They keep falling for the same play.

T he Democratic Party is adrift.

Its approval rating is hitting all-time lows, and it’s hemorrhaging registered voters.

Part of the problem is that the Democratic Party is beholden to its fringe base, which demands fealty to notions such as “men are women,” “no one is illegal,” and “from the river to the sea.” (The GOP has a similar issue with its fringe base; the key difference, however, is that Republican radicals don’t seem as congenitally predisposed toward staking out the losing side of 80/20 issues.)

Another problem for the Democratic Party, one more serious than fringe capture, is that it’s led by midwits who keep taking their cues from social media and failed consultant types.

As Deepthroat says in All the President’s Men, “The truth is these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.”

It’s not much more complicated than that. The Democratic Party is a silly party increasingly run by silly people, and it’s finally paying the price.

This is why, with relatively little effort, President Trump repeatedly outmaneuvers Democrats on key issues. And with every easy victory, he damages the Democratic image, advances his agenda, and makes headway with the general electorate. Trump indeed has natural talents when it comes to politicking, including his love for good old-fashioned retail politics. The man can work a room or an arena. But it also helps him tremendously that his opposition is incompetent.

Were they even a fraction cleverer, Democrats would have figured out by now that Trump, whether he’s responding impulsively to a random issue that has caught his attention or promoting his broader agenda, follows a shockingly simple formula. It’s nothing short of political malpractice that Democrats haven’t cracked the code even after ten years of opposing him.

The formula is: Trump cites an objectively true X to justify Y controversial action.

For instance: Because the crime rate in the nation’s capital is so high, I am deploying the National Guard and federalizing the D.C. police. Because unchecked illegal immigration is out of control, my administration will commence with mass deportations. Because the riots in Los Angeles (or elsewhere) are not yet contained, I am deploying federal troops to the city.

And so on. And then: All Trump has to do is wait.

The obviously prudent and politically practical response would be for Democrats to say something along the lines of “Although we agree that the crime rate in D.C. is completely unacceptable, we disagree that Trump’s response is the correct solution.” The fairly obvious play would be for Democrats to focus their efforts on selling alternative solutions and their overall vision for the country, not just raw opposition.

Yet, because of the zero-sum nature of #Resistance, Democrats aren’t interested in counterproposals. So — devastatingly for them — they won’t even concede the objectively true X. They cannot admit that Trump has a point about D.C. crime or illegal immigration or riots, etc., because any concession, even over a true statement, would be to surrender to the enemy. The Democratic Party appears to have convinced itself that it will look weak if it agrees with the president on anything, even factual statements. Amazingly, they don’t seem to have considered the long-term implications of the alternative, that is, a party that routinely denies objective, easily proven reality.

So, instead of offering voters alternatives or solutions, Democrats, egged on by their lunatic fringe and aided by journalists, instead get stuck on messages such as “lol what crime?”

The result is a party that not only is bereft of ideas and answers but also looks increasingly unhinged. Voters may be leery of a federalized capital police or mass deportations, but the alternative is a party that says unchecked illegal immigration is unavoidable or “good, actually,” or that D.C.-style crime rates are normal, nothing to worry about.

What Democrats probably wouldn’t give for at least one Harry Reid somewhere in leadership. Instead, they have Senator Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), whose response to the federalization of the D.C. police has been to deny that D.C. crime is out of control and to invoke Jeffrey Epstein, the nichest of niche social media topics that don’t resonate at all with the broader electorate.

Do you know what does resonate with voters? Learning that the seat of the American republic has a murder rate that is six times that of New York City.

Democrats have no idea what they’re doing. They’re flailing. The best post-2024 election advice they’ve come up with is to encourage politicians and party figures to swear more and for male party members to consider growing facial hair.

For a group that’s so obsessed with identity, it’s a beautiful stroke of irony that the modern Democratic Party doesn’t have one.