Rep. Ed Case (D-HI) said Democrats risk repeating past mistakes if they run against President Donald Trump without offering voters a clear alternative, arguing that simply opposing the other side is not enough to win midterm elections.
Speaking Friday on C-SPAN’s “Ceasefire,” Case was asked by host Dasha Burns whether making the election a referendum on Trump is sufficient, or whether Democrats need to build an affirmative vision and party platform. He answered directly: “First of all, the answer to your question is yes, that is exactly what Democrats have to do.”
But Case also said he starts from the premise that Trump will effectively be on the ballot regardless of whether he asks to be, and that the midterms will inevitably be a referendum on the president.
‘A legitimate question’
According to Case, what voters are weighing is not only whether they agree with Trump or believe he has delivered on top concerns like affordability, the economy, and jobs. They are also asking whether there should be an independent check and balance in Congress, he said—calling that “a legitimate question for voters to ask.”
Case acknowledged the broader debate over whether Republicans or Democrats are capable of checking and balancing the president, referencing comments from Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO), and predicted that question will influence the election most.
Still, he argued that checks and balances alone will not carry Democrats across the finish line.
Lessons from past losses
Case pointed to previous elections where Democrats fell short—races he believed the party should have won—and attributed those losses to a purely negative message.
“The reason that Democrats have not prevailed in some of these elections, where, frankly, I think Democrats should have prevailed, is because all they did, all we did was to say how bad the other side was without offering our own alternative,” Case said.
That dynamic, he argued, left middle-of-the-road voters who decide close elections with what he called a bad choice: they may dislike the candidate Democrats are attacking but never hear a convincing alternative.
Case suggested that pattern explained the outcome of Trump’s second election. “So, I hope my Democrats learned that lesson and learned how to talk to the voters that are going to decide whether Democrats do prevail in the midterms,” he said.
A debate within the party
Case’s comments add to an ongoing discussion among Democrats about how to frame the midterm elections. Some in the party have emphasized opposition to Trump as the central message, while others—including Case—warn that such an approach risks alienating swing voters who want to know what Democrats would do differently.
The Hawaii congressman’s remarks, made during a C-SPAN broadcast, reflect a widely shared concern inside the party: that running against Trump without a forward-looking agenda could limit Democratic gains in races where independents and moderates decide the outcome.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/09/19/dem-rep-case-i-hope-dems-learned-to-offer-an-alternative-besides-just-opposing-trump/