretty good. Most polls have him slightly underwater, with his approvals in the mid to high 40s. These days, that’s a win for any occupant of the White House.

You, on the other hand, are a total mess. Your approval ratings are abysmal —  26% in the latest CNN poll and 27% in the latest NBC poll. You can’t settle on a message or a messenger that works. You look like a bunch of whiners and complainers who are out of touch with reality. And you keep implicitly confirming to Trump voters that they probably made the right choice.

But finally, an incredible gift has fallen in your lap. Tariffs. Massive, shockingly high tariffs. Maybe Trump is somehow right and one day this will all lead to significantly more domestic manufacturing. And maybe it gets other countries to offer to change the ways Trump thinks they penalize American exports. We don’t know. But we do know that for as long as the tariffs are in effect, they are a wrecking ball bar none. And for you Democrats, that’s an opportunity.

Stop talking about ICE. Stop talking about transgender issues. Stop talking about DOGE. Stop talking about taxes. Focus on one thing and one thing only: the pain Americans are about to feel at the cash register.

Every ad, every press conference, every tweet, every post, every floor speech, every podcast should simply highlight the pain that real people are feeling because of Trump’s tariffs. You don’t even need to spell out the issue. Everyone already gets it. You just need to send all of your overeducated staffers and interns and think tankers to supermarkets, Walmarts, Targets, bodegas, car dealerships, Best Buys and everywhere else most people shop and get real people talking about how the higher prices impact them — how the higher prices mean they now struggle to put food on the table, how they can’t afford new sneakers for their growing kids, how their car is on its last legs and now they can’t afford to replace it. 

Have your economists and statisticians document the increase in prices in every industry, every town, every city, every market. Have them track job losses when sales go down. Talk to people about how high their rent is and their frustration that with new tariffs on the wood (Canada) and sheetrock (Mexico) we use to build new housing, their chances of finding something better are now close to zero. Talk to people who now can’t take a summer vacation because hotel prices are going to increase (everything a hotel buys will now cost more). Talk to workers in industries who are now facing reciprocal tariffs and how they’re worried about losing their jobs. Talk to teachers and cops whose pensions are worth a lot less because the stock market has tanked on the news of Trump’s tariffs.

The key thing here is to let them do the talking — not you. You are the worst possible messenger here. If the voters thought you understood them, you wouldn’t be so unpopular. If the voters thought you understood them, they wouldn’t have put this guy back in the White House. 

Take a step back and let Trump’s tariffs do the work for you. Substantively, he just screwed over the American people. Politically, he gave you an incredible gift. Don’t fuck it up.