“I don’t think we know,” Democratic strategist Stefan Hankin told the Washington Examiner of the party’s message and how it should respond to Trump. “There’s too much… It just keeps changing. It’s, like, how do you pin Jell-O to the wall?”

Hankin advised Democrats to “try a little bit of everything.” Meanwhile, other party strategists are confident Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill” will backfire politically.

Those Democrats are underscoring how the House iteration of the bill, passed last week, undercuts Medicare, food assistance programs, and taxes for the rich before the Senate considers the measure by a self-imposed Fourth of July deadline.

“Democrats will do everything we can to kick those who are responsible for this bill out of office,” new Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin told reporters after its passage. “We have Americans at our side.”

At the same time, the DNC is attempting to oust vice chairman David Hogg from his leadership position because his political action committee is primarying Democratic incumbents.

Hogg’s advocacy of primary challenges and criticisms of it come after another party lawmaker, the late Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly, died in office last week, permitting House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to pass Trump’s budget bill last Thursday by one vote, 215-214.

“Too many elected leaders in the Democratic Party are either unwilling or unable to meet the moment and are asleep at the wheel while Trump is demolishing the economy, challenging the foundations of our democracy, and creating new existential crises for our country by the day,” Hogg told supporters. “We can ensure that Democrats are fighting for us — or we can replace them with younger leaders who will.”

More broadly, the Democratic brand has been undermined by allegations of a cover-up of former President Joe Biden‘s age-related decline, encouraged by last week’s publication of Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.

That is on top of twofold criticism of Democrats: First, of party leadership for not more stridently opposing Trump and, secondly, for being overly dependent on consultants to strategize how to win back voting blocs, such as working-class voters and men.

For example, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was pressured with the prospect of his own primary challenge after he endorsed Trump’s legislation to keep the government open past March.

Meanwhile, Democrats are also reportedly poised to spend $20 million on a project called “Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan” to “study the syntax, language and content that gains attention and virality in these spaces” after Harris underperformed with the demographic last year, per the New York Times. This includes advertising in video games and avoiding “a moralizing tone.”

Out of power in all branches of government, Democrats think they have a real shot at winning back the House in the 2026 midterm elections, while the Senate map favors Republicans to hold on to power in the upper chamber.

Democrats have a slight 2 percentage point edge in early average congressional generic ballot polling aggregated by RealClearPolitics. Even so, Trump’s approval rating, which first became net negative in March as markets roiled after his tariffs on Canada and Mexico, has recovered since the fallout from his “Liberation Day” duties.

Trump’s approval rating is net negative 2 points, but his approval is 48%, undeterred by Schumer’s desire to drive it down to 40% — the point at which he suggests Republicans in Congress will join Democrats and start to push back on Trump’s agenda.

Trump’s persistent approval rating is regardless of the chaos caused by Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency, the president’s conflict of interests problems, including Qatar donating a $400 million airplane as a temporary Air Force One, and former national security adviser Mike Waltz accidentally adding a reporter to a group chat discussing attacks on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

To that end, a Conference Board consumer confidence report released on Tuesday found sentiment improved this month to 98, the first time since November after recession concerns.

“President Trump’s America First economic agenda of tariffs, tax cuts, rapid deregulation, and domestic energy production continues to pay off,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told reporters, shrugging off “doomsday” predictions. “Today’s consumer confidence report reflects multiple solid inflation and jobs reports that Americans have seen under President Trump, as well as a GDP report that showed a whopping 22% spike in Gross Domestic Investment in Q1 2025.” 

With Trump firmly in power, the leaderless Democratic Party is years away from electing a new nominee. Another problem is that the party is about to experience another crowded primary in 2028.

Many prospective candidates, including former Japanese ambassador, Chicago mayor, and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, are posturing early regarding what the Democratic message should be.

“If you want the country to give you the keys to the car, somebody’s got to be articulating an agenda that’s fighting for America, not just fighting Trump,” Emanuel told the Wall Street Journal last weekend. “The American dream has become unaffordable. It’s inaccessible. And that has to be unacceptable to us.”

For Democratic strategist Mike Lux, the party’s biggest challenge is conflicting messaging.

“Part of our strategy needs to be building toward a unified message around fighting for working families,” Lux told the Washington Examiner. “The biggest mistake Democratic leaders made early was acting like they were defending the status quo, and just not fighting hard enough. I think Democrats need to show they are fighting the good fight.”

In spite of that, other Democrats, including strategist Mike Nellis, are optimistic. Nellis conceded the party was “disorganized in our response to Trump for a while, but that’s changing fast,” increasing its “odds of taking back the House.”

“Democrats are coalescing around a message that actually connects: people are paying more and getting less, all while Trump and his cronies get richer and less accountable,” Nellis told the Washington Examiner. “He’s stacked the government with incompetent loyalists who can’t even keep planes in the sky — let alone keep Americans safe.”

REPUBLICANS MOCK DEMOCRATS FOR $20 MILLION ‘SPEAKING WITH AMERICAN MEN’ STUDY

Hankin, the first Democratic strategist, reminded the party to be nimble because there are “too many unknowns moving forward.”

“The only thing I would say is, don’t do what Schumer does,” he said, referencing working with Republicans to deliver a win for Trump. “But other than that, let’s try it all out.”