Politics
Contributor: Democrats have four theories to beat Trump. Wish them luck
Donald Trump’s presidency has all the stability of a flaming garbage truck careening down a mountain. Yet, somehow, he’s still behind the wheel, grinning like a maniac, while Democrats argue over the best way to file a noise complaint.
His administration is a demolition derby in a fine china shop — tariffs, diplomatic blunders and economic upheaval. And yet, if the election were today, he’d probably win again.
How is this happening? Divine retribution? A rip in the space-time continuum? Some elaborate karmic joke? No — it’s because, amazingly, Democrats have mastered the art of being simultaneously too cautious and too out of touch.
That’s not to say they aren’t trying. When they’re not wasting time arguing over decorum or recording cringey “choose your fighter” videos, Democrats are busy scrambling to find a strategy to regain power. As far as I can tell, they have four (not mutually exclusive) theories.
Theory No. 1: Cross your fingers and wait for Trump to self-destruct
This is the laziest and most beloved strategy — waiting for Trump to spontaneously combust like a Spinal Tap drummer. The logic: Trump is objectively bad at his job. He alienates allies, tanks the economy and treats foreign diplomacy like a game of “Call of Duty.” Surely, at some point, voters will come to their senses, right?
Yeah, about that. First, Trump is a world-class blame-shifter. He could drive the country into a volcano, and his base would still be cheering from the lava’s edge and faulting whoever Trump blasted most recently. Second, people don’t vote based on governance — they vote based on vibes. Trump’s vibe is chaos, but it’s charismatic chaos. His base doesn’t care if he burns down the country as long as he looks cool doing it. Meanwhile, the Democratic pitch of “we’re not as deranged as he is” is less an inspiring message and more a desperate plea from a hostage negotiator.
Voters want a story, a movement, a reason to care. Democrats keep handing them a pamphlet on fiscal responsibility.
Theory No. 2: Work hard
The second theory is refreshingly logical but also unbearably dull: What if Democrats tried really hard? You know: TV ads, field offices, door-knocking — a real ground game.
This strategy is self-soothing (it’s nice to think that blocking and tackling pays off), but it also has a tragic flaw: It works better in the midterms, when turnout is low. If ground games won presidential elections, Kamala Harris would have mopped the floor with Trump. She did not, because modern swing voters aren’t swayed by slickly produced ads and heartfelt town halls. This is the TikTok era, baby.
Trump’s rallies are like tent revivals, blending conspiracy theories with stand-up comedy. Meanwhile, Democrats are still campaigning like it’s 1992, pointing to bar graphs, issuing carefully calibrated statements and convening listening sessions about prescription drug costs.
Politics has become full-blown entertainment. The Democrats are still hosting a book club.
Theory No. 3: Stop being culturally out of touch
Here’s the brutal truth Democrats don’t want to hear: They really have to stop being culturally insufferable.
This doesn’t mean abandoning liberal values or acting like a bunch of jerks. It means dropping the graduate seminar tone. The average voter does not want to “decolonize Thanksgiving.” They do not care about pronouns. They do not believe that every microaggression is an act of “violence.” But every time some 21-year-old activist blocks a highway or waves a Hamas flag at a protest, Democrats scramble to defend them. Why? Because they’re terrified of alienating their own base.
This is why they keep getting clobbered in Middle America. If they want to win, they need to talk like normal human beings again. Right now, your average Democrat sounds like an NPR panel discussion moderated by a yoga instructor with a Whole Foods tote bag.
Theory No. 4: Pray you can find a rock star
And now for the nuclear option: Democrats need a main character. Not a competent administrator. A star.
Politics is now show business, and Trump understands this. He’s not a candidate — he’s a spectacle. His policies are often incoherent, but his performance is gripping. Attention is currency. Trump gets it. Democrats don’t.
So what do Democrats do? They either need a celebrity (someone like The Rock, Mark Cuban or Stephen A. Smith) or a political figure who doesn’t feel like a normal politician. John Fetterman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders — these people have heat. But if the party nominates another hyper-competent bureaucrat who campaigns like they’re applying for tenure at Oberlin, the ticket is finished.
* * *
So what will it take?
Probably a combination of all four theories. Trump needs to stumble; Democrats need to actually do the work, stop alienating everyone outside a liberal arts campus and find a candidate who excites people.
Otherwise, 2028 will roll around, and we’ll all be watching Donald Trump Jr., Candace Owens or Tucker Carlson get sworn in. And Democrats will be standing there slack-jawed, whispering, “I can’t believe we’re losing to these guys again.”
