"After the big wins Democrats had last month in states like New York, Virginia, and New Jersey, the prevailing wisdom became that the Democratic message right now needs to be about affordability. That worked for them with everyone from Zohran Mamdani to Abigail Spanberger. However, there are a lot of other things Democrats could also be talking about, so they'll need to decide what else might help them break through with voters."
"David Karpf, an associate professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University, says that Democrats need to talk about more than just affordability. "I think they want to have clear messages about things like affordability, but they also need to be talking about the things that are happening in the news and in the country," Karpf said. "Things are going terribly, and you're the opposition party. Your job is to point to things and say this is going terribly.""
Democrats won recent state races in New York, Virginia, and New Jersey using affordability-focused messaging that helped candidates such as Zohran Mamdani and Abigail Spanberger. Affordability remains a clear message, but Republicans' current problems offer additional attack lines. Democrats should highlight ongoing national problems, alleged war crimes, and other scandals such as the Epstein files and reported corrupt deals. Voters are less responsive to foreign policy overall, yet alleged war crimes merit attention. Emphasizing newsworthy failures and forcing opponents into mistakes can complement affordability messages and create better avenues to break through with voters.
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