I pulled off the road to write this because...

How Democrats win but get stuck

First, I will go out on a limb: Democrats will take the House and the Senate (barring a Fetterman flip) this November. The problem for progressives is that, with Trump in office, winning Congress and four bucks will get you a latte. Perhaps this is too pessimistic, but the emails and texts I get from Democratic candidates reveal little vision or strategy moving forward from Election Day. There could be a plan in the background, one the mainstream media overlooks, that new House and Senate leaders will swoop in with—but I doubt it.

I expect a legislative agenda not unlike the A/B-tested fundraising messages that land on my phone all day: each proposal a calculated missive, an "I'm writing because" aimed at an electoral sliver pulled from the Democratic databases. All politics may be local, but a party needs a direction. Say what you will about Make America Great Again, it is snappy and, in its way, hopeful: we are going to do something with government you want done. Democrats have "We are not MAGA." My concern is that hyper-tuned, state-by-district outreach, built to assemble a winning coalition from variations of "not Trump," will leave the coming Congress foundering for lack of a vision.

There will be necessary legislative high points. A real vote on the Iran war. Legislation to restore Obamacare subsidies. Hell, the House may even stay in session rather than adjourn to avoid votes as the current Speaker does. But Senate Republicans will filibuster anything useful, and if Democrats get around that, Trump will veto. So voters will hand Democrats the keys to Congress, then be frustrated nothing has changed—even though, lacking the votes to override a veto, little can. Add the internal positioning for the 2028 presidential race, beginning soon in the congressional session, and the legislative challenge will only rise.

Congress should investigate everyone about everything. Do not let the bastards breathe. Do not be "reasonable"; be zealous in pursuit of corruption.

Democrats will feel the urge to look like they are working together on something, even to be "bipartisan," even while one of the partisans seeks to destroy the government. Mainstream pundits will go on about how Democrats need to be the adults in the room and focus on a few issues. More attention will go to looking reasonable than to using what leverage exists to prepare the ground for 2028. This will be the tested message—levels of reasonableness. That approach, however, is nonsense.

Be Unreasonable

Congress should investigate everyone about everything. Do not let the bastards breathe. Do not be "reasonable"; be zealous in pursuit of corruption. Hold hearings to strengthen the Presidential Records Act and every law governing record retention. Put Americans on notice Trump's plans include destroying evidence. Right now, pardons aside, shredding records of a crime likely carries a lighter penalty than the crime itself. And spruce up some space in the Capitol to use as a jail, because Trump folks will have a great deal of contempt.

This is no call for impeachments—the Senate guarantees a loss every time. Focus on the corruption and the incompetence. Show how government investments in the public's welfare have been shattered. Put the self-dealing and theft in office on display. There is so much crime and incompetence that every subcommittee in Congress could fill a session's agenda uncovering it. There will be important votes on war and health care to take, but investigation is the one thing Congress can do, on its own, to fight Trump.

The dominant ideology will say focus and be reasonable. Do not look strident; look bipartisan, working across the aisle. This will be mantra—and very, very wrong. People do not want bipartisanship, even when they say they do. People want something done. So Democrats, please be unreasonable. Test this message. It is the only way to do anything meaningful at all.