Democrats ran 47 ads knocking their own party or "both parties" in a month, up from 19 in 2024. A lifelong Democrat: earned. Show a plan.

Axios counted the ads, so let's start with the count. In the 30 days ending Sept. 22, Democratic candidates, or independents running as the de facto Democratic nominee, aired 47 ads knocking their own party, "both parties" or "party leaders." That's up from 19 in both 2024 and 2022, 15 in 2020 and 14 in 2018. Ads promising to work with both parties fell from 45 in 2024 to 18. Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio says in one, "Washington's not just broken, it's deeply corrupt, and both parties need to shape up." A Montana candidate says voters tell him "even the basic necessities are becoming more and more difficult to afford," and he called the party's upbeat 2024 economic message the perfect example of the disconnect. The best case for this shift is that it's honest. People doing math in the checkout line noticed, and candidates finally did too. The fair counterpoint comes from Ohio Rep. Greg Landsman, who is running on a bipartisan Social Security fix for public pensioners. As a lifelong Democrat, here's my worry. Trashing everybody is easy and builds nothing. Anger can win an election. A plan runs a government. Show me the plan.