And the rest of us? We’ll be nursing one last cocktail of regret, knowing the warning signs were flashing bright red all along.
Matt K. Lewis is the author of “Filthy Rich Politicians” and “Too Dumb to Fail.”
Politics
Video: Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows
new video loaded: Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows
transcript
transcript
Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows
Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota abandoned his re-election bid to focus on handling a scandal over fraud in social service programs that grew under his administration.
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“I’ve decided to step out of this race, and I’ll let others worry about the election while I focus on the work that’s in front of me for the next year.” “All right, so this is Quality Learing Center — meant to say Quality ‘Learning’ Center.” “Right now we have around 56 kids enrolled. If the children are not here, we mark absence.”
By Shawn Paik
January 6, 2026
Politics
Pelosi heir-apparent calls Trump’s Venezuela move a ‘lawless coup,’ urges impeachment, slams Netanyahu
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A San Francisco Democrat demanded the impeachment of President Donald Trump, accusing him of carrying out a “coup” against Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.
California state Sen. Scott Wiener, seen as the likely congressional successor to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, also took a swipe at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Wiener has frequently drawn national attention for his progressive positions, including his legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom designating California as a “refuge” for transgender children and remarks at a San Francisco Pride Month event referring to California children as “our kids.”
In a lengthy public statement following the Trump administration’s arrest and extradition of Maduro to New York, Wiener said the move shows the president only cares about “enriching his public donors” and “cares nothing for the human or economic cost of conquering another country.”
KAMALA HARRIS BLASTS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S CAPTURE OF VENEZUELA’S MADURO AS ‘UNLAWFUL AND UNWISE’
California State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, speaks at a rally. (John Sciulli/Getty Images)
“This lawless coup is an invitation for China to invade Taiwan, for Russia to escalate its conquest in Ukraine, and for Netanyahu to expand the destruction of Gaza and annex the West Bank,” said Wiener, who originally hails from South Jersey.
He suggested that the Maduro operation was meant to distract from purportedly slumping poll numbers, the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents, and to essentially seize another country’s oil reserves.
“Trump is a total failure,” Wiener said. “By engaging in this reckless act, Trump is also making the entire world less safe … Trump is making clear yet again that, under this regime, there are no rules, there are no laws, there are no norms – there is only whatever Trump thinks is best for himself and his cronies at a given moment in time.”
GREENE HITS TRUMP OVER VENEZUELA STRIKES, ARGUES ACTION ‘DOESN’T SERVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE’
In response, the White House said the administration’s actions against Maduro were “lawfully executed” and included a federal arrest warrant.”
“While Democrats take twisted stands in support of indicted drug smugglers, President Trump will always stand with victims and families who can finally receive closure thanks to this historic action,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.
Supporters of the operation have pushed back on claims of “regime change” – an accusation Wiener also made – pointing to actions by Maduro-aligned courts that barred top opposition leader María Corina Machado from running, even as publicly reported results indicated her proxy, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the vote.
“Trump’s illegal invasion of Venezuela isn’t about drugs, and it isn’t about helping the people of Venezuela or restoring Venezuelan democracy,” Wiener added. “Yes, Maduro is awful, but that’s not what the invasion is about. It’s all about oil and Trump’s collapsing support at home.”
EX-ESPN STAR KEITH OLBERMANN CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT OF TRUMP OVER VENEZUELA STRIKES THAT CAPTURED MADURO
Around the country, a handful of other Democrats referenced impeachment or impeachable offenses, but did not go as far as Wiener in demanding such proceedings.
Rep. April McClain-Delaney, D-Md., who represents otherwise conservative “Mountain Maryland” in the state’s panhandle, said Monday that Democrats should “imminently consider impeachment proceedings,” according to TIME.
McClain-Delaney said Trump acted without constitutionally-prescribed congressional authorization and wrongly voiced “intention to ‘run’ the country.”
SCHUMER BLASTED TRUMP FOR FAILING TO OUST MADURO — NOW WARNS ARREST COULD LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’
One frequent Trump foil, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., cited in a statement that she has called for Trump’s impeachment in the past; blaming Republicans for letting the president “escape accountability.”
“Today, many Democrats have understandably questioned whether impeachment is possible again under the current political reality. I am reconsidering that view,” Waters said.
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“What we are witnessing is an unprecedented escalation of an unlawful invasion, the detention of foreign leaders, and a president openly asserting power far beyond what the Constitution allows,” she said, while appearing to agree with Trump that Maduro was involved in drug trafficking and “collaborat[ion] with… terrorists.”
