Empty Plates Will Flip This House

The divide isn’t left versus right anymore; it’s feast versus famine. And voters are finally seeing who’s holding the silver spoon.

Guest article by Michael Cohen. Remember to follow him on Substack for more by clicking here. Michael is also racing to 500K followers on YouTube! Subscribe today for free here.

`The Bread Line` sculpture by George Segal, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Washington, DC, USA. Editorial credit: refrina / Shutterstock.com

Let’s be brutally honest: we’re not moving the needle because Democrats have suddenly figured out how to talk to voters or craft a compelling message. We’re moving it because the Republican Party has completely lost its mind. The GOP isn’t just bad at governing anymore; they’re morally bankrupt, publicly cruel, and proudly ignorant. And for once, the American people seem to be noticing.

The latest Quinnipiac poll tells a story that should both encourage and alarm Democrats. Fifty percent of voters say they’d rather see Democrats control the House if the election were held today. That’s not because the left is inspiring hope or offering visionary leadership. It’s because voters are disgusted by what they’re seeing from the right — a political movement so detached from basic humanity that they think hunger, poverty, and suffering are punchlines.

Take Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana. The man looked at millions of struggling Americans about to lose access to food assistance and told them to “stop smoking crack.” You read that right. As 42 million Americans braced for their SNAP benefits to run out thanks to the government shutdown, Higgins went online to mock them — as if feeding a family on $350 a month is some kind of luxury.

Higgins’ own state has nearly a million residents relying on SNAP benefits. Eighteen percent of his constituents. Eighteen percent. These are his voters, his neighbors. But instead of empathy, he gave them contempt. Instead of understanding, he handed out stereotypes. And this is who the Republican Party now is: a party that mocks the poor while worshiping the powerful.

While millions face empty refrigerators, Donald Trump hosted a “Roaring ’20s” Halloween gala at Mar-a-Lago — a lavish fantasy of champagne towers, wagyu beef, and 1920s nostalgia for a crowd that’s never worried about a grocery bill. While the country starves, Trump feasts. The optics couldn’t be clearer if he tried. The Republican message to working Americans is simple: you’re on your own, peasants.

This is why the numbers are shifting. Forty-five percent of voters now blame Republicans for the government shutdown, compared to 39 percent who blame Democrats. Independents — the swing vote that decides everything — overwhelmingly point the finger at the GOP. They see the cruelty. They see the chaos. And they too are sick of it.

But here’s the danger: Democrats can’t mistake Republican collapse for their own success. A one-year window separates us from the midterms, and history tells us that complacency kills movements faster than corruption. The GOP may be imploding under the weight of its own lunacy, but they’re still ruthless, still organized, and still willing to burn democracy to the ground if it means clinging to their money and power.

Right now, Democrats aren’t winning because they’ve inspired confidence; they’re winning because Republicans are terrifying. Thirty-five percent of voters approve of how Republicans in Congress are handling their jobs, compared to 26 percent for Democrats. Think about that: the only reason Democrats are ahead in the “who should control Congress” question is because people despise the alternative.

Trump’s numbers tell the same story. Forty percent approval, 54 percent disapproval. He’s underwater on every major issue except Israel, where his approval temporarily bumped after a ceasefire. But his handling of the economy — the very issue he loves to brag about — is at a record low. Just 38 percent approval. That’s a president who sold himself as a “business genius,” presiding over grocery prices that have families breaking down at the checkout line.

The Republican Party’s cruelty isn’t strategic anymore. It’s reflexive. It’s who they are. They can’t help themselves. When millions of Americans lose access to food, healthcare, or housing, they don’t feel shame; they feel pride. They call it “tough love.” They sneer about “personal responsibility.” They talk about crack pipes instead of policy, mock the hungry instead of feeding them, and think empathy is weakness.

That’s why this next year matters. If Democrats don’t retake the House — and possibly the Senate — we’re in for another cycle of dysfunction, shutdowns, and moral decay. We’ll watch as Trump and his enablers turn hunger into a weapon and governance into performance art. We’ll see more Clay Higgins moments — more public humiliation of the poor, more smug indifference from people who haven’t bought their own groceries in decades.

We can’t afford to coast on Republican failure. We have to fight like hell — not just against the cruelty of Trump’s GOP, but against the apathy that lets it thrive. Democrats need to stop assuming voters will automatically side with sanity. They won’t — not unless we remind them, daily, what’s at stake.

Because this moment isn’t about partisanship; it’s about decency. It’s about whether we want a country where compassion is policy or cruelty is power. The needle is moving, yes — but it’s moving because the other side has revealed who they really are. Let’s make sure we don’t waste it.

The clock is ticking. One year to the midterms. One year to prove that America still has a conscience. The fight doesn’t end because the polls look good; it starts because they finally do.

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