I’ve spent the last two weeks going on right-wing television, confronting MAGA’s lies, and watching them refuse to acknowledge what the American people are telling them. That’s exactly why Endless Urgency exists. We’re fighting for a government that actually gives a damn about working people. With no billionaire backers. No corporate interests telling us what to say. If you believe in this mission, become a paid subscriber for just $8/month and help us build it.
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I remain in awe of how little the Republican Party has learned from last week’s election.
They lost Mississippi. Mississippi. And if you turn on Fox News right now, you’re likely to see them talking about migrant caravans again, the same tired tactic they pull out every time they’re in trouble. Donald Trump is going on podcasts and addressing spewing irrelevant nonsense, arguing that the Cleveland Guardians need to change their name back to the Indians. Yes, that’s real. He’s still telling everyone it’s the golden age of America. He’s still arguing that provoking a war with Iran was the right decision.
Meanwhile, Americans are struggling to afford groceries, health care, and housing. Health insurance premiums are facing another year of double-digit increases, and families in Kansas City just spent weeks terrified that their children could lose in-network access to Children’s Mercy Hospital. It took a public outcry before the hospital reached a deal with even one ACA insurer for next year.
And Donald Trump is out there telling everyone it’s all A-Okay.
That’s been the theme of my week, because this work keeps me running headfirst into it. I’ve been going on right-wing media to debate these people, and I’ve been talking, offscreen, with others working on the right. Not one of them seems to have the slightest understanding of why they lost, nor are they even willing to address it. That shouldn’t surprise anyone, because I’ve been saying for two years that they never understood why they won in 2024 either.
Americans weren't handing Trump a blank check to pursue every grievance he'd ever had. They were demanding change. They wanted relief from the cost of living, a government that worked, and leaders who actually gave a damn about the problems they were facing. Trump promised them that change. Republicans apparently convinced themselves that meant voters had embraced everything else that came along with him. Republicans mistook that opportunity for a blank check. And now they’re play-acting shock that Americans are holding them accountable.
There’s no real debate on their side, no fire, no desire to take the party in a different direction. Maybe it’s happening behind closed doors, but I’m not seeing them from Republican leaders, conservative commentators, or anyone they're putting forward as the future of the party. It's the same people, the same arguments, and the same refusal to admit that they have played a part in the downfall of their party.
They’re treating 2026 like a fluke, like the stars aligned for the Democrats, like we stole a bunch of races we had no business winning, and everything will snap back into place in a few years. I don’t buy it. I think there’s a real chance we’re watching an actual realignment, that we’re watching people finally understand how much Donald Trump and the Republican Party are hurting them.
And instead of reckoning with what voters just told them, they’re doubling down in every possible way.
They gave us Jim Jordan as Speaker of the House, a conservative more unlikable than Mike Johnson. They gave us more Stephen Miller, which equals Trump deciding he’s going to keep doing the same shit, especially when it comes to harassing immigrant communities and perpetuating violence on Americans.
Here’s the thing: winning elections isn’t the finish line. It’s the opportunity to actually make people’s lives better. We need to fight for higher wages, affordable healthcare, an end to corporate price gouging, and a government that works for working class people instead of the wealthy and powerful. That’s the work we’re committed to at Endless Urgency. Paid subscribers are what make that possible. For $8/month, you can help us grow our team, reach more people, and keep demanding the kind of leadership this moment requires.
It’s the same people, the same policies, and the same dumb political obsessions. The voters change their minds, but Republican leaders seemingly see no reason to change theirs.
They’ve learned nothing. That means this realignment could carry right into 2028. Even in a presidential year. Even with higher turnout. We might not be able to win Mississippi in a presidential year. But we can absolutely win the presidency.
Here’s the thing, though: Republicans aren’t the only ones misreading Tuesday.
I’m in Denver this week at the Democratic conference, and yesterday I heard a prominent Democratic politician give a speech about how America is back now that Democrats have won. I sat there thinking: No. Not even close. America is a long way from being back. Democrats have to understand that we are not a popular party, and that we won’t be until we deliver on the material needs of the working class.
Republicans are already out there bragging about how they’re going to obstruct everything Democrats want to do. Fine. Let them. We still need to do those things anyway. We need to be seen trying. We need to be aggressive at the federal level, and at the state and local level too, to improve people’s lives, because this country is spiraling out of control. People need to see that government can work for them.
When Republicans stop us, we go straight to the American people and say: give us a Democratic president. Give us more Democratic senators. Let us break the filibuster, move this country forward, and make a real difference in your life.
Or we can keep going with Republicans. Those who are screaming about trans kids for the thousandth time, making up shit about migrant caravans, trying to convince you that your life is good and that you should be more grateful to Donald Trump for the economy he built us.
That’s the choice. We make them own their record: the destruction of the economy, this illegal war, the corruption, the lies, everything Americans are furious about. At the same time, we must show that we have fresh ideas, that we can improve people’s lives, and that government can be a force for good.
And the ideas don’t have to be complicated. I’ve been pushing single-issue bills for a while now, and I’ll keep pushing them. Raise the minimum wage. That’s one bill. Bring back the healthcare subsidies. That’s another. Go after surveillance pricing, which is crushing Americans right now. That’s a third. No giant omnibus packages. No 2,000-page bills nobody can explain. Just one clear fight after another, every single day.
People need to understand that we’re fighting for them, passing legislation every day, against a group of people who don’t care about them and don’t have the decency to listen when they send a message like they did on Tuesday.
The American people sent a booming message to the Republican Party. I don’t know what the Democratic equivalent of losing Mississippi would be, but if it ever happened, you can be damn sure it would send a chill down my spine. I’d be up at night figuring out how we screwed up.
These guys? Not so much.
With urgency,
—Mike
They may not be wrong. They were already on the backfoot and expecting losses simply due to the cyclicality of the midterms, and the economic issues just magnified that disadvantage. As we know, the electorate is both fickle and impatient and the pendulum could easily swing back just as hard in '28. Here's hoping that's not the case.
Democrat equivalent of losing Mississippi would be losing California. We have to deliver or it could happen. There are a lot of disaffected folks in CA that can't afford housing, food, and most everything else. The farmers always blame the Democrats for their lack of water for the inappropriate farming in the desert that they do here, but we still need to understand how to help them change their practices, grow crops that use less water and understand the effects of climate change that their Republican heroes claim to be a "hoax." Fear the pendulum!