A Stern Warning to Democrats, My Preferred Party

Dear Democrats: America Has Not Fallen in Love With You. They Just Hate the “Other Guy” More!

by Mark M. Bello

Congratulations to my fellow Democrats and to the Democratic Party. You had a remarkable November 3. I haven’t had that much fun watching politics unfold since Barack Obama was elected president.

Voters across America, including in states and communities where Republicans have traditionally enjoyed substantial advantages, sent a message of dissatisfaction with their country’s direction.

But before you start popping champagne corks, planning investigations, and patting yourselves on your backs, I have my own message for you:

Don’t get too big for your britches.

I generally prefer your policies to those of your Republican opponents. I have always voted overwhelmingly for Democrats over Republicans. Please succeed. I want our government to be effective and responsive to the people. Please earn our confidence.

But let’s get something straight.

This is not America’s newfound love affair with the Democratic Party. America is fed up with Donald Trump and his sycophantic party.

Note this distinction—it’s vital to your success.

This was a lesser-of-two-evils election. Millions of Americans weren’t necessarily voting for the Democrats. They were voting against the chaos, divisiveness, economic uncertainty, and utterly crappy policies of the Trump administration. Even the most conservative Republicans felt betrayed by the current administration.

So don’t mistake your opponent’s rejection for affection. And don’t assume you’ve been handed a long-term mandate.

You’ve been handed an opportunity. For the next two years, you have a chance to demonstrate that government can actually work for the people.

So, please, for the love of everything this country is supposed to stand for, don’t screw this up.

Revenge? Just Say No!

Hear the political machinery warming up? Investigations! Hearings! Subpoenas! Impeachment! Retribution! Stop. Please.

Congress shouldn’t abandon its constitutional oversight responsibilities. Corruption should be investigated. Criminal conduct should be prosecuted. The rule of law must apply equally to presidents, politicians, billionaires, and ordinary citizens. But oversight shouldn’t replace responsible governing—don’t spend the next two years conducting political theater while Americans continue their struggle to buy groceries, pay their mortgages, afford healthcare, or fill their gas tanks.

Not another endless cycle of partisan bickering, legislative paralysis, and finger-pointing. We’ve had enough of that crap from both parties.

Don’t tell me who’s responsible for our pain—tell me how you’ll fix it!

You have two years to prove that government can work. Use them.

Shut Up and Listen

Here’s a revolutionary suggestion for Washington politicians:

Talk to the people. You know, those citizens who cast votes on November 3. Not your donors or political consultants, not people who attend your rallies and tell you how wonderful you are. Talk to single mothers who work two jobs who still can’t afford childcare. Or retired couples choosing between prescription drugs and groceries. Small-business owners struggling with tariffs, insurance premiums, and rising operating costs.

Talk to farmers who can’t afford fertilizer or diesel fuel. Young couples who can’t afford to buy their first home. Laid-off factory workers, truck driver,s nurses, teachers, police officers (no more “defund the police”), immigrants, or entrepreneurs.

And talk to Republicans. Yes, Republicans. Especially those who voted against you. Ask them why they can’t stand you. Then, ask what they need and what they think government is doing wrong.

Listen carefully to their answers. You don’t have to agree with everything. But you do have to represent everyone.

Find out who’s hurting, where they’re hurting, why they’re hurting, and what government can realistically do to relieve that pain. And then do something about it—

LOUDLY—

Not political shouting “loudly.” Loudly in the sense of making sure Americans know what you’re proposing, why it matters, how it will help them, and who is willing to work with you to get it done.

Here’s Your Agenda. Now get to Work.

You have a country full of problems and a public that has lost faith in its government’s ability to solve them. Which problems, you ask?

Let’s begin with the obvious:

Affordability and inflation. Americans don’t live in economic statistics. They live in grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies, and monthly budgets. Lower the cost of living, not tomorrow, now. Attack unnecessary fees, anticompetitive practices, housing shortages, and other drivers of household expenses. Make life affordable again.

Energy and transportation. Want to lower the cost of goods? Start by examining the cost of moving them. Diesel fuels trucks, trains, agricultural equipment, and much of America’s supply chain. Lower diesel costs where practical, improve transportation efficiency, and those savings will work their way into consumer prices. Demand that businesses pass along savings rather than simply pocketing the difference. Incentivize them to do so if you must.

