George Will: 'Disgust with Trump' could upend president’s agenda

Although the Democratic Party is suffering from low approval ratings, many of their candidates have been performing well in a series of special elections in 2026 — including two for seats in the Florida House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 24. Florida has grown increasingly Republican in recent years, yet in those races, Democrats were victorious in two districts known for being very favorable to President Donald Trump.

Brian Nathan won in the Tampa area, while fellow Democrat Emily Gregory prevailed in the Palm Beach-area district where Mar-a-Lago is located. Similarly, Democrat Taylor Rehmet enjoyed a double-digit victory in a Texas State Senate special election in February, which was a shocker considering that Trump won that district in the conservative Fort Worth suburbs by 17 percent in 2024.

Some political analysts believe that Democrats' recent winning streak doesn't mean that their party is popular, only that Trump is so unpopular.

In his March 27 column for the Washington Post, Never Trump conservative George Will argues that Democrats have an advantage going into the 2026 midterms. But he warns that they could blow it.

"Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a liberal with a conservative disposition — he thought conservatism is a disposition — once said, 'Liberals are people who would like to see things improved, and conservatives are people who would like to see things not worsened,'" Will writes. "Today, many voters at both ends of the ideological spectrum primarily want the same thing: to see the other side lose…. The Democrats' gains are largely from former Republicans switching parties out of disgust with Trump. The Republicans' gains include many former blue-collar Democrats, but 'more disaffected nonvoters coming out of political inactivity to vote for a once-in-a-lifetime candidate.'"

Despite all that "disgust with Trump," Will argues, Democrats could blow the midterms.

"Now, never underestimate the Democrats' ability to make a sow's ear out of a silk purse," Will writes. "As an Israeli diplomat once said of the Palestinians, they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. If many Democratic candidates try to pump up deflated hysterias — democracy is dying, the planet is frying — they can make themselves resemble a, to recycle a phrase, basket of deplorables. Failure is a choice."

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