Commentary: In fight against Trump, D.C. Dems should look to Richmond

STEPHEN J. FARNSWORTH AND ANDERS BARRETTA

In the legislative session that concluded Feb. 22, Virginia’s Democratic lawmakers demonstrated that they have something to teach Democratic members of the U.S. Congress about shaping public discourse, promoting their party and fighting back against executive branch power.

At the core of the differing approaches between Democrats in Richmond and in Washington is the far greater willingness of Virginia Democrats to present a positive, consistent narrative for the party — and to do so rapidly. Virginia Democrats do far more than emphasize that they believe Republicans have bad ideas; they aggressively push forward with policy ideas of their own, initiatives that polls have demonstrated can resonate with voters.

In advance of the commonwealth’s 2025 elections, Virginia Democrats are making sure voters know what the party stands for: protecting both access to abortion and same-sex marriage, restoring voting rights for felons, increased state funding for public education, barring the sale of assault-style weapons, establishing new tax cuts tailored to benefit lower-income taxpayers more than wealthier ones, and enhancing worker protections, among other things.

In Washington, congressional Democrats have struggled to craft a consistent message about the party, much less a forceful one that they can deliver promptly. The national party’s ideas struggle to get airborne, even as President Donald Trump tramples on congressional budget-making powers, takes actions that run afoul of the federal courts, and tries to dismantle broad portions of the federal government without the required consent from Congress.

Don’t see the difference? Well just compare what two Democratic leaders — Virginia Sen. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York — have been saying over the past month.

While some Washington Democrats, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, have talked about what the party could do if it were in power, many Democrats seem to believe that expressing largely respectful disagreement is the best way to deal with President Trump. Some even offer an olive branch to a president who shows little interest in congressional authority.

But if recent years have taught us anything about politics, it is that offering sharp policy contrasts wins elections.

To be clear, we are talking about Democratic narratives, not what politicians in Richmond and Washington can do legislatively. In that latter area, the two groups of lawmakers are in very different situations. In Richmond, Democrats are in the majority in both chambers and can control what bills are debated and passed. Washington Democrats are in the minority in both the House and the Senate and are largely limited to talk and sometimes to procedural mechanisms to slow down the majority party.

But when it comes to actual policy outcomes favored by Democrats in the two capitals, things are less different than one might think. After all, passing legislation in times of divided government only goes so far. Many of the Virginia Democratic policy initiatives in Richmond are likely to be stymied in the coming weeks by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who already has issued hundreds of vetoes to block Democratic bills.

The lesson for Democrats in Washington is clear if they look to their counterparts in the Old Dominion, a place that contains many components of the larger American political landscape. In Virginia, as in the U.S., deep blue cities and suburbs counterbalance the vast but less populated rural areas. Just as Democrats rely on urban and suburban voters to maintain a governing majority at the federal level, the party’s power in Virginia stems from these same regions.

As Democrats in Congress consider how to respond to a fast-moving and chaotic Trump presidency, they do not need to look far. Virginia Democrats have been battling since January 2022 to win the partisan narrative in the face of a conservative chief executive. Virginia’s Democrat lawmakers have offered an alternative policy vision as well as rapidly out what they perceive to be Republican extremism.

Even now, after the session has concluded, Virginia Democrats are trying to hang President Trump’s policies around the neck of Republicans in Virginia, a state that is home to many, many federal workers and contractors who are increasingly uncertain about their future.