Democrats are about to get a do-over for their 2017 mistakes

Could 2025 give Democrats a do-over for how they misplayed the results of Donald Trump’s first election? Early signs point to yes — and that could come at the consternation of some conservatives.

Let’s consider some political alternative history for a moment. In the immediate aftermath of the 2016 election, it’s easy to forget how many Democrats started sounding a note of reconciliation with the incoming president. Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders were all open about their willingness to find common ground with the new White House on infrastructure and other policy areas, hoping their views would be closer to Trump’s than more fiscally conservative Republicans. The possibility discussed at the time was one of real concern from conservatives that, if Democrats were willing to shift on a few points and slap “Trumpcare” on a healthcare bill, the new less ideological president would gladly go along.

Of course, we know this never happened: the deep state went into full swing against Trump, the harsh online resistance got platformed by media and demonstrations like the Women’s March put too much fear into congressional Democrats about working with the new president. You can go back and watch these remarks from then-Representative Ruben Gallego to see the shift in tone. Now-Senator Gallego is talking up bipartisanship again, representing a state that went solidly for Trump, as is John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and they could soon be joined by other senators representing red states, after an unusually high number of partisan Senate-president splits.

Democrats may be about to get a real opportunity to try and influence a Trump administration that is already signaling that it’s closer to them on several policy fronts, and is going to include a number of people in senior positions who spent most of their careers in the Democratic Party. Should they successfully influence Trump in their direction, the test will be how much his clear mandate keeps members from his right flank in the Republican coalition in line. Last time around, the Russiagate hoax and the resistance made bipartisanship impossible. This time, Democrats may find that working with Trump instead of engaging in knee-jerk opposition gets them more out of an ideologically malleable administration.