{"id":37835,"date":"2025-07-04T10:35:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T10:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/37835\/"},"modified":"2025-07-04T10:35:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T10:35:11","slug":"democrats-see-trumps-big-bill-as-key-to-their-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/37835\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats see Trump\u2019s big bill as key to their comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

WINDSOR HEIGHTS, Iowa (AP) \u2014 It is big and it is beautiful, says President Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But for many Democratic leaders, the tax break and spending cut package<\/a> adopted by Trump\u2019s Republican allies in Congress Thursday represents the key to the Democratic Party\u2019s resurgence.<\/p>\n

Even before the final vote was tallied, Democratic officials were finalizing ambitious plans for rallies, voter registration drives, attack ads, bus tours and even a multiday vigil \u2014 all designed to highlight the most controversial elements of Trump\u2019s \u201cbig beautiful\u201d bill: the deep cuts to the nation\u2019s safety net that will leave nearly 12 million more Americans without health coverage and millions of others without food assistance, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Indeed, in political battlegrounds across Alaska and Iowa, Pennsylvania and California, Democrats have already begun to use Trump\u2019s bill to bludgeon their Republican rivals. Democrats are promising that the package \u2014 Trump\u2019s biggest domestic policy achievement to date \u2014 will be the defining issue of every major election between now and next fall\u2019s high-stakes midterms.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing is abundantly clear: Republicans own this mess and it\u2019s an albatross around their necks heading into the midterms,\u201d Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin told The Associated Press. \u201cThis is the least popular legislation in modern history, and the more voters learn about it, the more they hate it. That\u2019s a clear directive for Democrats — we\u2019re going to make sure every single voter knows who is responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with early public opinion on their side, however, it\u2019s far from certain that the Republican budget bill will be the political winner Democrats hope. <\/p>\n

The Democratic brand remains deeply unpopular, the party has no clear leader, its message is muddled and core elements of the Democratic base are frustrated and drifting. Some of the bill\u2019s changes won\u2019t take effect until after the 2026 midterms, so voters may not have felt the full impact by the time they vote. At the same time, it\u2019s unclear how many voters are paying attention to the Washington-based debate. <\/p>\n

The Democratic super PAC Priorities USA warned this week that Democrats must work harder if they want their message to break through the polarized media environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t just assume that because we\u2019re angry that the voters that we need to communicate with are angry. Everyone needs to step up and realize the enormous challenge that\u2019s in front of us,\u201d Executive Director Danielle Butterfield said. \u201cWe\u2019re nowhere near a good starting place.\u201d<\/p>\n

At its core, the bill\u2019s priority is $4.5 trillion in tax breaks enacted in Trump\u2019s first term that would expire if Congress failed to act, along with new ones. This includes allowing workers to deduct tips and overtime pay. <\/p>\n

The package includes $1.2 trillion in cutbacks to Medicaid and food stamps and a massive rollback of green energy investments. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office<\/a> estimates the package will add $3.3 trillion to the deficit<\/a> over the decade.<\/p>\n

Democrats in Congress were united against the bill, and even some Republicans expressed concerns. But ultimately, Trump persuaded the conservative holdouts to fall in line. <\/p>\n

Democrats\u2019 challenge on display<\/p>\n

Privately, some Democrats conceded that Republicans were smart to pass the bill on the eve of a holiday weekend when fewer voters would be paying attention. <\/p>\n

And as some Democrats in Washington predicted a fierce political backlash across America, the response was somewhat muted Thursday at a Democratic event in Iowa, barely 10 miles from the Iowa State Fairgrounds where Trump later drew thousands for an evening rally. <\/p>\n

An audience of roughly 100 people listened as local Democratic officials railed against the legislation and called on voters to oust Republican Rep. Zach Nunn, the local congressman, for supporting it. <\/p>\n

Audience member Michael Rieck, 69, said Iowa Democrats left him a message about the rally, but when he went online to learn more, \u201cthere was nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI texted back to them that I didn\u2019t see any advertisement,\u201d he said. \u201cThey slowly corrected that. I\u2019m still not impressed with what they did to advertise this event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rieck said he wants to see different factions of the party better coordinate their message.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, progressive activists were moving through Minnesota in a big green bus as part of Fair Share America\u2019s 29-stop \u201cstop the billionaire giveaway\u201d tour. The group is focused on Republican-led congressional districts where elected officials have largely stopped having in-person town halls with constituents.<\/p>\n

