The Democrats lost America’s centre, but there might be a way out of the spiral even as Trump rips out teeth

After years of futile posturing that turned millions away, a Democrat insider has finally broken some cold truths for a system in total disarray.

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If one thing’s been clear this year, it’s that the US’ Democratic Party is being forced to come to terms with something they refused to understand for more than eight years.

For us outsiders looking into the fractured political climate of the world’s most powerful country, the backlash that followed 78-year-old Donald Trump’s second win was an utter bore.

We’ve seen this stage act before.

Refusing to learn from 2016, rusted-on “never Trump” Democrats doubled down on pushing their “dictator” and “fascist” rhetoric in a fruitless attempt at swaying a result that was inevitable.

To be fair, there is some pretty tasty fuel for the Democrats to work with. Outrageously provocative comments about Gaza, relentless tariff threats that have shaken the global economy and his all-around rudeness to opposition have made him an easy target for moralisers and people who benefit financially from the status-quo.

But what America’s left-leaning powerbrokers don’t understand is that they pushed droves of America’s quiet moderates into the arms of the MAGA movement long ago. The posturing about Mr Trump’s negative tendencies didn’t work in 2016 and it sure as hell didn’t work in November.

Not every single one of the 77 million who cast a vote for Mr Trump can be assumed to be red hat-wearing gun-toters, but the message from the polling booths was clear.

The US just wanted the veil lifted, even if it was just for a little peek.

And they were so desperate to see it, they were willing to let one of the most unpredictable hotheads in world politics back on the tools to achieve it.

The death note for the Democrats came fast when Joe Biden announced he’d be running again.

How could the public possibly trust the good intentions of a party who deemed a man with a cinema-length highlights reel of cognitive decline fit for another four years behind the nuclear button?

The party reeked of behind-the-scenes manipulation and still tried convincing America they had it all under control, that they were the only ones guided by morality.

The Biden administration’s borderline authoritarian — and ultimately futile — approach to containing the Covid-19 spread also lit a fire under libertarians, who felt the aggressively divisive messaging and rapidly enforced societal shift pushed by the government went against the principles the country was founded on.

The relentless insistence that a ceasefire in Ukraine is a worse idea than continuing to funnel billions into foreign battlefields has also sowed distrust in the side of politics that has historically been anti-war.

To cap it off, Mr Trump’s inclusion of political figures Robert F Kennedy Jr and Tulsi Gabbard, who both copped relentless heat for being ex-Democrats speaking candidly about the soiled vision of America’s left, also did a lot to convince the centre that this term wasn’t exactly going to be a repeat of the past.

I’ll get to the point now, sorry.

The Democrats need a new vision if they really want to sway the centre away from Trump. Picture: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP

The US voter just wanted the veil lifted. And they were so desperate to see it they were willing to let one of the most unpredictable hotheads seen in world politics back on the tools to achieve it. (Photo by allison robbert / AFP)

Slowly but surely, clued-in Democrats are beginning to wipe their eyes and see the mess they’re in.

The party is still largely grappling with its identity in the wake of November’s landslide defeat and insiders say it’s hard to keep up with the Trump juggernaut.

Even today, politicians sit straight-faced on globally-broadcasted television and claim the Democrat house isn’t burning down.

The surging cost of living in America’s biggest cities has begun to push the working class out with no end in sight. They are long-held Democrat havens populated with millions who feel as if they aren’t being represented.

It paints a dire picture for the establishment left looking to the future.

They will need a realistic new approach and one Senator for Michigan has finally broken the ice.

One Senator for Michigan has finally broken the ice on the state of the Democratic Party.

Elissa Slotkin went against the grain on Sunday and made a blunt admission that is equal parts admirable and important to the nation’s trajectory.

Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Ms Slotkin argued that “new voices” in the party are needed to appeal to the American centre and breathe some life into the cause.

“I think you can’t get better until you admit you have a problem. I think some of the new voices in the party have been agitating about, right? New senators, new representatives, new folks who are like ‘hey, we need to do more, and we need to be showing that we’re actually having a plan to stand up on really important moments of inflection,’” Ms Slotkin said.

“So that’s what I’m trying to do from within.”

Ms Slotkin, a moderate from Michigan, flipped the historically Republican 8th district in 2018 before winning Senate office in 2024.

With her centrist brand of politics, she represents one of the party’s few success stories in an otherwise brutal election cycle for Democrats.

She also commented on Mr Trump’s ability to “flood the zone” with a constant stream of political moves that have left Democrats struggling to keep up.

“Look, I mean, people know me, I’m pretty straightforward. I don’t think it’s a secret that Democrats have been on their heels since Trump won the election, right?” Ms Slotkin said.

“I don’t think that’s … something hidden.”

“Trump has been successful in flooding the zone and just like, everyday, 15 things happening.

“We are still finding our footing and I think you can’t get better until you admit you have a problem.”

When she gave her party’s response to Mr Trump’s congressional address last week, Ms Slotkin gave the Elon Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency its due. She just wants it done with some tact.

“Americans made it clear that prices are too high and that government needs to be more responsive to their needs. America wants change,” she said.

“But there is a responsible way to make change, and a reckless way. And, we can make that change without forgetting who we are as a country, and as a democracy.”

There’s growing divide that has been building for over a decade. (Photo by SPENCER PLATT / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

“New voices” are exactly what America’s left wing needs to shake off the shackles of the past decade and to move the nation forward. Arguably what has damaged the Democrats the most in the eyes of the American centrist is the ever-expanding, over-correction on common sense issues.

For example, millions of Americans failed to see how the honourable desire to protect the vulnerable translated into spending over $59 million to house illegal immigrants in former luxury New York City hotels.

Also, encouraging a wider range of people to excel in notoriously homogenised career paths is a good thing, but did they really have to spend $1.5 million on a program slated to “advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces”.

This is all while the US is experiencing one of the biggest wealth inequality shifts in recent memory, with everyday voters left completely fed up about hearing about bureaucratic altruism while they fork over a week’s rent on staple groceries.

The candid admission from one of their own has come at a crucial moment as the party sits wounded in the trench.

They now need to harness a new vision to appeal to the centre that they happily pushed away not once but twice.

In turn, it is Mr Trump’s responsibility as a just leader to encourage reasonable criticism and shake off the relentless diatribes that have painted him as a tyrant.

But can America really get it together?

Let me know what you think.

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