View / How Democrats can keep gaining on Trump as his economic approval sinks

Democrats are gearing up to make the midterms all about the cost of living. Which raises a pointed question for us: Do they even need to offer their own policy prescriptions for affordability?

Republicans, as we have covered extensively, are struggling to agree on any new solutions to the public’s growing worries about the cost of living — worries that have been emerging in poll after poll, as President Donald Trump hemorrhages support on the economy.

The trickier story to tell is how Democrats are capitalizing on Trump’s obvious problems as they prepare to launch their midterm push in earnest. They’re gaining ground with voters who don’t like how Trump is handling the economy, but they have work left to do.

Recent polling from The Argument found Democrats had a sizable gap with voters who disapproved of Trump and ranked the cost of living as a top-two issue. Among those voters, 57% disliked the president, but only 50% favored congressional Democrats.

And alongside NPR/NBC/Marist polling released today, Marist Institute for Public Opinion Director Lee Miringoff also described Democrats’ support on the economy as less than locked in.

“When they don’t have cost of living as a top-two issue, Democrats actually have a better chance of sealing the deal,” Lakshya Jain, head of political data at The Argument, told us.

So what can Democrats do to better appeal to voters who now think Trump is mishandling the economy? With apologies to those old enough to remember the party’s “Six for ’06″ midterm platform, the answer probably isn’t with a specific agenda.

“Democrats have a tendency to love to dive into internal disagreements, especially as they relate to policy that won’t be enacted anytime soon,” Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, the Democrats’ chief deputy whip, told us this week. “And I think we should resist that urge. That doesn’t mean we should be a total blank slate.”

When it comes to “questions about … the brand of the Democratic Party, what we would do with power,” Schatz added, “a midterm message that has historically been viable is, ‘Have you had enough of this sh*t yet?’”

It’s not that Democrats have zero details on what they’d do differently. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and several of his members appeared today to tout some of their ideas to lower everyday costs, focusing on five priorities: health care, energy, housing, groceries, and tariffs.

“Democrats will run on cost issues. We’ll point out where Trump and the Republicans have driven costs up. But equally importantly, we will make the case for where we’re going to lower costs,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told us.

Yet it’s not clear that the same particular prescription will work in every battleground race, particularly as House Democrats try to expand their map. And the strongest campaign message for any opposition party is often “I can do a lot better than the other guy.”

Then-Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell seemed to agree in 2022, when he joined Team No Specifics as Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., proposed an 11-point GOP plan. Asked what his party’s agenda would be if it regained the majority, McConnell replied, “I’ll let you know when we take it back.”

For Jain, it’s less about an in-depth platform and more about how bluntly Democrats can talk about it.

“Broadly speaking, they need to be a little more unafraid to go bold and say, ‘What we did in the past under Biden wasn’t working,’” he said. That shift could include anti-tariff plans or even rent freeze proposals, depending on the specific area and candidate, Jain added.

Asked to name a Democrat who currently displays sufficient boldness when it comes to messaging on affordability, Jain offered some praise for the governors-elect of Virginia and New Jersey, Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill, as well as Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego.

But, he concluded: “The answer is basically no one, honestly.”