The Democratic Party had found itself in a position scrambling for answers on how to improve its strategies after taking a loss in the 2024 election. On Monday, MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera Reports was converted into something resembling a Democratic Party planning session, like MS-DNC. Former Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota -- who lost in 2018 after one term -- claimed “Maybe it’s time to turn the page and start talking about what Democrats stand for,” as if that should have been what they campaigned on in the first place.
Cabrera noted the problem: "new polling from the Associated Press reveals 35 percent of Democrats describe their own party negatively, with words like tepid, ineffective, and weak." The question after seeing that number was, how did the Democratic Party get there?
They began with a soundbite of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries: “We’re going to end this national nightmare in America, and we’re going to continue our country’s march toward a more perfect union.”
Heitkamp threw a jab at Jeffries, who was known for speaking for long periods on the House floor:
And so, I think this idea that you stand on the floor and talk for 20 minutes and somehow that miraculously translates into a message that's just no smart thinking. And they need to find more surrogates out there...And when you don’t see that, that’s why you get the numbers you get...there's way too much focus on the message and not enough focus on the tactics.
Maybe, the tactics shouldn’t involve speaking for over eight hours in opposition to a Republican bill, like Jeffries displayed for The Big, Beautiful Bill.
Mark Leibovich of The Atlantic agreed: "I agree 100 percent with Senator Heikamp here. I mean, yeah, I mean, there is just a reflexive eye roll that people get when they hear the same old Democratic talking points that, you know, frankly, Congressman Jeffries was just sort of using."
Another example for the Democrats to learn from was not to build a campaign on the presence of celebrities performing like Beyoncé, who spoke for less than five minutes at Kamala Harris’s rally and left fans disappointed that she did not perform a song.
New Jersey’s Democratic Senator Cory Booker ranted last week:
What I want to see more people doing, is not doing what some law firms have done- bend the knee to Donald Trump. Not doing what some universities have done- bend the knee to Donald Trump. We see major corporations who want some merger approval, not standing up on principle, but bending the knee to Donald Trump. That to me, is outrageous.
Was blaming Trump for everything considered an “old tactic” to the Democratic Party?
Heitkamp backed up her reasons with the hard truth for Democrats:
And this is the one caution that I would have, which is we have run three elections now by saying “We're not Donald Trump.”... Yes, you need to be very aggressive against this President, but you can't fight something with nothing. And I think that's one of the challenges that the Democrats have, which is, “Oh, everybody sees this the same way we do.” No they don't. And you need to get out into the real world. You need to talk to people and you need to be thinking about how do I persuade those Biden, Trump voters, the people who voted for Biden in 2020, who then turned around and voted for Trump.
The reality was that Democrats ran on being against Trump, not establishing where they wanted to be as a party. When Biden came in and reversed Trump on many fronts, there was dramatic inflation and a border crisis. Now, they faced the consequences. The liberal media won’t back down anytime soon after the latest polling of the Democratic Party, hence the party powwow on MSNBC.
Click here for the transcript:
MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera Reports
8/4/25
11:47 am Eastern
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): We have to continue to build upon that and earn the trust of the American people, including Democrats, who are understandably disappointed at the results of the November 2024 election and the situation that the country finds itself in. But our view is do not be discouraged. Do not be disheartened. Do not be dismayed. We’re going to continue to show up and stand up and speak up. We’re going to end this national nightmare in America, and we’re going to continue our country’s march toward a more perfect union.
(CUTS TO LIVE)
ANA CABRERA: That was House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries' last hour on this program, taking on his party's messaging approach amid President Trump's second term. This as new polling from the Associated Press reveals 35 percent of Democrats describe their own party negatively, with words like tepid, ineffective, and weak.
Joining us now is Mark Leibovich, staff writer for The Atlantic, and former Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. And Mark, you heard what leader Jeffries just had to say there. What's your reaction?
(...)
11:50 am Eastern
CABRERA: Senator Heikamp, Democrats do seem to be struggling to find their footing as they aim to rebrand their party’s image. When you take that new AP poll into account, what is the party getting so wrong?
