Democrats Can Win Two-Thirds of both houses of Congress

At least two-thirds of American voters support the following policies: remove big money from politics, reduce healthcare costs, reduce housing costs, raise the minimum wage, tax the wealthy, and ban partisan gerrymandering. [i] [ii] [iii] [iv] [v] [vi] These are the policies Democrats should get behind.

Americans Don’t Like Republican Leaders or Republican Policies

In the new millennium, Republicans have won the presidency and both houses of Congress four times in seven presidential elections.[vii] [viii] Remarkably, Republicans have succeeded without strong presidential candidates. Donald Trump and George W. Bush lack the appeal of General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan. Further, most voters oppose Republican’s signature policies such as: tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations, depriving women of reproductive rights, opposition to increasing the minimum wage, and starting foreign wars, among others. [ix] [x] [xi]

The secret to their success: Republicans prioritize winning.

In the late 1970s, after decades of defeat, the Republican Party approached conservative Christians and asked to join forces. Conservative Christians were so disenchanted with Supreme Court rulings that legalized abortion and banned prayer in school that 70 percent of America’s 50 to 60 million conservative Christians did not vote in the 1976 presidential election. Conservative Christians agreed under one condition; Republicans had to support conservative Christian orthodoxy. Their top priority: overturn Roe v. Wade. [xii]

This was a big ask because the Republican party had been supportive of women’s right to choose. Five Republican-nominated Supreme Court Justices voted with the majority in Roe, and many Republican leaders were pro-choice including: Richard Nixon, Barry Goldwater, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and Nelson Rockefeller.[xiii] [xiv] As Governor, Reagan had signed the 1967 law that legalized abortion in California. However, in 1980, presidential candidate Ronald Reagan promised to overturn Roe.

For over four decades, overturning Roe was a core mission of the Republican Party.[xv] They tried and failed in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey in 1992.[xvi] They regrouped and succeeded in 2022 with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.[xvii] In 2022, no Republican governor was pro-choice.

In the process, Republicans built a political machine that wins elections.

Over the last few decades, Republicans have turned blue and purple states into red states, particularly in the 2,500 miles between California and New York. In 1996, Bill Clinton won the Blue Wall states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, plus Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee.[xviii] In 2012, Barack Obama won the Blue Wall states plus Ohio, Florida, and Iowa.[xix] In the last three presidential elections, the Democrats lost the Florida, Ohio, and Iowa in each election, and Blue Wall states twice. [xx] [xxi] [xxii] Colorado is the only state in the 2,500-mile middle that has turned blue and remained blue. [xxiii] 

To achieve this level of success, Republicans adopted an important core mission that they had previously opposed. Republicans prioritize winning over policy.

A Federation without a Mission

The Democratic Party does not have a core mission. The party is more like a federation of independent individuals and groups that each have the latitude to support whichever policies they choose. Moderate and left-leaning Democrats disagree on issues including: border security, trans rights, wealth taxes, universal healthcare, and the role of DEI, among others, and sometimes the disagreements are heated enough to prevent Democrats from coming together and applying all their effort to winning general elections.[xxiv] 

Democrats have difficulty prioritizing winning over policy. This is a problem because to have power, a political party must be in power.

 Recommended Mission for Democrats

This paper recommends that Democrats establish an overriding mission: win two-thirds of both houses of Congress. Controlling two-thirds of both houses of Congress has several advantages. First, the Senate filibuster can be easily bypassed. Second, presidential vetoes can be overridden, and third, presidents, cabinet members, and federal judges who are found guilty of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors can be removed from office. In other words, Congress can run the country.

Success will require the Party and Democratic leaders to prioritize winning over policy. Finally, because of the mess the Trump administration has made, winning two-thirds of both houses of Congress is possible and necessary.

[i]     Ashely Balcerzak, “Study: Most Americans Want to Kill ‘Citizens United’ with Constitutional Amendment,” Center for Public Integrity, May 10, 2018, https://publicintegrity.org/politics/study-most-americans-want-to-kill-citizens-united-with-constitutional-amendment/.

[ii]      Erica Socker, “New Poll: Majority of Voters Want Congress to Take Action to Lower Health Care Prices,” Arnold Ventures, June 30, 2021, https://www.arnoldventures.org/stories/new-poll-majority-of-voters-want-congress-to-take-action-to-lower-health-care-prices.

