Q: What do Democrats need to do? A: Stand around and wait.

(The writer is a longtime Ingham County commissioner and founder of Practical Political Consultants.)

The election results could not be worse. Trump will try to destroy government professionalism, wipe out NATO, abandon Ukraine, persecute his enemies, eliminate serious programs to limit global warming …  .

But that’s only half the problem.

We liberals must face the fact that half the American public is basically OK with fascism. The first step toward repairing the damage is finding Trump voters who can be convinced to switch sides — people for whom rational argument seems like wasted effort.

We’re stunned, but we’re still rational actors, and being stunned isn’t productive. We need to ask: What’s the best use of our time, money and attention right now?

First, we need to understand what just happened to us and why. The public blames us for the economy, even though:  Unemployment is barely above 4%, inflation is below 2.5%, jobs are plentiful and corporations are spending on new technology at record levels. The economy is objectively very healthy — yet people are angry. 

We lost the presidency, Congress and the Michigan House because economic conditions were so bad for 3-to-4% of the public that they switched parties, or decided to vote, or not to vote, to punish us.  It makes no sense, but that’s how politics works.

But WHY are people so angry?

I have long believed it’s not unemployment or inflation statistics that drive voters’ attitudes, it’s how their situations compare with 12 or 24 months ago. Are their credit cards maxed out? Is overtime available at the plant? Is paying for gasoline or groceries suddenly a struggle?

Usually, national statistics reflect the answers. But due to COVID, those statistics produce the wrong answer today.

People barely remember that three years ago, the federal government gave trillions of dollars to essentially everybody to prevent an economic collapse. Most people continued drawing paychecks at about the same level, even working at home. Personal expenses dropped dramatically. Unable to travel, and with many goods in short supply, the average household paid down their debts, and even put away some savings.

The result was an almost giddy feeling of financial ease in 2022 and 2023. Today, with those excess funds spent, people remember “the good old days” wistfully. For millions, the Democrats seem like the culprits.

If Trump had won in 2020, voter ennui would have attached itself to him and the Republicans. The recent elections would have seen huge Democratic wins, and the Republicans would be wondering how to recover and rebuild.

Instead, we’ve been blessed with four years of Biden and partial Democratic control of Congress, so voters blame us.

What should we do to get ready for 2026?

Just standing around and looking concerned is probably adequate.

Trump returns to office with a historically low approval rating for a winning presidential candidate. Barring war, the trend line for almost all presidencies is a steady slow decline.

The Trump presidency seems likely to be especially disastrous, in many ways. For one thing, Donald Trump has shown that he doesn’t care what public opinion is, unless it’s going to stop him from getting what he wants. If the result of some action might damage the prospects of Republican office holders, it just means they’re suckers.

Like any good fascist, Trump doesn’t represent a coherent set of views or policies. It’s all about the glorious myth of One Strong Man. Naming Gaetz and RFK Jr. to the cabinet was a great start — and he’s not even in office yet. The grift and the graft and the general wackiness may make the MAGA crowd happy, but it’s going to wear badly over time. 

My advice to Democratic candidates:  Make pious speeches about good governance, honesty, the rule of law, that sort of thing. Keep your powder dry, and watch for opportunities, which may appear in some unexpected places. When elections come round — assuming Trump and the Republicans haven’t started a war — you’ve going to be a sideshow, not the main event.