In the wake of a presidential event that has only happened two times in our nation’s history, Donald Trump is the second president elected for a non-consecutive second term by the American people. The 2024 presidential election showed us one thing: the Democrats have an identity crisis.
The Republican Party has consolidated around a unified strategy: populist messaging that serves elite interests, as exemplified by Donald Trump's presidency and candidacy. This approach is formally outlined in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which provides a detailed policy roadmap for advancing Republican objectives nationwide.
But where do the Democrats fall?
Democrats across the nation are not the same. I’m from Kentucky, where Democrats try to appeal to conservatives and seem relatable to people who hold those values. And to many people’s surprise, it works. Andy Beshear is the most popular Democratic governor in the nation.
But Beshear, due to things not in his control, is popular because he maintains the status quo: white, middle-aged men in politics. Likeable, but not pushing the envelope. Democrats have tried this time and time and time again. It works sometimes, but it has failed us more times than one (Joe Biden, Walter Mondale, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, John Kerry and so many more).
Do we want to run the safe guy again? Or should the Democrats take one out of the Republicans’ playbook? Will it be possible for the Democrats in America’s modern political climate to pivot?
When people “want to make America great again,” they mean they want men to be number one. For the Bible to be in schools, for people who don’t abide by these principles to “get out” if they don’t like it. To gut DEI government funding and push deregulation for business.
They want to make the United States look like America 40 years ago. The “American Dream” of money, excess and elitism – everything that Donald Trump stands for. The White House is now the Marlago in Washington, D.C. Simply put, Americans don’t live like Donald Trump; we don’t live like Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos. Our White House represents the rich, not us, and it’s a perfect opportunity for a power grab.
So what do Democrats want to do? The party has not been on the same wavelength since the loss in 2016. Radical newcomers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and long-time outsider Bernie Sanders are starting to become the stars of the party as dinosaurs Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein and Joe Biden are on the way out, but the divide between the leaders of the Democrat Party is still apparent. Coming together would make Democrats powerful, and that’s what Republicans are scared of.
Republicans want Democrats to tear each other apart. They have a unified vision that they aren’t scared of sharing: a Christian, authoritarian right-wing government. Why can’t Democrats also be unified?
The Republicans have an agenda and they are getting it done. Democrats are too busy attacking each other and the other side to realize they are being played. Democrats are going through a similar process the Republicans faced in the wake of the Barack Obama presidency.
John McCain was not the star Republicans wanted. Neither was Mitt Romney. So we saw the awakening of the Tea Party. They helped usher in the MAGA party we see today. Extremist, small government, ‘don’t tread on me,’ right-wing Republicans are not scared to say what they think – and they found their leader in an unconventional reality TV star.
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Let’s get one thing clear: Republicans have a mission. A mission to make America Christian, white and a monopoly for big business.
Chris Hedges, former New York Times correspondent and Pulitzer prize winner, published American Fascist in 2007. It is grim foreshadowing of what we have in 2025. It laid out, in plain words, what the religious right would use to gain access to the highest office in our country.
Fear - their greatest weapon. Fear of the unknown, fear of death, fear of divine retribution, fear of losing capitalism's grasp. These "patriots," these self-proclaimed true-blooded Americans, brandish their Constitutional devotion until it fails to serve their needs. They're constitutional constructionists who refuse to bend, to interpret, to ponder what these centuries-old words mean in our modern reality. They yearn for 1776, but not the sanitized version force-fed through public education. No, they want their twisted vision of revolution, wrapped in flags and righteous fury.
Not knowing leads to easy manipulation – never leave your hometown, never question your faith, never ask where your history comes from and how we got here. That’s why they gut education and let the free market come in and donate private money to education. Education turns into propaganda.
This is a clear agenda used, tried and true by the Republican Party. Now it’s time for the Democrats to unify. The Joe Biden Democratic Party is dead. This safe side of the party needs to take note of the Tea Party and the MAGA movement. Democrats need a message that might seem “radical.” We need to make a move that resonates with the American people. It’s time to pass the torch to the outsiders of the party like the Republicans have done.
We need to understand the fundamentals and run on it nationwide. Top-down and together is how we win. Americans are tired, tired of tech bros and select oligarchs using the American people as pawns. We must bust the trust and break up businesses.
So, let’s get to work Democrats.
Landon Morrison is a senior at Miami University pursuing a combined bachelors and masters degree in entrepreneurship and emerging technology having graduated with his bachelors in December of 2024. He has interned for the U.S. State Department in the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland & Liechtenstein. Landon served on the Miami Student Foundation Steering Committee in several roles from 2021-2024 and currently serves on the college of creative arts dean's advisory council. He has aspirations to work in journalism or public relations in the non-profit sector.
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