EXCERPT:
SABATO: “Sure, they can — they can complain about it. They can point out the weaknesses in it and the dangers of it. But as we learned in 2024, a large portion of the American population, in fact, nearly a majority, doesn‘t particularly care about the democracy argument or fear of authoritarianism. Their fear of crime, even if the statistics don‘t support their fear of crime, their fear of crime is greater than the fear of authoritarianism. You can say they‘re wrong, but I don‘t think MAGA cares. I don‘t think Republicans generally, even beyond the MAGA base, care. And if Democrats are going to win the midterm election in 2026, they have to focus on what helps them and also what‘s true. And prices have certainly not come down, as Donald Trump said they would. If anything, the prices of many staples have gone up. So, that‘s a winning issue. Crime in the cities are not.”