OPINION: Why the Democrats are lost
Published 10:22 am Thursday, September 25, 2025
Democrats have been psychologically reeling since the election of Donald Trump.
Moderates say we have gone too far. Progressives argue we have not gone far enough. The Abundance acolytes assert we are too bureaucratic and ineffective. Blame and mutual recrimination are rampant as the party struggles to forge an identity and a shared vision for the future. The answer can be found in our past.
Democrats have been at our best when we have fought for the economic rights of ordinary people against corporate greed.
In the 1820s, the Democratic Party was born with the explicit goal of combating the corporate monopolies and high tariffs that were hurting artisans, small farmers and shopkeepers.
In the 1830s, Andrew Jackson and his Democratic allies battled and defeated the financial “den of vipers and thieves” who consolidated economic influence and wealth within the Bank of the United States.
In the late-1800s and early-1900s, the Democratic Party became a bastion for laborers and immigrants who were struggling to survive the travails of the Gilded Age. It also stood up for small businesses and farmers who were bullied by the railroads. William Jennings Bryan and the populists electrified the country at the Democratic Convention by denouncing the bankers, plutocrats and robber barons with the stirring words, “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”
In the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt and the Democrats became the champions of working people by regulating banking and stock trading, promoting rural electrification and protecting the rights of organized labor. Roosevelt reveled in the achievement with the words, “We know now that government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob. Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me — and I welcome their hatred.”
Over the past 40 years, Democrats have lost our way. We cozied up to corporate interests. We were seduced by the promise of prosperity offered by the denizens of deregulation. We abandoned the aggressive spirit and fighting edge that invigorated our party in the past. Now we are politically adrift.
How can we restore the soul of the party? We can do it by unequivocally fighting to end the economic inequality that is destroying our democracy. The struggle will look different in each state and on the national stage. In Oregon, it looks like cracking down on predatory lending from digital loan sharks that charge exorbitant interest rates. It looks like holding insurance companies accountable when they refuse to honor their commitments to customers. It looks like putting a stop to the exploitation of gig workers who are denied basic labor protections. It looks like standing up for rural communities that were burned down by a reckless utility company.
To emerge from this political wilderness, we must rediscover what it means to be a Democrat. We must stand up for working people, small businesses, and local farmers as they battle the forces of corporate greed. We need to openly and loudly denounce those who exploit workers and prey on consumers. We should embrace this fight rather than trying to straddle the line between Wall Street and Main Street. We must remember our roots and revel in the struggle to save our party as well as our republic.
Nathan Sosa has represented House District 30, including North Plains and most of Hillsboro, in the Oregon House of Representatives since 2022.
