Frustrated Democrats try new response to Trump barrage: Flood the zone right back

Frustrated Democrats are fighting to counter President Trump’s flood-the-zone approach by adopting a mirror strategy with a simple goal: To flood the zone right back. 

Democrats have struggled to keep pace with the machine-gun tempo of Trump’s second term, which has featured a blitz of boundary-busting executive orders, mass deportations, federal firings, and broader efforts to gut the federal government.

The Democrats’ response to the frenzy of executive actions has infuriated the party’s liberal base, which loudly accused Democratic leaders of failing to push back against an aggressive White House in ways that meet the urgency of the moment.

The party brass appears to have noticed. Recent weeks have seen the Democrats coalescing behind an assertive new strategy designed to fight fire with fire — what House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) characterizes as a “more is more” playbook. 

The strategy is very much a work in progress as Democrats scramble by trial and error to locate communications techniques that can break through the noise of Trump’s frenzied second term.

And the actions of some lawmakers, like Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-N.J.) marathon floor speech, have been better received than the tactics of others, like Rep. Al Green’s (D-Texas) heckling of Trump on the House floor, which angered some Democratic moderates and led to Green’s censure.

Still, Democrats are increasingly rallying behind a mantra that’s perhaps best encapsulated by words attributed to the hockey great Wayne Gretzky: “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”

“I’m trying stuff — some stuff works, some stuff doesn’t,” said Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), who spoke up at a recent Democratic Caucus meeting to warn colleagues that they’re losing the messaging war.

“But, like, every once in a while I get something that really captures the imagination and then my team goes back, we figure out: What was it about that?” she continued. “We have to do our own data-crunching in real time about what is resonating.”

“Flood the zone,” echoed Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), a leader of the Democrats’ messaging arm. “Communicate often, all the time, about what’s going on with a very simple message that the Republicans right now are — the reason they want to cut Medicaid, the reason they want to cut food stamps, is because they want to give billionaires a tax cut.”

“That’s what we’re talking about. And it’s resonating with people.” 

They have their work cut out. 

Not only do Democrats lack an obvious national leader, but from the minority wilderness in Congress the party lacks the authority to bring legislation to the floor, conduct hearings on topics of their choosing, or investigate the many scandals of Trump’s second term with the subpoena power available to the majority Republicans, who have shown little inclination to check the White House.

Democrats are being advised to stay focused on how the Republicans’ legislative designs will affect Americans’ future, but they’re also stuck relitigating the past amid new revelations about Joe Biden’s health.

And in the ongoing contest for voter attention, Democrats simply don’t have the same media infrastructure erected by the right, where conservative voices like Joe Rogan and Dave Portnoy enjoy wide appeal with millions of younger voters who have flocked to Trump.

In an effort to close the messaging gap, Democrats are turning to unusual tactics, like diving into GOP-held districts to conduct town halls. That strategy has allowed Democrats to communicate directly with voters in battleground regions, while also highlighting the fact that most Republican lawmakers are avoiding such public events amid an outcry over the steep cuts in federal programs featured in Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” 

“What we’re trying to tell people is that as much as [Trump] said he’s for you, he’s not. And the proof is in the pudding,” said Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.). “We recognize that Americans are getting their information and news not in the traditional ways that they used to. And it’s important for us to go to where they are.”

Frost, for one, has joined forces with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) to stage town halls in red regions. And he pointed, as another successful model, to the Democrats’ response to Trump’s joint address to Congress in February, when Democrats hosted a “spin room” in the Capitol basement, where progressive podcasters and influencers mingled with Democratic lawmakers — and broadcast their anti-Trump messages to niche audiences far and wide. 

“Usually, the caucus will have maybe 30, 40 members go down there. This year, because the leader himself was involved and pushing people to go, we had 150,” Frost said. 

“But one time doesn’t win it,” he quickly added. “We need it to be a part of everyone’s day-to-day. So we’re getting there.” 

Jeffries has taken the lead of the Democrats’ enhanced outreach campaign, abandoning his traditional routine of one weekly press conference in the Capitol to stage at least two meetings with reporters each week — and sometimes more — to push back against the blizzard of White House actions.

In another gambit in late April, he and Booker staged a day-long sit-in on the Capitol steps to draw attention to the Republicans’ policy plans. 

The approach is not quite blind: Jeffries emphasized that the pushback effort is opportunistic — designed around the “timing and the rhythm of the legislative process and how we engage in making sure that we are aggressively pushing back when the moment presents itself.”

“We continue to be in a more is more environment,” he said. 

Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.), a frontline Democrat, said she’s encountering voters of all stripes who are left anxious by the unpredictable actions from the White House, and they want to see Democrats fighting back with every tool available. In that environment, she said, the key is persistence.

“We’ve been attacking it on all fronts, and we have to keep doing that. Whether it’s amicus briefs or town halls or legislation or letters to the administration — we’ve just got to keep the drumbeat going,” she said. “They like it when you fight.”

“I don’t care what I’m invited to,” echoed Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). “I did the L.A. City Business Council — I took that as an opportunity to do my town hall. So I do it everywhere.”

Democrats are resigned to the likelihood that the immediate impact of the fight will be that nothing changes. Indeed, for all their fierce messaging against Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” they were powerless to block it from moving through the House last month.

But the ultimate goal is longer-term: Flipping control of the House in next year’s midterms so they can provide a check on Trump in the final two years of his presidency. 

“We need every single tool right now, because we’re focused on winning back the majority. Like, that is the focus right now, because how else can we stop … all of these horrible policies?” Balint said. 

“It’s a numbers game. We have to get those people in those seats.”