Trump Is Doubling Down on Iran. How Should Democrats Respond?
3/6/202642 min
Donald Trump’s polling has continued to edge down week after week. And yet approval of the Democratic Party is still stuck near its all-time low, according to Gallup and other surveys. One interpretation of these polls is that the deep unpopularity of the party is an albatross around the neck of Democratic candidates. But there’s another interpretation that I think is more interesting—and perhaps more true. The fact that the party has no clearly defined national leader, and no clearly defined “brand” (sorry), is an opportunity for young Democrats to define themselves as individuals. Rather than act like a congregation all singing from the same hymnal, they can experiment, disagree, and adapt their message to their electorate. And that might ultimately prove to be a strength of the party heading into the 2026 midterms rather than a weakness. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) joins the show to talk about the Iran war, immigration, affordability vs. aspiration, and the future of the Democratic Party. Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@PlainEnglishwithDerekThompson If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. Host: Derek ThompsonGuest: Ruben GallegoProducer: Devon Baroldi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
[drum music] I'm R.J. Decker, a private investigator uncovering the Sunshine State's darkest secrets.
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Speaker 00:15
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It's not a standard murder, it's something bigger And a public mess. Trying to get sent back to prison today? [siren] You go to prison one time, and suddenly it's all the jokes.
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Derek Thompson· Host0:35
With an unjustified, unexplained war spreading in the Middle East, with ICE rampaging through various American cities, with tariffs going up and down and up and down depending on the day, Donald Trump's polling has continued to edge downward every week, and yet the approval rating of the Democratic Party is still stuck near its all-time low, according to Gallup and other surveys. One interpretation of these polls, one obvious interpretation, is that the deep unpopularity of that letter D at the end of a candidate's name is a huge albatross around Democratic candidates nationwide. But there's another interpretation that I think is more interesting and perhaps more true. The fact that the party has no clearly defined leader, no clearly defined brand, to use the dreaded B word, is an opportunity for young Democrats to define it for themselves. Rather than act