Wiener’s upcoming primary is considered the deciding election in the D+36 district, while a handful of other lesser-known candidates have reportedly either filed FEC paperwork or declared their candidacy, including San Francisco Councilwoman Connie Chan.
Politics
California Congressman Doug LaMalfa dies, further narrowing GOP margin in Congress
California Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) has died, GOP leadership and President Trump confirmed Tuesday morning.
“Jacquie and I are devastated about the sudden loss of our friend, Congressman Doug LaMalfa. Doug was a loving father and husband, and staunch advocate for his constituents and rural America,” said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the House majority whip, in a post on X. “Our prayers are with Doug’s wife, Jill, and their children.”
LaMalfa, 65, was a fourth-generation rice farmer from Oroville and staunch Trump supporter who had represented his Northern California district for the past 12 years. His seat was one of several that was in jeopardy under the state’s redrawn districts approved by voters with Proposition 50.
Emergency personnel responded to a 911 call from LaMalfa’s residence at 6:50 p.m. Monday, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. The congressman was taken to the Enloe Medical Center in Chico, where he died while undergoing emergency surgery, authorities said.
An autopsy to determine the cause of death is planned, according to the sheriff’s office.
LaMalfa’s district — which stretches from the northern outskirts of Sacramento, through Redding at the northern end of the Central Valley and Alturas in the state’s northeast corner — is largely rural, and constituents have long said they felt underrepresented in liberal California.
LaMalfa put much of his focus on boosting federal water supplies to farmers, and seeking to reduce environmental restrictions on logging and extraction of other natural resources.
One LaMalfa’s final acts in the U.S. House was to successfully push for the reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools Act, a long-standing financial aid program for schools surrounded by untaxed federal forest land, whose budgets could not depend upon property taxes, as most public schools do. Despite broad bipartisan support, Congress let it lapse in 2023.
In an interview with The Times as he was walking onto the House floor in mid-December, LaMalfa said he was frustrated with Congress’s inability to pass even a popular bill like that reauthorization.
The Secure Rural Schools Act, he said, was a victim of a Congress in which “it’s still an eternal fight over anything fiscal.” It is “annoying,” LaMalfa said, “how hard it is to get basic things done around here.”
In a statement posted on X, California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said he considered LaMalfa “a friend and partner” and that the congressman was “deeply committed to his community and constituents, working to make life better for those he represented.”
“Doug’s life was one of great service and he will be deeply missed,” Schiff wrote.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement called LaMalfa a “devoted public servant who deeply loved his country, his state, and the communities he represented.”
“While we often approached issues from different perspectives, he fought every day for the people of California with conviction and care,” Newsom said.
Flags at the California State Capitol in Sacramento will be flown at half-staff in honor of the congressman, according to the governor.
Before his death, LaMalfa was facing a difficult reelection bid to hold his seat. After voters approved Proposition 50 in November — aimed at giving California Democrats more seats in Congress — LaMalfa was drawn into a new district that heavily favored his likely opponent, State Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat who represents the state’s northwest coast.
LaMalfa’s death puts the Republican majority in Congress in further jeopardy, with a margin of just two votes to secure passage of any bill along party lines after the resignation of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday evening.
Adding to the party’s troubles, Rep. Jim Baird, a Republican from Indiana, was hospitalized on Tuesday for a car crash described by the White House as serious. While Baird is said to be stable, the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson from Louisiana, will not be able to rely on his attendance. And he has one additional caucus member – Thomas Massie of Kentucky – who has made a habit of voting against the president, bringing their margin for error down effectively to zero.
President Trump, addressing a gathering of GOP House members at the Kennedy Center, addressed the news at the start of his remarks, expressing “tremendous sorrow at the loss of a great member” and stating his speech would be made in LaMalfa’s honor.
“He was the leader of the Western caucus – a fierce champion on California water issues. He was great on water. ‘Release the water!’ he’d scream out. And a true defender of American children.”
“You know, he voted with me 100% of the time,” Trump added.
A native of Oroville, LaMalfa attended Butte College and then earned an ag-business degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He served in the California Assembly from 2002 to 2008 and the California State Senate from 2010 to 2012. Staunchly conservative, he was an early supporter of Proposition 209, which ended affirmative action in California, and he also pushed for passage of the Protection of Marriage Act, Proposition 22, which banned same-sex marriage in California.
While representing California’s 1st District, LaMalfa focused largely on issues affecting rural California and other western states. In 2025, Congressman he was elected as Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, which focuses on legislation affected rural areas.
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