Hey Dan, I know that last week you covered what a Democratic immigration policy position would look like, but what do you think is the best messaging to bring people into our coalition during the midterms and beyond based on Trump/Miller's ICE overreach? Do we need to start by acknowledging the failure of the Biden admin on immigration (running against the party of status quo)? Is our message "it doesn't have to be this way"? I'm imagining that some segment of the population who is conflicted tells themselves "we don't like this, but the Biden admin left us no choice" so they can sleep at night. Is there a message that threads the needle of energizing the base and inviting in the people we need in order to win a sustainable majority?
I think there are a lot of people who actually bought into the narrative that the Biden admin opened the borders and anyone could come into the country during his administration. They're wrong, that's not what happened. But I think it's an unfortunate trap to run against Biden on immigration, feeding into this narrative. It's a narrative that they will continue to bring out, absent Democrats putting out a stronger narrative about what they believe in and are doing regarding immigration, and have people actually believe that is what's happening. Otherwise the "open borders" narrative will just reconstitute itself.
Thanks so much for this clear indictment of Stephen Miller’s malevolence. We all know how racist, misogynist, homophobic, corrupt and evil our pedophile-protecting President is, but I believe that Miller is worse (with the possible exception of the financial corruption).
I also believe that Miller’s malevolence and intentional cruelty needs to be pointed out by Democrats on a regular basis. Because as long as Miller is co-President, the vile, evil and lawless ways of ICE will continue.
Please keep the spotlight on Miller and his cruelty aimed at brown- and black-skinned people so that his white supremacy beliefs and desires can be furthered.
Please make it so! And when Democrats win please have them go on offense and pack some dirt, so that they can avoid the major slippage that happens after a big win.
I think an excellent way to sideline Miller is to have journalists start asking Trump what Miller's opinion is on almost any issue. Trump's feathers will be ruffled once people start acknowledging to Trump directly that everyone knows Miller is calling the shots. Hopefully leading Miller to walk the gang plank.
I honestly believe that Stephen Miller is the re-incarnation of an amalgamation of the worst of the Nazi powers-that-be. Seriously, movie and fiction writers couldn't come up with a better depiction of pure evil, down to his very face. He should appear in every Psych 101 college textbook under the chapter that covers psychopathy and sociopathy. I have no hope that he will ever be held accountable as I've come to learn that the guys in the black hats far too often get away with their evil. I guess I'll have to be satisfied to know he has a front row seat in Satan's VIP section.
I was a little distracted by the Wildgrain ad in the middle of your newsletter - is this a thing now? I thought paying for the subscription would allow you to publish without ads.
Start with the premise that Trump has the impulses and desires of a spoiled toddler; he wants moe toys, freedom to do whatever he wants, and punishment to whomever is “mean” to him. Miller helps with all three of those. By punishing his “enemies” in a violent and spectacular fashion, he gives Trump a buzz while distracting the country so he can grab the other 2 objects of his desire. He doesn’t care about lawlessness. He does care about being able to continue to get what he wants. Only losing control of congress will get his attention. That’s why he’s raiding election headquarters and ramping up the military.
Trump’s assumption that the average American voter is stupid and can easily be manipulated is largely true. But his assumption that he is untouchable is not. Despite history, there actually is a line he cannot cross, and we are seeing it in real time with ICE shootings and zero attempt to bring down prices. Can dems keep up the pressure for another 6 months? That depends on a) whether the Senate enacts meaningful change to ICE policies in the short term and b) whether the Supreme Court rules against Trump on tariffs. If the dems and SCOTUS save Trump from himself over the next few months any blue wave will likely be insufficient to actually reign Trump in.
The irony is not lost on me. We know what needs to be done. But timing is everything. And right now I am bracing for just enough “improvement” in what Trump and Miller are doing to save Trump in November. Miller will never be reigned in by Trump. But congress could. Could Schumer be that stupid? I think we all know the answer to that one.
Stay tuned over the next few days. Opening the government after agreeing to no masks and adding body cams (that no one looks at b/c funding was slashed for that) will be a joke. Conditioning ICE funding on no federal agents at polling places is critical. But they aren’t even talking about that.
Agreed that Stephen Miller is temporarily harming Trump's political standing by going too far. Unfortunately, we've seen that this just shift what "too far" means in the long run.
Throughout his life, he's used Roy Cohn's never back down strategy. He scolds an unpopular, often offensive position, and he repeats it, only making it more extreme. Even if that position doesn't win the day, and even if he makes everyone around him hate him personally, he brings some people onto his side. Whether or not people like him is immaterial, he's not the one on the ballot.
Democrats, by contrast, particularly on immigration, have failed to even stake out their position. There's nothing to not back down from. We don't have Stephen Miller's on the left, almost nobody has policy ambition that is divorced from their own electoral ambition.