And while you’re at it, go to Texas. Meet with the people whose livelihoods depend on oil and gas. Listen to their concerns. Assure them that sensible environmental policies don’t require destroying their industries or communities. Encourage responsible domestic production, protect workers, and invest in cleaner technologies without pretending that America can abandon fossil fuels tomorrow. No giveaways. No blank checks. Just fair rules, reasonable incentives, and a workable energy policy. Do not lose sight of the fact that Texas has not elected a Democratic Senator or Governor in this century. Obviously, Texans do not typically trust Democrats—earn their trust, and you’ll earn their vote.

Healthcare. Cost has ticked up in the Trump years. Make healthcare affordable and accessible again. Protect coverage for people with preexisting conditions. Address prescription drug prices, insurance premiums, medical debt, and the financial devastation that accompanies serious illness. Restore healthcare assistance where it has been cut. Nobody should have to declare bankruptcy because they got sick. And protect people from drugmakers who make harmful drugs.

Tax fairness. Revisit the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill. Examine its tax benefits, particularly those flowing disproportionately to wealthy individuals and large corporations. Repeal unjustified giveaways and replace them with a fairer tax structure that rewards work, encourages investment, and asks those most able to contribute to pay their fair share. Don’t punish success. But don’t subsidize extraordinary wealth at the expense of struggling families.

Immigration and ICE. Secure the border, enforce the law, and restore humanity to the process. If laws need changing to make the system work better, change the law. The Constitution requires due process for all people on American soil, citizens and non-citizens. Documented and undocumented immigrants are human beings, not political props. Address abusive enforcement practices. Protect families and children. Create realistic, orderly pathways to legal status and citizenship for those who qualify. Improve the immigration courts and the legal immigration system. If existing laws are broken, change them. If they’re workable, enforce them fairly.

ANOTHER ENDLESS WAR. Define our objectives. What does victory look like? What does it cost? When and how will it end? The new Congress must reclaim its constitutional responsibilities concerning war and peace. Pursue diplomacy where possible and demand a credible strategy for protecting American lives and interests.

Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine. Work tirelessly to negotiate peace and provide humanitarian assistance to innocent civilians. Support reconstruction where destruction has devastated communities. Recognize Israel’s legitimate and historically grounded security concerns. Compassion for Palestinian civilians should be a moral imperative. Still, it should not require Israel to disregard threats to its own population, reward terrorism, or accept security arrangements that leave its citizens vulnerable to another October 7.

Likewise, pursue a just and durable peace in Ukraine that recognizes its sovereignty and the security of its people. This will allow America to use resources currently sent abroad at home.

The Epstein victims. Help them. Protect them. Hear them. Pursue the truth through lawful, independent processes. Demand transparency. Release records consistent with victim privacy and legitimate legal protections. Provide meaningful access to justice. This should be about the victims, not political advantage or whose name appears in which document.

Data centers and artificial intelligence. America needs technological leadership, but communities deserve answers about electricity demand, water consumption, land use, utility rates, and environmental impacts. Don’t let massive corporations shift their infrastructure costs onto homeowners and small businesses. Establish transparent standards and fair cost-sharing requirements.

Housing and education. Expand housing supply, reduce unnecessary barriers to construction, improve vocational training, strengthen public schools, and make higher education and job preparation more affordable again. Young Americans deserve a realistic chance to build a future.

Social Security and Medicare. Protect their long-term solvency. Stop frightening seniors with political scare tactics and start proposing sustainable, specific solutions.

Veterans and mental health. Improve access to care, address homelessness and suicide prevention, and make sure veterans receive the benefits they’ve earned. Treat mental healthcare as healthcare, not as an afterthought. Don’t talk like you care about our heroes—act like you care.

And while you’re at it, address infrastructure, disaster preparedness, childcare, cybersecurity, election security, and the federal debt. There is no shortage of work. What’s been missing is the political will to do it.

Make Friends With Republicans. No, this is not a Misprint.

Here’s another idea that apparently qualifies as radical in Washington:

Find Republicans who want to make the promise of American work for all Americans, and work with them to accomplish your goals. Will you agree on abortion, guns, religion, immigration, taxes, or the proper size of government? Probably not, but how about we try to find common ground on prescription drug prices, infrastructure, housing, veterans’ benefits, or the cost of living?

