There is something about Donald Trump that unnerves Democrats. After he won the presumptive nomination of the Republican party, Democrats have been thrown off their game, giving rise to a form of Trump dislocation which has them unfocused. Now they are rooting for the courts to limit and perhaps destroy his campaign. Whatever the merits of the court case, this new emphasis on lawfare throws Democrats off their game.

And none of this is necessary. In 2022 to 2023, with the possible nomination of Ron DeSantis, Democrats scored victory after victory, beginning with the Kansas abortion referendum, followed by Wisconsin and Ohio, the Democrats were on a roll.

Consider the retention of control in the Senate and only a paltry deficit in the House of Representatives in the midterms in 2022.

Clearly the momentum was already on their side. In November 2023 they kept control of Kentucky and managed to keep control of the Virginia legislature. So why the panic over Trump — who had only been a good luck charm for Democrats.

The only possible explanation is that they have such a white heat hatred for Trump that it blinds them to any other considerations. Surely Trump has proven persistent. Despite writing him off after the Jan. 6, 2021 disturbances in Washington, the Democrats understandably wrote him off for 2024. But this, as we have seen, did not happen. Once again, they placed their faith in so-called GOP moderates who played games — one minute denouncing Trump and then paying court at Mar-a-Lago.

As usual, the Democrats misread the situation within the Republican party. As with many who urged a vote for Nikki Haley, seeing Trump as stronger though they regularly mocked him and his sympathizers.

Because they cannot even look at Trump through an objective lens — seeing him as his friends see him, they melt into a form of hysteria when ascertaining his strengths. Frankly, Trump is a good campaigner with a deft touch with his following. His advisors in the MAGA movement, such as Stephen K. Bannon, are very astute and surprisingly objective in their analysis of Democrats.

This in itself does not guarantee Trump anything, but it does threaten to distract Democrats. Recently ESPN’s analyst Stephen A. Smith criticized the party for relying on outrage and lawfare to defeat Trump’s movement. When Stephen A. and Stephen K. are on the same page, Democrats should stop and take stock. Smith urges them to win arguments, as they did in 2022 and 2023. Hard analysis wins elections, not blustering indignation or sweet sonnets. To rely on the activists’ money without penny or prospects to somehow defeat Trump through insult is neither desirable nor effective.

Not that Democrats do not have ammunition aplenty. They have the upper hand on abortion, so much that even Trump backpedaled on the issue. Trump’s reliance on some elements among the extremely prosperous and his pledge of a tax cut could also allow the party to have some high ground. But none of this is possible if self-righteousness is allowed to predominate in the party’s message. As well Joe Biden, bogged down in foreign policy, could be defeated, like the Democrats in 1952 and 1968, times of low unemployment. But they need to return to the formula that has given them some great recent successes. Surely no one wins an invective fight with Trump, he is simply the best at that art.

Perhaps, returning to Smith’s wheelhouse, sports, Democrats should channel the slogan of the great Oakland Raiders owner, Al Davis — “just win, baby.”