The "hidden half" (at the moment) of this frightening Stephen Miller effort is what's rapidly being built, using some of that OBBB money -- huge prison-like detention facilities across the country for long-term detention of immigrants, largely unregulated. Judging by the few examples that already exist, these will be unlivable, enormously crowded, without medical or other facilities, with children there as well. (FWIW, Heather Cox Richardson has said that these are "concentration camps," based on the usual definition. Not death camps, but concentration camps.) At least one of these sites -- in Virginia -- has been canceled. The owner is no longer willing to sell it for that purpose. Perhaps similar local publicity campaigns could cause that to happen elsewhere. But other sites will be built.
Is there anything that can be done to stop or expose this? Will it simply continue and grow through the midterms and (even assuming Dems win the midterms) through January 2027 and perhaps some months beyond that? Or can something be done now, politically, by showing the reality of what is being built and demonstrating how bad it is for the Republicans in the midterms? Could the DHS shutdown put a stop to this?
Dan is right that the Trump/GOP approach to immigration enforcement—especially the violent, defiant excesses of ICE and CBP—creates real midterm vulnerability. But I think there are two strategic pitfalls worth flagging.
First, Democrats have to be extremely precise in how we talk about immigration. We are the party that very recently failed to maintain control at the border, and we paid a steep electoral price for it. Any effective message either has to acknowledge that failure honestly or focus narrowly on enforcement reform—professional standards, accountability, legality, basic human decency. Otherwise, any competent GOP candidate will neutralize the critique with a simple reference to “Biden border chaos.” Relatedly, Democrats need to find a way to quiet the “Abolish ICE” rhetoric. Whatever the moral impulse behind it, the phrase is politically toxic: it sounds radical, invites bad-faith misrepresentation, and offers no concrete governing alternative.
Second, I’m skeptical of pinning this primarily on Stephen Miller, though I fully agree he’s the culpable party. However toxic his influence may be, focusing on a single villain misses the broader lesson. In 2006, Democrats didn’t win the House by obsessing over Rumsfeld or Cheney; they won by prosecuting the case that Republicans had lost control—of the Iraq war and of governing itself. That framing held the party accountable, not just its worst actors. That feels like the more durable approach here too.
Thank you, Mr. Pfeiffer. djt has a long history of having a “fall” guy to cover for him if/when things go sideways. The presidency does not permit the office holder to evade responsibility. The actions of every member of the administration are the responsibility of djt. Each member of the administration is morally a mirror image of djt’s amorality, depravity and perversion.
Dan the save act could destroy democracy here. Two Gallup has now decided that presidential approval ratings don’t need to be published any longer. You are talking issues. And they do matter. But we are into territory where the cult has won. Daily conversations w these avg Americans still show they love him and hate us. We have lost. Unless something changes the cult will rule until their king dies. We will then see complete upheaval in our country. Dems failed badly. GOP are Nazis. Issues…. Ok
Like others here, I agree that Stephen Miller will bear a lot of responsibility for Republican losses. As an aside, I was overjoyed when I heard about Mejia's win today in the NJ special election even if she might not win in the general. It feels like vindication when democrats win, or even more strongly, it feels hopeful. But that's not enough. Dem's need to work on building trust with the public (by fulfilling promises made) and the bad actors need to be held accountable. I think it's been reported that Stephen Miller is calling the shots. There is something about this whole situation that reminds me of when S. Korean President Park Geun Hye was impeached after hundreds of thousands of S. Koreans flooded the streets of Seoul in the "candlelight" protests, and she and her close confidant and advisor were jailed for corruption, bribery, and abuse of power.
I don't think Stephen Miller cares about the polling numbers on immigration because he hasn't backed down. He's on a crusade to rid the US of as many black and brown people as he can and the more cruelty he inflicts the better, from his standpoint. I think all Congressional Republicans who support ICE should be required to visit one of the camps, with no announcement of the visit. Let them then speak publicly about what they saw and why it's okay. FYI: I've subscribed to. Wildgrain for a couple of years and I've never been more satisfied with a food subscription. I pick the number of weeks between deliveries and I can change the items ordered each time. I live alone and got tired of throwing out bread items because I can't eat them up fast enough. Being able to freeze these items and bake one at a time is fantastic. The quality is also very good. No, I don't get anything for saying this. I'm just a happy customer.
Forget Stephen Miller; concentrate to defeating Republican members of congress.
SENATE: TX: John Cornyn, AL Dan Sullivan, ME: Susan Collins, OH: John Husted
NC: OPEN, IA: OPEN.
AL is Alabama. AK?
