WASHINGTON – Democrats are making a growing effort to stay focused as they campaign for affordability in the midterms, as some in the party seek to distance themselves from ideological debates.
Across the country, Democratic voters are trying to win over voters by talking about real situations, framing some of the platform's issues in economic terms and, strategists say, aiming to dispel the perception that Democrats are colluding with them.
They see the opening created by voters' focus on the economy and their ability as a non-power party to increase affordability as a key midterm issue as Trump's economic approval rating remains low. Trump dismissed the issue, calling the lack of affordability a “delusion” by Democrats while also promising economic growth.
“There was a learning process in being able to take what Trump and the Republicans did and make sure that [candidates] they go back to the real-world economic consequences of whatever happens,” Democratic strategist Alex Jacquez, who worked in the Biden White House. “That's where maybe [Democrats] they have never, in the past, made full connections all the way.”
Now, “the moment is ripe,” he suggested, for the group to change its image.
Democrats' focus on procurement and the economy has defined their mid-term messaging, playing on inflation, the effects of Trump's spending and high gas prices caused by the Iran war. The party is trying to capture enough voters to win a majority in the House in November, and some believe the Senate is also within reach.
Polls show pessimism about the economy has risen among all Americans and most believe the country is in a crisis of unaffordability. Americans tend to cite government leadership and economic problems as the most important national issues in Gallup polls.
Voters increasingly dislike Trump's handling of the economy, including white working-class voters who are a key part of his base. In an NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll last month, Americans gave the president his lowest approval rating on the economy at 33%.
Speaking in Pennsylvania on Thursday, Trump said about affordability: “That's a fake word they use. They created an unaffordability problem. It's called high prices.”
Rep. Adam Gray, a Democrat who represents the purple Central Valley district and a member of the center-left Blue Dog Coalition in Congress, said he believes voters are frustrated by Washington lawmakers' failure to pay attention to what people want from government.
He pointed out Central Valley farmers whose businesses have been affected, he said, by rising fuel and fertilizer prices, tight labor markets caused by forced immigration and changes in government programs.
“The way people are used to dealing with politics, it's not the kind of debates we have in Washington,” Gray said. “The experience of doing something, whether it's going to the grocery store or going to the lake to go boating with your family and find out that the price of gas is through the roof or the road to the lake is not good.”
At a time when Democrats are debating how to embrace a party identity beyond Trump's opposition and intra-party battles between progressive and moderate candidates have drawn attention, some believe a “hands-on” strategy may provide one key to the party's path forward.
In Texas, Democratic candidates point to the impact of data centers on water supplies or the effects of the state's abortion ban, said Matt Angle, director of the Lone Star Project, a political research organization that works to help elect Democrats.
“The fact that Corpus Christi is running out of water… [or] you have women dying because they're denied abortion services,” Angle said. I think the Democrats are doing a better job of that than ever before.”
“Real life happens on the floor,” Angle added. “I think the Democrats recognize that.”
Republicans have successfully pursued a similar strategy in 2024, and their attack on Democrats by focusing on cultural issues may have been successful in driving Democrats away from that message, said Republican strategist Brittany Martinez.
“They've made it clear that's where they're trying to go,” he said of the Democrats. “I also think that you have group providers sometimes who absorb all the oxygen in the room and maybe destroy that message.”
National Republican Congress Committee spokesman Christian Martinez said the economic record of the Democrats, including California under Gov. Gavin Newsom, it shows a failure to put working families first.
“It's funny how Democrats are trying to make kitchen issues their brand,” she said. “It only proves their brand of politics is broken, while Californians continue to live every day with receipts from the Democrats' failed agenda.”
The Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Joe Gruters, said on Thursday at a conference called by the Washington-based news agency, The Hill, that he hoped that the party would retain the House and the Senate and that they would express hope for the economy.
“He's going to beat the American worker every day,” Gruters said of Trump. “He will continue to do everything he can to make the country's economy grow and lower prices.”
But as Trump appears to prioritize other issues, Martinez said, Republicans face their own battle to win over voters.
“When the president mocked the ability to pay the expenses, he said it is not a problem, I don't think that helps [Republicans],” Martinez said. “Democrats have an opportunity to use that right now.”
Both moderate and progressive Democrats see this moment as an opportunity to define what the party stands for beyond opposition to Trump, and both have engaged in real debate, albeit in different ways.
Progressives have been creating a lot of economic problems for a long time, said Usamah Andrabi, spokesperson for the Justice Democrats caucus.
“That's always been the progressive economic playbook, and I think it's time for other wings of the Democratic Party to get it,” Andrabi said.
That also means, he said, not giving up on other things, like abortion, foreign wars and health care.
“It has always been the privilege that tries to divide our communities with these so-called culture war issues,” Andrabi said. “Our vision to move forward must include everyone… That does not mean simply ignoring other people's urgent problems in order to focus on something else, because these are connected.”
Climate advocates, for example, “closely connect” climate to the top mid-year issues, including gas and utility costs, AI data centers and the Iran war, said Jamie Henn, executive director of the nonprofit communications lab Fossil Fuel Media, and encourage Democrats to do the same.
“Weather, like most problems, doesn't beat itself. It's how you talk about it and relate it to the issues around the kitchen table,” Henn said. “Do it the right way – it's not a science lesson about global warming, it's a story about how clean energy can reduce your bills.”
Still, getting more people to take those messages can be an uphill battle, he said. Advocates in other areas, including climate, are concerned that their issues are being sidelined.
“There are Democrats who may be threading the needle that aren't there,” Henn said. “We know the problems that the climate needs to be connected with, but [politicians] need to… do a better job of explaining the messages clearly.”
