A month into Donald Trump’s second term, Democrats continue to commit old mistakes.

They are reactive with a tendency to go down the same rabbit holes and thus play into Trump’s hands. For the President, his opponents persist in pushing familiar criticisms while not developing their own policies, far from pushing Trump into a corner they give him a great deal of latitude. For the President, it is not a threat but a piece of cake.

Take the Democratic approach to Pete Hegseth, Robert F. Kennedy, Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard and Linda McMahon. Sure, they held the line but lost getting a smattering of Republican votes. As per usual, Democrats pathetically rallied around Mitch McConnell because he voted against some, but not all of Trump’s appointees. In some cases, they lost opportunities to surprise the public, but no, Democrats persisted in being predictable.

Take the case of RFK Jr.’s Nomination for Health and Human Services. Although Democrats were correct in being skeptical about his anti-vaccination views, they missed an opportunity to find common ground. Certainly, Bobby will, at least, see abortion with a different eye than a traditional Republican. However, Democrats came after him with a vengeance, ignoring some similarities. They repeated familiar errors as they did in 2023 when they forced Kennedy to take the independent route after doing everything to rig the nomination process in favor of an ailing Joe Biden. Not to mention the refusal of protection for a man who had lost both a father and an uncle to assassins’ bullets.

Same with Kash Patel for the FBI slot. Certainly, the author of Government Gangsters has a lot of explaining to do; he is not the lightweight as depicted. Robert F. Kennedy Sr. was the brother of the President and yet his nomination for Attorney General went through in 1961. Coupled with Kennedy’s lack of experience, which in the end did not disqualify him.

Trump must wonder what he has done in his life to merit such a feckless opposition. It is almost like he has access to the Democratic playbook. Moreover, he can pull the string and the Democrats move. Naturally, he must be thrilled with how they react to DOGE and Elon Musk. Even his initiatives toward Russia have drawn fire, although all he has proposed are negotiations. Do Democrats really believe that becoming the not-so-hidden partner of Kyiv is a good look?

If the Democratic party is to restrain the administration they would eschew the Facebook lamentations so common with the rank and file. They try everything from shaming to blaming the President for the price of eggs — as if that was the only reason for his victory. It might be Trump’s Presidency, but it is still Biden’s economy. Maybe they should curb their impatience and wait and see what will transpire. Take a page out of Marc Elias’ playbook and first take the legal route, because the highly emotional and predictable gooey opposition only helps Trump. Take advice from Kenny Rogers’ song, The Gambler. “There’s time enough for counting when the dealing is done.” This is a long game. Democrats need to wait until all the cards are dealt, not emotional reactions.