Fair Share Executive Director Kristen Crowell said the crowds, even some Trump supporters, have been receptive. <\/p>\n

Still, she acknowledged many people don\u2019t know what\u2019s in the bill. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we\u2019re fighting upstream,\u201d she said. \u201cBut when people hear exactly what\u2019s in this bill, they\u2019re adamantly opposed. I mean, I can tell you, in 17 stops, I\u2019ve not had one person come up to me and say, \u2018You are on the wrong side of this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

What the polls say<\/p>\n

The GOP\u2019s bill is generally unpopular, according to polling conducted throughout the month of June, although some individual provisions are popular.<\/p>\n

For example, a Washington Post\/Ipsos poll<\/a> found that majorities of U.S. adults support increasing the annual child tax credit and eliminating taxes on earnings from tips, and about half support work requirements for some adults who receive Medicaid.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the poll found that majorities oppose reducing federal funding for food assistance to low-income families and spending about $45 billion to build and maintain migrant detention centers. <\/p>\n

The price tag could be a sticking point. About 6 in 10 U.S. adults in the poll said it was \u201cunacceptable\u201d that the bill is expected to increase the U.S. national debt, currently at $36 trillion, by about $3 trillion over the next decade.<\/p>\n

But polling indicates that most Americans aren\u2019t paying attention to the nuances of the bill, either. <\/p>\n

The Washington Post\/Ipsos poll found that only about one-third of U.S. adults have heard \u201ca great deal\u201d or \u201ca good amount\u201d about it.<\/p>\n

Democrats are planning a summer of organizing <\/p>\n

The Democratic National Committee and its allies plan an \u201corganizing summer\u201d that will feature town halls, training and voter registration drives in at least 35 competitive congressional districts. The message will be focused heavily on Trump\u2019s bill. <\/p>\n

Democratic groups also are expected to unveil a new round of digital attack ads targeting vulnerable Republicans in the coming days.<\/p>\n

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, who leads the Democratic Governors Association, said her party must keep the bill\u2019s contents at the forefront of people\u2019s minds to ensure it\u2019s an issue in the 2026 midterm elections \u2014 and even the next presidential election in 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll just have to keep that on the radar,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, progressive groups are planning a \u201cFamily First\u201d day of action for July 26 in all 50 states. They\u2019ll highlight vulnerable Americans hurt by the new Medicaid cuts and hold a 60-hour vigil at the U.S. Capitol. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause people call Medicaid something different in every state, a lot of people didn\u2019t realize \u2014 until this very moment \u2014 that their health care was at stake,\u201d said one of the Family First organizers, Ai-jen Poo, president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have made a promise to each other and to future generations that there will be a safety net in place when we need it. And this is what\u2019s being ripped away. And people will not stand for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Peoples reported from New York. AP writers Amelia Thomson DeVeaux in Washington; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WINDSOR HEIGHTS, Iowa (AP) \u2014 It is big and it is beautiful, says President Donald Trump. But for…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[30635,30639,7837,84,168,69,57,2055,330,28966,7776,19785,30638,30636,30633,30637,50,80,89,322,67,132,68,93,30634],"class_list":{"0":"post-37835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-ai-jen-poo","10":"tag-danielle-butterfield","11":"tag-democracy","12":"tag-district-of-columbia","13":"tag-domestic-news","14":"tag-donald-trump","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-government-and-politics","17":"tag-government-programs","18":"tag-ia-state-wire","19":"tag-iowa","20":"tag-kansas","21":"tag-ken-martin","22":"tag-kristen-crowell","23":"tag-laura-kelly","24":"tag-michael-rieck","25":"tag-news","26":"tag-politics","27":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","28":"tag-u-s-republican-party","29":"tag-united-states","30":"tag-unitedstates","31":"tag-us","32":"tag-washington-news","33":"tag-zach-nunn"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114794524516369616","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}