Look, we’re not going to sugarcoat this: the Democratic Party has been failing us for years, and the current nightmare we’re living through is partly the result of decades of triangulation, corporate capture, and moral cowardice from the people who were supposed to be fighting for us.

So let’s talk about what a real opposition party needs to look like. What are the absolute baseline positions that any Democrat should have to earn your vote, your donations, your volunteer hours?

Across social media, progressives are laying down the law. And honestly? Most of these “demands” are things that enjoy overwhelming popular support—things the Democratic Party should already be fighting for. 

Take Medicare for All. A KFF poll found 63% of Americans support a national health insurance program. Universal background checks for guns? That’s at 80%+. Taxing the wealthy more? Roughly 60-70% support depending on how you ask. These aren’t radical positions—they’re mainstream. The Democratic establishment just pretends otherwise.

THE NON-NEGOTIABLES

• No AIPAC money. Period. When a foreign-policy lobbying group can primary sitting members of Congress for insufficient loyalty to another country’s government, something is deeply broken. If AIPAC is spending millions against a candidate, that’s basically an endorsement at this point.
• Abolish ICE. The agency that’s currently terrorizing immigrant communities, separating families, and operating with IDF-trained tactics doesn’t need “reform.” It needs to be dismantled. ANd by the way: this is the moderate position. We actually want ICE prosecuted for their crimes.
• Medicare for All. We’re the only wealthy nation that lets people die or go bankrupt because they can’t afford insulin. This is barbaric, and incrementalism hasn’t fixed it.
• Tax the rich and close the loopholes. While we’re at it: no stock trading for elected officials. The fact that members of Congress can trade stocks while having access to classified briefings is corruption we’ve just… accepted?
• Overturn Citizens United. Until we get money out of politics, every other reform is swimming upstream against a tsunami of corporate cash.
• Reproductive freedom. Full stop. Not “safe, legal, and rare.” Not apologetic. Abortion is healthcare.
• Trans-inclusive policies. Trans rights are human rights. Any candidate who hedges on this is telling you who they’ll abandon when it gets politically inconvenient.

OF COURSE: The establishment will tell you this is a “purity test” or that we need to be “pragmatic.” But here’s the thing: their version of pragmatism got us here. Their “electability” candidates lost to a reality TV con man. Twice.

The truth is, fighting for popular policies isn’t radical—it’s smart politics. What’s actually radical is expecting people to keep voting for a party that won’t fight for them.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: This list is not exhaustive. Land Back for Indigenous nations. Reparations for slavery. A $25-30 minimum wage. Prison abolition. The Green New Deal. Nuremberg-style accountability for the current administration.

Are all of these achievable tomorrow? No. But that’s not the point. The point is having a party that actually wants these things—that fights for a vision of the country where everyone has housing, healthcare, and dignity, rather than one that negotiates against itself before the battle even starts. Not one that consistently votes with Republicans to keep the status quo.

BOTTOM LINE: We don’t need Democrats who will “reach across the aisle” to fascists. We need Democrats who will name the enemy—capitalism run amok, white supremacy, authoritarianism—and fight like the future depends on it. Because it does.

No more money, no more votes, no more volunteer hours for anyone who won’t meet these basics. The party serves us, not the other way around.