Compromise is not surrender; bipartisanship is not betrayal. Shaking hands with a member of the opposite party does not make anyone a bad Republican or Democrat. It makes you a legislator doing the job taxpayers entrusted to you. Don’t thumb your nose at the opposition. Don’t gloat. Don’t treat voters in red states as though they finally came to their senses by voting for you. Treat them with respect. If and when Republicans offer sensible proposals, support them.

If a Republican introduces a good bill, who cares whose name is on it? Pass it.

If Democrats introduce a good bill and Republicans want to improve it, listen. Improve it.

And vice versa! The goal is not to score political points. The goal is to improve American lives.

Don’t Mistake a Progressive Aberration for a National Mandate

Here’s a message for our more moderate Democratic leaders:

Be very careful about embracing our party’s vocal democratic-socialist wing. Affordable healthcare, economic opportunity, fair taxation, and protecting working families are worthy goals. But supporting those goals doesn’t require embracing every aspect of socialism. This is a capitalist country—the majority of our voting citizens want to keep it that way. There’s a difference between a government that regulates capitalism, protects workers, and provides a reasonable social safety net and one that seeks to replace our economic system fundamentally.

And there’s a difference between representing progressive voters and assuming the entire country shares their ideology. The Democratic Party must be large enough to accommodate liberals, moderates, independents, and people whose political beliefs don’t fit neatly into any category. That includes voters in traditionally Republican states who are finally willing to give Democrats a chance.

Don’t take them for granted.

Consider Israel and Gaza.

Nowhere is ideological rigidity more dangerous than in foreign policy.

I support Israel’s right to exist, defend itself, and live in peace. Palestinian civilians deserve security, dignity, and a future free from war and devastation. These positions are not contradictory.

Should America insist that Israel address the humanitarian suffering in Gaza compassionately? Sure. Should the United States help rebuild devastated Palestinian communities, support economic development, and participate actively in peace negotiations? Sure.

Should we work tirelessly toward peace in Ukraine and throughout the Middle East? Absolutely. But should Democrats reflexively embrace proposals to terminate all American military assistance to Israel, including defensive assistance, without considering the consequences for regional security and innocent civilians?

I strongly disagree. Nor should the party ignore antisemitism when it comes from its own political ranks. Yes, I said antisemitism—let me be particularly clear.

Critics of Israel are not, per se, antisemitic. The Israeli government is not perfect—its leaders make mistakes. Many Jews criticize Israel when it is appropriate. But antisemitism often reveals itself through selective moral outrage, double standards, and an unwillingness to extend to Jewish people the compassion routinely demanded for others. Consider Abdul El-Sayed, my state’s newly elected junior senator.

When asked which country posed a bigger threat to America, he replied:

“Both of them have proven dangerous in their own way. One, at risk of attacking us. One, getting us into wars we have no business fighting.”

He has equated the Israeli government’s evil with that of Hamas. And after a terrorist attacked a Michigan synagogue filled with people, including preschool children, he condemned the attack but offered a lame explanation that “hurt people hurt people.” Whatever suffering the attacker experienced, Jewish preschoolers in suburban Detroit had absolutely nothing to do with it. His attempts to walk back the statement have been half-hearted at best. Most Michigan Jews (myself included) find this highly offensive.

His rhetoric toward the Jewish people has been deeply troubling. It raises legitimate questions about antisemitism that I can’t dismiss simply because he’s a Democrat. I expect my elected senator to condemn Hamas’s deliberate attacks on civilians as clearly as he condemns civilian suffering caused by Israeli military operations. I expect him to recognize the difference between criticizing a government’s policies and denying a people’s right to safety and self-determination. And I expect him to listen respectfully when Jewish Americans tell them that their words have caused pain.

And I expect him to represent all Michiganders, regardless of race or religion.

No candidate, office holder, or political party gets a free pass on bigotry. None. Nada. Never—Blue or Red. Mr. El-Sayed will represent all Michigan citizens, including Michigan’s Jewish citizens. Many of us voted for him—I expect him to honor their trust.

No American citizen should be treated as less American because of race, religion, ethnicity, political affiliation, or the color of their skin. And every person deserves equal dignity, equal protection under the law, and equal respect. This is not a socialist principle, a conservative principle, or a liberal principle. It is a nonnegotiable American principle.

Democrats, you have an opportunity to govern a diverse country. Don’t confuse that responsibility with an obligation to satisfy your most ideologically demanding supporters. Listen to them. Respect them. Consider their ideas. But listen just as carefully to everyone else. You were elected to represent the American people, not the loudest or most offensive voices in your own party.

