Jonathan P. Baird

The scale of the wipe-out of the Republican Party was epic. Even Ron DeSantis called it “almost an extinction level event”. For the Democrats, all the winning felt novel. As an older Democrat, I have lived through many disappointing evenings. This was a night to be savored.

Still winning for its own sake is no goal. The winning has to be about enacting an agenda. If the Democrats don’t fight for a clear agenda, they could find themselves in the same position as the Republicans are now. Americans will expect the Democrats to deliver but there is a wide variance in the party about the content of what the Democratic agenda should be.

As a democratic socialist, I wanted to offer some thoughts on the way forward for Democrats. Democrats need an agenda with specificity. It is not enough to say we support affordability without further definition.

Democrats should immediately pass legislation to reverse Trump’s Medicaid cuts that are throwing millions off health insurance. They should restore the Affordable Care Act subsidies. They should reverse all the cuts to the Food Stamp program.At the same time, they should reverse Trump tax cuts to the billionaire class.

Democrats must run as economic populists against the billionaire class. That oligarchical class must be named and opposed. There is a relationship between the billionaire class making out like bandits and the working class getting screwed. One depends on the other.

We should advocate a greatly increased minimum wage, like $20 an hour. Democrats have been too passive in accepting our massive economic inequality. We need to take strong steps that show the working class Democrats support them. Democrats could advocate a 5% wealth tax on billionaires. Such a tax could finance millions of units of affordable housing and provide universal free child care for 13 million children.

I would suggest that Democrats boldly advance Medicare for all. It is not radical. Every other advanced industrial country already has a version of universal health care. If the billionaires paid their fair share of taxes, it could finance universal health care. Democrats must stop deference and solicitousness to the unquenchably greedy billionaires. Elon Musk owns more wealth than the bottom 53% of American households.

On the foreign policy front, Democrats should pass legislation that defunds the Iran War. The war is an absurdity. The skyrocketing cost of gas and food is a direct result of the war. So often Democrats have pussyfooted. Is it hard to be anti-war? If Trump doesn’t stop the war, we must take away the money financing the whole enterprise.

Also we need to abolish ICE – not reform it. It is a rogue agency that has been ridiculously over-funded. That money must be clawed back by Congress. ICE agents have killed people and faced no accountability. It appears they expect to get away with the murders of Renee Good. Alex Pretti and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.

ICE is running concentration camps where people are held in inhumane, unconstitutional conditions. They block Congresspeople and reporters who try to investigate. ICE facilities and their conditions must be exposed. Running constitution-free zones is not the American way. Republicans have specialized in the worst cruelty and it is not simply abuse and neglect of detainees. Removing thousands of immigrants to third countries where they have no roots and no way to survive violates due process and international law.

We need to see this for what it is: the creation of a fascist police state inside the confines of our mass incarceration. This dual state is a threat to democracy. Its expansion is in opposition to the rule of law. The United States government has created a sub-system inside the legal system where lawlessness reigns.

I need to mention corruption. It is the Trump way of life and the election showed Americans were sick of it whether it was billionaires trying to buy elections or presidential self-enrichment schemes. Regulation is not a dirty word. It needs re-birth, especially around AI. Regulation of AI is commonsense because it is a matter of life and death for humanity.

Some Democrats act like addressing corruption is a distraction from the focus on affordability. I think that is wrong-headed. Unless there is some accountability, it can be guaranteed criminal behavior will be back and worse than before. Even if the Democrats cannot overcome presidential vetoes of the initiatives I am suggesting, they will at least make a record that they can run on in 2028 and 2030.

Finally, the comeback of diversity, equity and inclusion must be highlighted. Voters across 17 states elected women governors, including the first black and Native American women elected governor. We also saw the first (and possibly the second) Native American female U.S. senator, the first Muslim U.S. senator and the first openly gay male U.S. Senator. The House will have more than 100 Democratic women elected for the first time in history.

At crunch time, when push came to shove, Americans rejected Trump’s toxic fascism. We are not out of the woods as evidenced by Trump’s pick of Stephen Miller to be his new Chief of Staff but November 3, 2026 will go down in American history as a very proud day.