AK is Alaska. AL is Alabama. AR is Arkansas
Hey Dan, I know that last week you covered what a Democratic immigration policy position would look like, but what do you think is the best messaging to bring people into our coalition during the midterms and beyond based on Trump/Miller's ICE overreach? Do we need to start by acknowledging the failure of the Biden admin on immigration (running against the party of status quo)? Is our message "it doesn't have to be this way"? I'm imagining that some segment of the population who is conflicted tells themselves "we don't like this, but the Biden admin left us no choice" so they can sleep at night. Is there a message that threads the needle of energizing the base and inviting in the people we need in order to win a sustainable majority?
Just curious: who's in this "segment of the population" that thinks "the Biden admin left us no choice"? That's pretty wonkish thinking.
I think there are a lot of people who actually bought into the narrative that the Biden admin opened the borders and anyone could come into the country during his administration. They're wrong, that's not what happened. But I think it's an unfortunate trap to run against Biden on immigration, feeding into this narrative. It's a narrative that they will continue to bring out, absent Democrats putting out a stronger narrative about what they believe in and are doing regarding immigration, and have people actually believe that is what's happening. Otherwise the "open borders" narrative will just reconstitute itself.
That's why the answer to Reich's posed question is so important. Especially for those of us who will be phone banking and knocking on doors this year.
It’s not my belief, but it is something I have heard from multiple republicans.
Same here.
Dan,
Thanks so much for this clear indictment of Stephen Miller’s malevolence. We all know how racist, misogynist, homophobic, corrupt and evil our pedophile-protecting President is, but I believe that Miller is worse (with the possible exception of the financial corruption).
I also believe that Miller’s malevolence and intentional cruelty needs to be pointed out by Democrats on a regular basis. Because as long as Miller is co-President, the vile, evil and lawless ways of ICE will continue.
Please keep the spotlight on Miller and his cruelty aimed at brown- and black-skinned people so that his white supremacy beliefs and desires can be furthered.
Please make it so! And when Democrats win please have them go on offense and pack some dirt, so that they can avoid the major slippage that happens after a big win.
I think an excellent way to sideline Miller is to have journalists start asking Trump what Miller's opinion is on almost any issue. Trump's feathers will be ruffled once people start acknowledging to Trump directly that everyone knows Miller is calling the shots. Hopefully leading Miller to walk the gang plank.
I honestly believe that Stephen Miller is the re-incarnation of an amalgamation of the worst of the Nazi powers-that-be. Seriously, movie and fiction writers couldn't come up with a better depiction of pure evil, down to his very face. He should appear in every Psych 101 college textbook under the chapter that covers psychopathy and sociopathy. I have no hope that he will ever be held accountable as I've come to learn that the guys in the black hats far too often get away with their evil. I guess I'll have to be satisfied to know he has a front row seat in Satan's VIP section.
100%. The one good thing about Stephen Miller is that he looks the part: supporting cast in a movie about the Third Reich.
I was a little distracted by the Wildgrain ad in the middle of your newsletter - is this a thing now? I thought paying for the subscription would allow you to publish without ads.
Start with the premise that Trump has the impulses and desires of a spoiled toddler; he wants moe toys, freedom to do whatever he wants, and punishment to whomever is “mean” to him. Miller helps with all three of those. By punishing his “enemies” in a violent and spectacular fashion, he gives Trump a buzz while distracting the country so he can grab the other 2 objects of his desire. He doesn’t care about lawlessness. He does care about being able to continue to get what he wants. Only losing control of congress will get his attention. That’s why he’s raiding election headquarters and ramping up the military.
Trump’s assumption that the average American voter is stupid and can easily be manipulated is largely true. But his assumption that he is untouchable is not. Despite history, there actually is a line he cannot cross, and we are seeing it in real time with ICE shootings and zero attempt to bring down prices. Can dems keep up the pressure for another 6 months? That depends on a) whether the Senate enacts meaningful change to ICE policies in the short term and b) whether the Supreme Court rules against Trump on tariffs. If the dems and SCOTUS save Trump from himself over the next few months any blue wave will likely be insufficient to actually reign Trump in.
The irony is not lost on me. We know what needs to be done. But timing is everything. And right now I am bracing for just enough “improvement” in what Trump and Miller are doing to save Trump in November. Miller will never be reigned in by Trump. But congress could. Could Schumer be that stupid? I think we all know the answer to that one.
Stay tuned over the next few days. Opening the government after agreeing to no masks and adding body cams (that no one looks at b/c funding was slashed for that) will be a joke. Conditioning ICE funding on no federal agents at polling places is critical. But they aren’t even talking about that.
Agreed that Stephen Miller is temporarily harming Trump's political standing by going too far. Unfortunately, we've seen that this just shift what "too far" means in the long run.
Throughout his life, he's used Roy Cohn's never back down strategy. He scolds an unpopular, often offensive position, and he repeats it, only making it more extreme. Even if that position doesn't win the day, and even if he makes everyone around him hate him personally, he brings some people onto his side. Whether or not people like him is immaterial, he's not the one on the ballot.