If Trump Vetoes Your Work

Let’s talk about what I call “appropriate blame.”

Write good legislation. Make it practical. Make it fair. Make it affordable. Explain exactly whom it helps and how. Seek Republican co-sponsors. Negotiate in good faith. Make reasonable compromises. Pass it through both houses of Congress.

Then send it to Trump. If he signs it, wonderful. America wins. If he vetoes it, try to override the veto. And if Republicans refuse to help override sensible legislation that would materially improve American lives, then—and only then—make certain the American people know what happened. Tell them what the bill would have done and the problem it would have fixed. Then, tell them who supported it, who opposed it, and why. Let the public decide who’s serving the country and who’s serving their personal or political agenda. That’s not the blame game. It’s accountability.

But don’t send Trump outrageous garbage you know he won’t sign. Don’t shy away from confrontation, but don’t provoke it either. Americans will hold you accountable, not him. We are done with political stunts. Give everyone, even Trump, a genuine opportunity to do the right thing. The Republican Party might surprise you—allow them to join you.

Remember November 3

Think about the political geography of this election. Voters in states and communities long considered Republican territory were willing to consider Democratic candidates.

Why?

Not because millions of conservatives suddenly became liberals or because everyone embraced the Democratic platform. The Democratic Party also did not magically solve its own credibility problems.

Many voters were angry, frustrated, worried about their finances, the war, their government, and the direction of their country. They wanted change.

Democrats were the available vehicle for that change.

Dems: Don’t mistake a borrowed vote for a permanent conversion.

Those voters can abandon you just as quickly as they abandoned Republicans. And if you spend the next two years grandstanding, squabbling, investigating everyone in sight, and accomplishing nothing, why on earth would they vote for you again in 2028?

The Supreme Court: Do A reverse McConnell—Just say no.

If a Supreme Court justice leaves the bench or suddenly meets his or her maker, remember Mitch McConnell and Merrick Garland. Delay. Deny. Confuse. Refuse. At least until after the 2028 election. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. There is too much at stake and we must restore balance on the court.

Lessons from the Biden Years

I supported Joe Biden. I also remember the frustration of watching Washington argue endlessly while important legislation stalled, and political factions fought among themselves. Some meaningful legislation did pass during those years. But the public often heard more about political conflict than practical results.

Democrats need to learn from that experience. Don’t allow internal ideological disagreements to destroy achievable progress. And don’t assume that because you believe your policies are better, the public automatically agrees. Prove it with results.

2028 Could be Historic

Think about the opportunity in front of you. For the next two years, Democrats will have an opportunity to demonstrate what responsible government looks like under divided leadership. Show Americans that political opponents can cooperate. Write and pass legislation that addresses the problems ordinary Americans actually face. Demonstrate that compassion and fiscal responsibility are not mutually exclusive and that the United States of America can still be united when its elected leaders choose service over self-interest.

Imagine going into the 2028 election with a record of meaningful legislative accomplishment, bipartisan cooperation, lower costs, improved services, and restored public confidence. Imagine asking Americans to vote Democratic not because they’re afraid of the Republican candidate, but because they genuinely believe Democrats have earned another opportunity to govern.

That’s how you build a lasting majority.

Not by winning an argument. By improving people’s lives. Tuesday was won because enough Americans wanted something different. Now you must prove that different is better. Roll up your sleeves. Put away the campaign slogans. Stop the petty grievances. And find common ground wherever it exists. Get to work making America safer, fairer, more affordable, kinder, and more welcoming. Make our government work for the people again. If you succeed, you might make 2028 an historic election for the Democratic Party.

If you squander this opportunity, don’t blame Donald Trump, his fellow Republicans, the media, the voters, or our political system. Look in the damn mirror. America’s voters have temporarily provided you with an opportunity to earn their trust.

Don’t blow it.

Editor’s Note: This article is reprinted with permission from Mark Bello’s And Justice for All Substack newsletter. To see all of Bello’s work, please consider subscribing.

Mark M. Bello is an attorney and award-winning author of the Zachary Blake Legal Thriller Series, ripped-from-the-headlines, realistic fiction that speaks truth to power and champions the rights of citizens in our justice system. These novels are dedicated to the social justice movement. They educate, spark discussion, and inspire readers to action. One of these was “Betrayal of Justice, a blistering novel about presidential misconduct and hypocrisy” For more information, please visit www.markmbello.com.