Jamelle Bouie

They've leaned into the anti-

Trump theme for cycles didn't work so well in 2024.

But, you know, how do they balance that message in a midterm that acknowledges some of the Trumpian chaos that we've been seeing, but also gets in those, you know, quote unquote, kitchen table issues and other things that voters are, you know, that are top of mind for voters?

So I think that's exactly right.

Earlier this week, I was talking to Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, and he was kind of walking me through the party's umbrella theme for the midterms of – and we've got to go with the alliteration – costs, chaos, and corruption.

That gives them a framework for saying these are all tied together.

When Trump is doing all these things abroad, it adds to the chaos.

When he is cutting questionable deals with certain companies or favoring his favorite players, that kind of quasi-corruption adds to not just the chaos, but the costs that you're going to pay.

Even when he does something like...

decide he's going to prosecute the Fed chair.

That doesn't really resonate with people in and of itself.

But if you pitch it as, well, it's going to make everything more expensive if we destroy the independence of the central bank, then people are going to pay a lot more attention and they're

the former House member, Democrat, just jumped into the race in Alaska for Senate.

And you can see in her messaging already how these things all tie together.

You know, she's saying that big corporations, because of the corruption in Washington, are being allowed to essentially rape Alaska's natural resources, that nobody in the lower 48 cares about Alaska.

They're just like feathering their own pockets.

So you see how the costs

and the corruption and the chaos all tie together.

And Schumer was saying that, you know, this is absolutely something that works as kind of a big framework.

So the last thing on the Democrats, you don't want to overlearn the lessons of any particular election because obviously everyone's different, especially like depending on, you know, off cycle year, presidential midterm.