Winning the midterms, part 4: The next five issues
- Karen Young
- 16 hours ago
- 4 min read
In Part 3 of this series, we talked about policy solutions to the five issues that will do the most to help us win the battle for the midterms. In this part, we’ll talk about the NEXT five issues that could be game-changers for Democrats.
1) Immigration and ICE
60% of Americans now believe that Trump’s crackdown has gone too far, including most Democrats and independents and some 25% of Republicans. The issue has gone from Trump’s strongest to yet another issue where his polls are underwater.
There is, however, broad support for deporting SOME immigrants. 62% of Democrats say some immigrants in the country illegally should be deported. For Republicans, 39% say some should be deported, and 56% say all should. We need to show we understand that some people do need to be removed.
Democrats need to go beyond outrage and abolishing ICE to win on immigration. They must talk about how Americans are being hurt by the current crackdown, how immigrants fit into their vision of an America that works for all, and what the right immigration policy looks like.
2) The People vs AI
In a remarkable recent issue called “The People Vs AI,” Time magazine captures why this issue is so important in this political moment. Sam Jacobs, editor in chief, says that “America is one of the most downbeat places about [AI’s] potential to improve lives…That sense of fear isn’t located in one party, place, or group…Fears [about data centers] have already begun to shape election results.”
Some of the key short- and longer-term issues are:
Chatbot “friends” are leading people, especially but not only children, to kill themselves and others.
Companies using AI to replace human workers could decimate jobs across the economy.
Data centers are exploding, endangering our energy and water systems and raising energy prices.
AI is stealing intellectual property to train its models, a particular threat to our media, research and creative communities.
A recent Pew Center study shows that people have strong feelings about this, including:
Far larger shares say AI will erode than improve people’s ability to think creatively and form meaningful relationships.
Americans feel strongly that it’s important to be able to tell if pictures, videos or text were made by AI or by humans.
3) The rich have too much money AND power
“Affordability” isn’t just about prices. It’s also about income. At least 30% of American households earn less than $50K per year, only about 20% earn $150K a year or more, and hating the rich is widespread.
80% of Americans — including 91% of Democrats, 82% of Independents, and 67% of Republicans — say the rich have too much political power.
80% of Americans say wealth inequality in the US is a very or somewhat big problem.
And in a related development, an August 2025 YouGov survey asked Americans about the seriousness of 33 problems. The #1 most serious problem? 63% of Americans said “corruption.”
People understand that the rich get richer by ignoring laws and regulations and defrauding the government through activities like Medicare fraud.
Unfortunately, many members of each party tend to think the OTHER party is the one that enables corruption. It’s going to take some work to bring people together on accountability and solutions.
4) Foreign policy
Trump has attacked no less than seven countries in the past year. In January, more than half of US adults believed Trump has "gone too far" in using the military to intervene in other countries.
About 9 in 10 Democrats and roughly 6 in 10 independents say Trump has "gone too far" on military intervention, compared with about 2 in 10 Republicans. Only about 2 in 10 overall say they want the country to be more involved globally.
If more Americans get killed, and if the military misadventures multiply and create more negative impacts on the economy, opposition will surely grow and become more pronounced.
As with every other issue, opposition to the status quo is not enough. Democrats must present THEIR vision of a just and effective foreign policy.
5) Climate change, rural America
Climate change gets real for people when extreme weather hits them. A 2024 Pew Research poll shows about 70% of Americans have experienced at least one type of extreme weather in the past year: floods or intense storms, unusually hot weather, droughts, wildfires, or rising sea levels. That’s a lot of people! And most recognize that climate change was a factor in the extreme weather that affected them. Talking about climate change in terms of how extreme weather is affecting people, and what we should do about that, could get a more attentive audience.
And a related development: Most people want government (FEMA) to help people recover from disasters. A recent Data for Progress survey showed 71% of voters saying that “disaster relief should be given freely” – right now, it sure isn’t.
Rural America
Only about 20% of Americans live in rural areas. But those areas make up 80% of our land mass. That means that many electoral districts across the country include a combination of urban, suburban AND rural areas. These folks matter. Trump won big in rural areas after decades of neglect from Democrats. Small farmers and ranchers are being crushed by tariffs and Big Agriculture companies who control the rural economy. But they’re organizing, building coalitions with “eaters,” and finding candidates who care.
The Farm Bill is finally coming up in Congress. It covers existential issues for farmers and ranchers. That includes support for mitigating the effects of climate change, sustainable farming practices and energy programs, and for urban-rural joint efforts like connecting local farmers with school meal programs. And it includes SNAP benefits. This should become a hot topic for candidates across the country right now.
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