WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Democrats are making a growing effort to adopt a pragmatic focus as they campaign on affordability in the midterms, as some within the party push for moving away from ideological arguments.<\/p>\n
Across the country, Democratic candidates are trying to win over voters by talking about real-life scenarios, framing other platform issues in economic terms and, strategists say, aiming to shift a perception that Democrats deal in the abstract.<\/p>\n
They see an opening created by voters\u2019 focus on the economy and their ability as the party not in power to leverage affordability as the key midterms issue as Trump\u2019s economic approval remains low. Trump has dismissed the issue, calling<\/a> affordability a \u201choax\u201d by Democrats while also promising economic improvements.<\/p>\n \u201cThere has been a learning process in being able to take what Trump and the Republicans are doing and make sure that [candidates] are coming back to the real-world economic implications of whatever that might be,\u201d Democratic strategist Alex Jacquez, who served in the Biden White House. \u201cThat\u2019s where maybe [Democrats] haven\u2019t always, in the recent past, made the full connection all the way through.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, \u201cthe moment is ripe,\u201d he suggested, for the party to shift its image.<\/p>\n The Democrats\u2019 concentration on affordability and the economy has defined their midterm messaging, playing off elevated inflation<\/a>, the effects of Trump\u2019s tariffs and high gas prices<\/a> caused by the war in Iran. The party is attempting to capture enough swing voters to win a House majority in November, and some believe the Senate could also be within reach<\/a>.<\/p>\n Polling shows pessimism about the economy has increased<\/a> among all Americans and most believe the country is in an affordability crisis. Americans most frequently mention government leadership and economic issues as the country\u2019s most important problems in Gallup polling<\/a>. <\/p>\n Voters also increasingly disapprove of Trump\u2019s handling of the economy, including <\/a>working-class white voters<\/a> who make up a key part of his base. In an NPR\/PBS News\/Marist Poll<\/a> last month, Americans gave the president his lowest-ever approval rating on the economy at 33%. <\/p>\n Speaking in Pennsylvania on Thursday, Trump said of affordability: \u201cThat\u2019s a fake word that they use. They caused the affordability problem. It\u2019s called high prices.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Adam Gray, a Democrat who represents a purple Central Valley district and is a member of the center-left Blue Dog Coalition in Congress, said he believes voters have grown frustrated by the failure of Washington lawmakers to pay attention to what the people want out from government.<\/p>\n He pointed to Central Valley growers whose business has been affected, he said, by the rising price of fuel and fertilizer, the squeeze on the labor market caused by immigration enforcement and changes to federal programs.<\/p>\n \u201cHow regular people experience politics, it\u2019s not the kind of ideological debates we have in Washington,\u201d Gray said. \u201cIt\u2019s the experience of doing something, whether that\u2019s shopping for groceries or going to the lake to go boating with your family and realizing the price of gas is through the roof or the road to the lake is in disrepair.\u201d<\/p>\n At a time when Democrats have debated how to embrace a party identity beyond opposing Trump and intra-party fights between progressive and moderate candidates have drawn attention, some believe the \u201cpractical\u201d tactic may offer one key to the party\u2019s path forward.<\/p>\n In Texas, Democratic candidates are pointing to the impact of data centers on water supply or the consequences of the state\u2019s abortion ban, said Matt Angle, director of Lone Star Project, a political research organization that works to help get Democrats elected.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that Corpus Christi is running out of water … [or] you have women who have died because they were denied abortion services,\u201d Angle said. \u201cIt\u2019s very important that those things not be talked about in ideological terms but in practical terms. I think Democrats are doing a better job of that than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReal life is happening on the ground,\u201d Angle added. \u201cI think Democrats see that.\u201d<\/p>\n Republicans pursued a similar strategy successfully in 2024, and their attacks on Democrats for focusing on cultural issues may have been successful in pushing Democrats away from that messaging, said Republican strategist Brittany Martinez. <\/p>\n \u201cThey have made it clear that\u2019s the direction in which they\u2019re trying to go,\u201d she said of Democrats. \u201cI also think you have outliers of the party that sometimes suck all the oxygen out of the room and maybe derail that message.\u201d<\/p>\n National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Christian Martinez said Democrats\u2019 economic record, including in California under Gov. Gavin Newsom, demonstrates a failure to prioritize working families.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s laughable that Democrats are trying to make kitchen-table issues their brand,\u201d he said. \u201cIt only proves their political brand is broken, while Californians continue living every day with the receipts from Democrats\u2019 failed agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n