Democrats, by contrast, particularly on immigration, have failed to even stake out their position. There's nothing to not back down from. We don't have Stephen Miller's on the left, almost nobody has policy ambition that is divorced from their own electoral ambition.
Agree — what is our immigration policy. Being anti-T or anti-M will not be enough.
Agree with all of this. One question:
The "hidden half" (at the moment) of this frightening Stephen Miller effort is what's rapidly being built, using some of that OBBB money -- huge prison-like detention facilities across the country for long-term detention of immigrants, largely unregulated. Judging by the few examples that already exist, these will be unlivable, enormously crowded, without medical or other facilities, with children there as well. (FWIW, Heather Cox Richardson has said that these are "concentration camps," based on the usual definition. Not death camps, but concentration camps.) At least one of these sites -- in Virginia -- has been canceled. The owner is no longer willing to sell it for that purpose. Perhaps similar local publicity campaigns could cause that to happen elsewhere. But other sites will be built.
Is there anything that can be done to stop or expose this? Will it simply continue and grow through the midterms and (even assuming Dems win the midterms) through January 2027 and perhaps some months beyond that? Or can something be done now, politically, by showing the reality of what is being built and demonstrating how bad it is for the Republicans in the midterms? Could the DHS shutdown put a stop to this?
Dan is right that the Trump/GOP approach to immigration enforcement—especially the violent, defiant excesses of ICE and CBP—creates real midterm vulnerability. But I think there are two strategic pitfalls worth flagging.
First, Democrats have to be extremely precise in how we talk about immigration. We are the party that very recently failed to maintain control at the border, and we paid a steep electoral price for it. Any effective message either has to acknowledge that failure honestly or focus narrowly on enforcement reform—professional standards, accountability, legality, basic human decency. Otherwise, any competent GOP candidate will neutralize the critique with a simple reference to “Biden border chaos.” Relatedly, Democrats need to find a way to quiet the “Abolish ICE” rhetoric. Whatever the moral impulse behind it, the phrase is politically toxic: it sounds radical, invites bad-faith misrepresentation, and offers no concrete governing alternative.
Second, I’m skeptical of pinning this primarily on Stephen Miller, though I fully agree he’s the culpable party. However toxic his influence may be, focusing on a single villain misses the broader lesson. In 2006, Democrats didn’t win the House by obsessing over Rumsfeld or Cheney; they won by prosecuting the case that Republicans had lost control—of the Iraq war and of governing itself. That framing held the party accountable, not just its worst actors. That feels like the more durable approach here too.
"That is why, if Republicans lose the House and/or the Senate, Stephen Miller will deserve much of the blame." or much of the thanks.
Thank you, Mr. Pfeiffer. djt has a long history of having a “fall” guy to cover for him if/when things go sideways. The presidency does not permit the office holder to evade responsibility. The actions of every member of the administration are the responsibility of djt. Each member of the administration is morally a mirror image of djt’s amorality, depravity and perversion.
Dan the save act could destroy democracy here. Two Gallup has now decided that presidential approval ratings don’t need to be published any longer. You are talking issues. And they do matter. But we are into territory where the cult has won. Daily conversations w these avg Americans still show they love him and hate us. We have lost. Unless something changes the cult will rule until their king dies. We will then see complete upheaval in our country. Dems failed badly. GOP are Nazis. Issues…. Ok
Like others here, I agree that Stephen Miller will bear a lot of responsibility for Republican losses. As an aside, I was overjoyed when I heard about Mejia's win today in the NJ special election even if she might not win in the general. It feels like vindication when democrats win, or even more strongly, it feels hopeful. But that's not enough. Dem's need to work on building trust with the public (by fulfilling promises made) and the bad actors need to be held accountable. I think it's been reported that Stephen Miller is calling the shots. There is something about this whole situation that reminds me of when S. Korean President Park Geun Hye was impeached after hundreds of thousands of S. Koreans flooded the streets of Seoul in the "candlelight" protests, and she and her close confidant and advisor were jailed for corruption, bribery, and abuse of power.
I don't think Stephen Miller cares about the polling numbers on immigration because he hasn't backed down. He's on a crusade to rid the US of as many black and brown people as he can and the more cruelty he inflicts the better, from his standpoint. I think all Congressional Republicans who support ICE should be required to visit one of the camps, with no announcement of the visit. Let them then speak publicly about what they saw and why it's okay. FYI: I've subscribed to. Wildgrain for a couple of years and I've never been more satisfied with a food subscription. I pick the number of weeks between deliveries and I can change the items ordered each time. I live alone and got tired of throwing out bread items because I can't eat them up fast enough. Being able to freeze these items and bake one at a time is fantastic. The quality is also very good. No, I don't get anything for saying this. I'm just a happy customer.