Not a week goes by that I don’t swear at my new political party, the Democratic Party, for being utterly out of touch with not only political reality, but with regular, everyday, working-class Americans. Not a week goes by that I don’t want to just slap my new party upside the head for being so dang out of touch.

I had a conversation last night with a new follower of mine, a Democrat, a progressive Democrat. And the conversation went something like this. “Joe, Joe,” she said. “Man, we’re gonna kick butt this year. We’re going to take back the House. We’re going to take back the Senate. The Democratic Party is back, Joe, don’t you feel it?”

NOTE: Most people – from EITHER Farty – oops – Party – just don’t get it! ~ Editor

And I said, “Slow your roll. Stop. Stop. Do you understand what’s going on?”

“And do you understand,” I asked her, very respectfully, “that the vast majority of the American people cannot stand either political party? They can’t stand the Democrats, and they can’t stand Republicans.” I asked her that.

And she just looked at me like I was an absolute party-crasher, that I was wrecking her buzz. She was on this high. Like, everything is looking great. The Democrats are kicking butt. Assuming we have free and fair elections in November, Democrats are gonna roll the table, take the House and the Senate. The conversation went on for a little bit, and I tried to make two points.

I tried to explain to her what the data says, again, that the vast majority of the American people hate both political parties. They can’t stand the Republican Party. They can’t stand the Democratic Party. And the vast majority of these American people, what they do every two years is they poke their head up, and they decide to vote for the party that they hate the least. That’s it. They do it every two years.

They don’t vote for Democrats because they love Democrats. They don’t vote for Republicans because they love Republicans. They decide which party that year they hate the least, and they vote for them.

The Democratic Party is in the toilet. The approval rating – the way most Americans feel about Democrats – man, it’s in the toilet, as bad as Trump is. Most Democrats, and I need to say most folks on the left, don’t understand this.

That was point one that I made with her. Get off of your high horse, respectfully. Most Americans can’t stand the Democratic Party. And, oh, by the way, this is the cycle we go through every two years. Democrats need to find a way to break this cycle so that people vote Democrat because they actually like Democrats and want to vote for Democrats, and they’re voting affirmatively for what the Democratic Party says they’re going to do. We’re not there, I told her. We’re not even close to there.

And then the second point I made to her was, yes, assuming free and fair elections, Democrats are going to take back the House, no sweat. Gonna be tougher to take back the Senate, because the map is really difficult, but Democrats have a shot to take back the Senate. And you know what else I told her? It has nothing to do with the Democratic Party.

Democrats are going to win the House this year. But it has nothing to do with the Democratic Party. It has everything to do with Donald Trump. Trump sucks. Trump’s bad. Trump’s incompetent. Trump’s a liar. Trump’s starting wars. Trump single-handedly ruined the economy. Trump has mass federal thugs on our streets doing fascism every single day. That’s why the American people are going to hand the Democratic Party the House and maybe the Senate. It’s all because of Trump.

Assuming we have elections, Democrats, there’s going to be a blue wave. But it ain’t a blue wave of love. It’s a blue wave of, oh my God, I’m fucking scared to death about Donald Trump. And, again, I told her I don’t think most Democrats understand this. And I worry, I told her, that Democrats are walking down the same path, walking into the same trap, where they’re believing that, “Oh my God, we’re back! People love us!” when they win the House and maybe the Senate. No. No. No. My Democratic brothers and sisters, the American people don’t love you. They’re just scared to fucking death about Trump.

But here’s the deal, I told her. Oh, yay, right? We’ll take back the House, maybe the Senate. But you ain’t getting the White House, I told her. And you’ll probably lose the House and the Senate in ‘28 if we don’t figure out what the hell we are as a party and present an affirmative reason to vote Democrat in ‘28. Because 2028’s going to come along, and, remember, the vast majority of the American people are going to make a choice: which party do I hate least? And they’re going to pull the trigger for that party.

That’s what they did in ‘24. They knew Trump was a bad guy. They knew Trump was an asshole. But they hated the Democratic Party more. They thought, rightly, that the Democratic Party was elitist and out of touch then in 2024. That’s why they voted for the asshole. And if the Democratic Party remains elitist and out of touch in 2028, they’re going to vote for President JD Vance or President Tucker Carlson or President Marco Rubio.

If the Democratic Party doesn’t pull its head out of its ass, out of its elitist MSNOW ass, and understand regular Americans again – regular, everyday, working-class Americans – and speak to them again, and listen to them again, and just fucking sound like regular human beings again, then forget about it after the midterms.

I mean this. And this is a real pet peeve of mine as a new Democrat. Democrats, my new party, Americans can’t stand you. They can’t stand Trump and the Republican Party either, but they can’t stand you. And you need to fucking wake up to that. And you need to understand why the vast majority of Americans can’t stand you.

And you know who I’m talking about? I’m talking about Americans who aren’t listening to me right now. I’m talking about Americans who aren’t on Substack, aren’t on Twitter, aren’t really on social media. They work their asses off every day. They’ve got a family to support and feed. They’re coaching Little League. They’re doing whatever. They’re trying to keep their head above water every fucking week, paycheck to paycheck.

They don’t pay attention to politics like you and I do. They pay attention every now and then. They vote, and every two years, they put their head up and decide. They look, and they decide: who do I hate the least? I’m talking about these Americans. And by the way, this is most Americans. And these Americans – most Americans – cannot stand either party.

And if we come to 2028, and most Americans have that same choice, like, “I cannot stand either party. Republicans, JD Vance, all of them, they’re assholes. I’m sick of them. But damn it, Democrats don’t understand me. Democrats look down on me. They’re a bunch of elitists,” I can guaran-freaking-tee you, my Democratic colleagues, that just like they did in 2024, they’re gonna vote for the bad guy. They’re gonna vote for the asshole over the party they believe doesn’t understand them.

They did it in ‘24. They’ll do it again in ‘28. It’s not gonna impact the midterms. You’re gonna win the midterms because everybody, rightly, is just scared to fuck of Trump.

So Democrats, stop patting yourselves on the back, and get your fucking act together. You don’t need to do it now, before the midterms. But, man, you ought to start thinking about it now, and you’re going have to do it immediately after the midterms.

The party needs to figure out who the fuck they are. They’ve got to figure out, again, what they stand for. They’ve got to figure out, again, how to connect with regular fucking Americans. They’ve got to stand against corruption, they’ve got to stand for political reform, and they’ve just got to sound like fucking regular human beings again.

I don’t know if my new party can do that, but I do know this: if my new party doesn’t do that, this country is looking at a President JD Vance in 2028.

Come on, Democrats America – Get your shit together!

Be brave!

Written by Joe Walsh for Joe’s Midweek Meltdown ~ March 12, 2026