HEIDI HEITKAMP: Well, I think that they’re using old tactics for a new environment. The Republicans are way ahead in terms of flooding the zone with messages and so even if you start gaining momentum, on things like Epstein, all of a sudden you see changing the subject actually works for the Republicans.
And so, I think this idea that you stand on the floor and talk for 20 minutes and somehow that miraculously translates into a message that's just no smart thinking. And they need to find more surrogates out there. They need to find a stronger kind of ground game so that people actually see people in, you know in states where like mine, they actually see Democrats fighting back. And when you don’t see that, that’s why you get the numbers you get. So it's not I mean, there's way too much focus on the message and not enough focus on the tactics.
And so what I think the Democrats are getting wrong is the tactics. And I think they are still in the old school thinking of, “Oh, everybody's listening to what I got to say” instead of, you know, how do I make this message, and amplify this message, and continue this message? And it's like they have, they like get momentum and it's like, “Oh, look what we've done.” As opposed to just keep pushing through. And I think that's one of the lessons that we need to learn as Democrats.
CABRERA: Marcus, I see you nodding along there. What are the tactics-
MARCUS LEIBOVICH: Well-
CABRERA: that the Democrats need to change?
LEIBOVICH: Well, I can tell you what they shouldn’t do. First of all, you know, I agree 100 percent with Senator Heikamp here. I mean, yeah, I mean, there is just a reflexive eye roll that people get when they hear the same old Democratic talking points that, you know, frankly, Congressman Jeffries was just sort of using.
I mean a classic example is last week, I mean, Trump is in all kinds of trouble around Epstein. Around some of his numbers, the job numbers firing the BLS. I mean, just like firing statisticians and so forth. All of a sudden, Kamala Harris decides this is going to be the week that she resurfaces and tries to become a national figure. Biden gives a couple of interviews, which is exactly what a lot of Democrats told me they do not want to be seeing right now.
I mean, you know, look, Kamala Harris, she is who she is. She has a career to worry about. She had, you know, she’s the most recent nominee. But this is not the tactic that Democrats want to be seeing going forward. They want something new, whether it’s a new face or a new tactic.
CABRERA: Senator Heikamp, Democrats aren't even united on the message right now. We saw Democratic Senator Cory Booker this week being very vocal about strategy and even kind of arguing with his own party on the Senate floor. Here's what he's saying more recently about how Democrats should take on the President.
(CUTS TO VIDEO)
SEN. COREY BOOKER (D-NJ): What I want to see more people doing, is not doing what some law firms have done- bend the knee to Donald Trump. Not doing what some universities have done- bend the knee to Donald Trump. We see major corporations who want some merger approval, not standing up on principle, but bending the knee to Donald Trump. That to me, is outrageous.
(CUTS BACK TO LIVE)
CABRERA: And he was in that public feud I mentioned earlier this week on the Senate floor when he was criticizing Democratic Senator Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Klobuchar (D-MN) because of messaging around finding common ground with Republicans. How do you see it?
HEITKAMP: Well, I mean, I think they're going to have to work through all of the issues and the frustrations that they have. I don't think that there's a lot of difference between how those three Senators see the world. I just think there's a lot of difference in terms of what do you do about it.
And this is the one caution that I would have, which is we have run three elections now by saying “We're not Donald Trump.” We lost two and we almost lost the third. Maybe it's time to turn the page and start talking about what Democrats stand for, what they're going to promote, how they're going to bring, you know, a better opportunity to middle class voters.
Yes, you need to be very aggressive against this President, but you can't fight something with nothing. And I think that's one of the challenges that the Democrats have, which is, “Oh, everybody sees this the same way we do” No they don't. And you need to get out into the real world. You need to talk to people and you need to be thinking about how do I persuade those Biden, Trump voters, the people who voted for Biden in 2020, who then turned around and voted for Trump. How do I convince them that we're better able to run the country?
And so this is a real challenging time for Democrats. But the more people out there talking about what Democrats stand for, the better it is.
CABRERA: Former Senator Heidi Heitkamp and Mark Leibovich, thank you both for the conversation.