[iii]      David M. Dworkin and Dennis C. Shea, “Across the Aisle, Americans Look to Congress to Address Housing,” Newsweek, June 25, 2024, https://www.newsweek.com/across-aisle-americans-look-congress-address-housing-opinion-1915898.

[iv]      Sharon Zhang, “74 Percent of Voters Support Raising Federal Minimum Wage to $20 an Hour,” Truthout, May 30, 2023, https://truthout.org/articles/74-percent-of-voters-support-raising-federal-minimum-wage-to-20-an-hour/.

[v]       Eli Yokley, “Ahead of GOP Tax Fight, Republican Voters Increasingly Want to See the Rich Pay More,” Morning Consult, April 16, 2025, https://pro.morningconsult.com/analysis/trump-tax-cuts-republican-voters-april-2025

[vi]   “Americans Are United Against Partisan Gerrymandering,” Brennan Center for Justice, March 15, 2019, https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/americans-are-united-against-partisan-gerrymandering.

[vii]     Tom Murse, “The Political Makeup of Congress,” ThoughtCo, October 18, 2019, https://www.thoughtco.com/the-political-makeup-of-congress-3368266#:~:text=106th%20Congress%20%E2%80%93%201999%20and%202000%20*,held%2055%20seats%2C%20Democrats%20held%2045%20seats.

[viii]     Rachel Looker, “Republicans win control of House, cementing control of Washington, BBC, November 14, 2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04ld19vlg6o

[ix]     Eli Yokley, “Ahead of GOP Tax Fight, Republican Voters Increasingly Want to See the Rich Pay More,” Morning Consult, April 16, 2025, https://pro.morningconsult.com/analysis/trump-tax-cuts-republican-voters-april-2025

[x]     Nava Frieberg, “Poll shows most Americans disapprove of US joining Iran war; half see Tehran as ‘enemy’ and another 25% as ‘unfriendly’,” The Times of Israel, June 18, 2025, https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/poll-shows-most-americans-disapprove-of-us-joining-iran-war-half-see-tehran-as-enemy/.

[xi]      Alison Durkee, “How Americans Really Feel About Abortion: The Sometimes Surprising Poll Results One Year After Roe Overturned,” Forbes, June 26, 2023, https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2023/06/26/how-americans-really-feel-about-abortion-the-sometimes-surprising-poll-results-one-year-after-roe-overturned/?sh=5455ee7b5ea3.

[xii]      Anne Nelson, Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right, (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011).

[xiii]      “Roe v. Wade and Supreme Court Abortion Cases,” Brennan Center for Justice, see note 19.

[xiv]      Sue Halpern, “How Republicans Became Anti-Choice,” New York Review, November 18,2018, https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/11/08/how-republicans-became-anti-choice/#:~:text=But%20in%20the%20late%201960s,said%2C%20should%20not%20be%20involved.

[xv]       Nelson, Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right, see note 1.

[xvi]      “Justices Serving on the Court 1990 – 2009,” Oregon State University, Civil Rights and Liberties, accessed May 6, 2025,  https://open.oregonstate.education/civilrights/back-matter/justices-1990-2009/.

[xvii]    Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, Tyranny of the Minority (Random House, 2023).

[xviii]      “1996 Presidential Election,” 270 to Win, Viewed April 12, 2026, https://www.270towin.com/1996-election.

[xix]      “2012 Presidential Election,” 270 to Win, Viewed April 12, 2026, https://www.270towin.com/2012-election.

[xx]     “2016 Presidential Election,” 270 to Win, Viewed April 12, 2026, https://www.270towin.com/2016-election.

[xxi]      “2020 Presidential Election,” 270 to Win, Viewed April 12, 2026, https://www.270towin.com/2020-election.

[xxii]       “2024 Presidential Election,” 270 to Win, Viewed April 12, 2026, https://www.270towin.com/2024-election.

[xxiii]    Natalie Fertig, “The People Who Brought You Bill Clinton Want to Introduce You to the ‘Colorado Way’”, Politico, July 6, 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/07/06/the-colorado-way-democratic-party-00370340.

[xxiv]     Roy Teixeira and John B. Judis, Where Have All the Democrats Gone?: The Soul of the Party in the Age of Extremes. (Henry Holt and Co., 2023.)