General
Cures for What Ails the Democratic Party
Readers debate what the party must do to compete with Republicans in the coming elections.
To the Editor:
Re “The Democrats Are in Denial About 2024” (editorial, March 30):
Donald Trump rose to the presidency on fear and false promises: safety, lower costs, a better life. He lied, but those needs are real. People want health care, housing and a livable future. These aren’t radical demands; they’re basic expectations that neither party is addressing adequately.
A progressive agenda — universal health care, fair wages, climate action — isn’t fringe. It’s practical, popular and necessary. Leaders like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are showing the way, and they are popular. They’re not waiting, and neither should we.
We don’t have years to wait. This is not normal politics. And we cannot afford a business-as-usual response. The usual checks — elections, courts, oversight — are being bypassed. President Trump and his allies are laying the groundwork for authoritarianism now. History is clear: Once fascism takes root, it doesn’t leave willingly.
Trumpism isn’t the disease. It’s the symptom of a broken system. The cure is solidarity, justice and building something together that’s worth believing in.
This is a real opportunity if we choose to meet it.
Rebecca Jones
Whately, Mass.
To the Editor:
This editorial leaves out the main reason for the Democrats’ 2024 defeats: their abandonment of the working and middle class in the post-Reagan era.
Instead of offering a cleareyed look at how this rightward shift culminated in the party’s disastrous 2024 performance, the editorial signs on to the center-right talking point that the Democrats have “moved too far left on social issues.”
