One Senate Democrat is showing tough love to his party, urging members to move away from the Obama-era madness and embrace President Donald Trump's playbook.
Senator Ruben Gallego portrayed himself as a pragmatic Democrat in the New York Times. podcast interview Monday, one who broke with his party's narrative on key voter issues in 2024, allowing him to win a seat in the Republican-leaning state of Arizona.
Trump beat former Vice President Kamala Harris by 5.5 points in Arizona in 2024. Still, Gallego attributed his Senate victory to prioritizing voter concerns like affordability and border security over traditional Democratic priorities like abortion and threats to democracy.
Gallego called his party has shifted to messages of prosperity rather than the equality or justice narrative that became popular among Democrats during the Obama administration and was the focus of Harris' campaign. He believes his winning strategy can be the basis for revitalizing the Democratic Party, pitting it against far-left figures such as New York Democratic Socialist mayoral candidate Zoran Mamdani.
While he doesn't openly admit that he wants Democrats to run Trump's playbook, he has consistently aligned his policy positions with elements of Trump's successful 2024 campaign. He emphasizes that the winning messages, especially for Latino voters, are tough border enforcement, economic opportunity through personal success and a rejection of Democrats' typical left-leaning messages. (Sign up for Mary Rook's weekly newsletter here!)
“They wanted to talk about abortion and democracy… But what we saw on the ground in Arizona was that people were worried about whether they could pay rent, they were worried about border security,” he said.
Throughout the interview, Gallego distances himself from core Democratic issues such as expansive social justice agendas, identity-focused language and prioritizing cultural battles over kitchen-table economics.
Gallego believes border insecurity is intertwined with economic decline, much like Trump's rallies at which he linked illegal immigration to job losses and crime. He stressed that Harris' weakness on border security was a deciding factor in her defeat in Arizona, as voters were deeply concerned about the security and economic hardships caused by unfettered illegal immigration during the Biden administration.
“We were very realistic about what was actually happening on the ground, and we weren't lying to ourselves. I think a lot of the Democrats running – and it wasn't just Vice President Harris – they wanted to talk about things that they felt comfortable talking about. They didn't want to go where the voter was,” he said.
He added that voters were “worried about border security; and they were concerned about what was really happening to the American Dream,” and Democrats’ reluctance to talk about these issues made them “extremely out of touch with reality” for everyday Americans.
“Democrats are too much like Harvard professors and not enough like members of the Marine Corps,” Gallego said.
He argued that other Democrats believe that working-class voters “don't want to be prosperous, they don't want to be rich or they don't want to be successful,” leading voters to feel shortchanged by Trump's promises to fix the economy, borders and foreign policies that are blocking their access to the American Dream.
🚨NEW: Stephen A. Smith WARNES Democrats will be *DOOMED* if they become like Zohran Mamdani🚨
“If it becomes the Democratic Party, you have no chance. You have no chance – nationally in terms of the presidency. Senate seats, House seats – you have no chance.”… pic.twitter.com/12dQ7J2OlN
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) July 1, 2025
Gallego criticizes Democrats for being fixated on “economic justice” and “ideas of essentially trying to equalize capitalism,” calling them “vague” and unappealing. He wants his party to abandon core Democratic Party principles such as wealth redistribution, universal basic income or racial equality initiatives, which are the main campaign promises of candidates like Mamdani. Instead, Gallego wants other Democrats to focus on material goals like homeownership and business startups rather than broad social programs.
“I've heard Democrats… talk about economic justice… And that's not what people think at all,” he said. (AR: Trump fights media over Goldilocks issue, but Americans tell him he got it right)
To his credit, Gallego is focused on important issues for voters. He banned his campaign from using the deeply unpopular term “Hispanic” and talked to everyday Americans about their personal financial problems, which is how Trump won back the White House. Much the same as with the Democratic senator from Pennsylvania. John Fettermanthis move to the middle will not make him popular among his party's far-left electorate.
Still, unless Democrats listen to the center of their party, it's hard to imagine the 2026 midterm elections being any different from 2024.
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