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We are not above admitting when we are wrong. Earlier this month, for example, we wrote about how it is not hyperbole to say that the next election will be the most important in recent history because it will decide whether the US will become a full-fledged autocracy or whether the American people will pull the emergency brake and hand control of (at least) the House of Representatives over to the Democrats to provide a check on Donald Trump. 

That’s certainly true and we stand by it. 

If you are following Trump’s rants, then you will know that he likes to say that “we won’t have a country anymore” unless “x” happens, with “x” usually being some authoritarian/unconstitutional stuff he wants to do. 

We won’t go that far. If Trump’s autocratic putsch goes much further, the United States of America will continue to exist, it just won’t be a democracy anymore, and most people living in it will be far worse off in the near future. 

And not just them. 

Billions of people across the world will be impacted, and millions will die, because Trump is abdicating America’s leadership role. Whether it’s the US no longer providing security or foreign aid, or halting important scientific and medical research, there isn’t a place on Earth that will remain unaffected by his policies. 

And not just now. 

Future generations will pay the price as well because Trump and his Republicans will leave them a planet that is much less hospitable to human habitation than it otherwise would have been (which already wasn’t great). 

That is what’s at stake, and therefore it is absolutely vital that the president loses the election next fall in spite of his (and his party’s) best efforts to make it as undemocratic as possible. 

So, what were we wrong about? 

Well, the midterms aren’t the next consequential election. 

Because, while “the Democrats” must win, their voters will first get to decide who these Democrats will be.

The feckless party leaders currently in charge would like it to be them. 

These Democratic dinosaurs seem to be completely clueless as to what the GOP has become: a cult hellbent on turning back the clock… and the US into a right-wing autocracy. 

And they would be a great choice if Trump could be stopped (or slowed) with indignation, strongly worded letters, and focus group-approved statements.

Democratic voters, however, seem to be feeling differently about them.

The party’s polling is in the dumps in large part because the base is deeply unhappy with its leaders. 

In a recent poll, Americans were asked to name the first attribute that came to mind when each party was mentioned. 

The top answers among Democrats for their own party were “weak/tepid/apathetic.”

You can’t really blame them after watching the party establishment cover for a declining Joe Biden for most of his presidency. 

Barack Obama, perhaps the most popular Democrat, is largely AWOL while getting rich. 

With the exception of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who can’t even bring himself to endorse the Democratic mayoral candidate whom his own constituents voted for, the party’s congressional leaders are all ancient. 

They are stuck in a time when there was comity among Democrats and Republicans, and lawmakers from both parties were able to put their differences aside from time to time and work together in good faith to get something done. 

Naturally, the Democrats caved and returned to Texas, where they were given police escorts so they wouldn’t leave the state again. 

These Democratic dinosaurs seem to be completely clueless as to what the GOP has become: a cult hellbent on turning back the clock… and the US into a right-wing autocracy. 

Led by a convicted felon, self-confessed sexual assaulter, serial fraudster, and coup instigator, Republicans lie, cheat, and steal nonstop in pursuit of more power that they mercilessly use to go after anybody who does not share their vision of a country dominated once again by white Christians. 

But at least they are fighting. 

And more than any single policy, that is what liberals want from their leaders.

They see the Trump administration working around the clock to undermine the Constitution, so it’s reasonable that they might question why Democratic officials are not doing the same to defend it.

Take Texas.

Trump demanded that Lone Star State Republicans give him five additional House seats, and they immediately sprang into action. 

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) called a special session of the state Legislature so that GOP lawmakers could take the highly unusual step of drawing new congressional districts mid-decade instead of after a regularly scheduled ten-year census. 

Texas Democrats then gave anybody horrified by this naked power grab some hope when they fled the state to deny the legislature a quorum.

In response, Abbott threatened them with expulsion and arrest, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) sicced the FBI on them, and their hotel received bomb threats. 

Naturally, the Democrats caved and returned to Texas, where they were given police escorts so they wouldn’t leave the state again. 

One side fought, one sided folded. 

This has been a familiar refrain in American politics, and usually it’s the GOP that is doing the fighting and Democrats who are doing the folding. 

It’s clearly not a winning strategy.

As a complete unknown, he raised $1 million in nine days, all because voters believe that he will fight for them — against Trump, against billionaires, and even against Democratic leaders who are doing nothing.

A New York Times analysis of party registrations since 2020 showed that Democrats are losing ground to Republicans, who remain enthusiastic about Trump. And why wouldn’t they? In the fantasy world Fox News has created for them, he is an amazing president.  

The most mind-boggling thing is that Democratic voters are so clearly telling the party what they want… but the establishment refuses to listen. 

Whenever a Democrat, any Democrat, puts up a fight, they can count on a surge in popularity.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is the best example. 

He is not only fighting back against Texas’s gerrymander by asking Californians to vote on a new congressional map of their own that would nullify the GOP gains in the Lone Star State, he is also publicly mocking Trump on social media.

And, wouldn’t you know it, his popularity has soared. 

A poll this week shows that Newsom is now the most likely 2028 Democratic nominee. After his support more than doubled since June, a quarter of the party’s voters said they would support him in a Democratic primary. 

It’s like that any time a Democrat fights back — or even when they take on the Democratic establishment. 

Zohran Mamdani’s victory over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary for New York mayor shows that voters just want to have candidates they can believe in, and not the same empty suits that party leaders present them with.

A great example of that dynamic is also playing out in Maine, where outspoken veteran and oysterman Graham Platner wants to defeat Sen. Susan Collins (R) next fall. 

Among progressives, he became an instant sensation when his launch video went viral, and he has been amassing volunteers and campaign donations ever since. 

As a complete unknown, he raised $1 million in nine days, all because voters believe that he will fight for them — against Trump, against billionaires, and even against Democratic leaders who are doing nothing.

On Saturday, he earned the endorsement of a true progressive heavyweight, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

Is the Democratic establishment listening? Hardly.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is hoping to recruit 77-year-old two-term governor Janet Mills to take on Collins, who should be one of the most vulnerable Republicans and has to be defeated for Democrats to have any chance of retaking the Senate. 

There is no better example of the huge gap between what progressive voters want and the choices Democratic leaders are trying to ram down their throats. 

We have no idea how this is going to play out. 

Will Democratic leaders put their own self-interest above the country and watch their party wither away in the face of a GOP onslaught? 

Or will a new generation of candidates in the mold of Mamdani and Platner close the enthusiasm gap – not necessarily because of any particular set of policies they advocate but rather because they promise to take on the rich and powerful who left regular Americans behind — and give Democrats a chance to win back Congress next year? 

We’ll get a good indication at the end of next month of whether Schumer and Jeffries are finally realizing that their brand of Democrats could end up being almost as big a target as Trump is… and that a storm of progressive resentment is brewing that could sweep many of them out of office in the primaries next year. 

That’s when congressional Democrats have to decide whether they will help Republicans prevent a government shutdown.

In March, Schumer single-handedly kept the government open, which many Democratic voters viewed as a betrayal. 

Maybe the Democratic leader wised up. 

If not, both his leadership position and his own job could be on the line. 

After he folded in March, he trailed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), one of the stars of the progressive wing of the party, by double digits in a hypothetical 2028 primary matchup. And a recent poll shows that a mere 38 percent of New Yorkers have a favorable opinion of Schumer, and that he couldn’t even crack 50 percent among Democrats.

Maybe it is true that it’s tough to teach an old dog new tricks, and Democratic leaders certainly are old, but they better learn how to fight the existential threat that is Trump — or their voters will (hopefully) find someone who will.