The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. 

Democrats must heed liberal icon Barney Frank. And Republicans must read the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights. Both are necessary to end Trump’s chaos, cruelty and incompetence, to which almost all congressional Republicans have offered no resistance. If this does not happen, our current ugly nightmare will get worse and lead to something like the collapse of the German Weimar Republic in the 1930s and the rise of a fascist state. Everything is on the line; this is not hyperbole.

So far Democrats have flipped 30 GOP state legislative seats and won gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia (a flip) as well as many local elections nationwide. The November midterm congressional and gubernatorial elections offer the best chance of checking Trump and Republicans’ unconstitutional governing. The above-mentioned Democrats did not run ahead of most Americans – Barney Frank’s advice – and consistently emphasized and led with bread-and-butter issues. Another of Frank’s admonitions.

Before he died in May, Barney Frank, a 16-term Massachusetts Democratic lawmaker, was blunt: some Democrats have “embraced an agenda that goes beyond what’s politically acceptable. Until we separate ourselves from that agenda, we don’t win.” Frank thought that zealotry and lack of pragmatism would lead to disaster. So far most Democrats have been attentive to voters’ concerns and deftly avoided pie-in-the-sky promises. “Far-left candidates are winning primaries (for Democratic seats) – but not in the races that will decide the House majority. … in the primaries that will decide control of the House, center-left candidates have dominated the primaries” (Cook Political Report).

The 3rd congressional district race in western Wisconsin is an example. The leading and likely Democratic candidate, Rebecca Cooke, is running on bread-and-butter issues. Cooke grew up on a dairy farm and was president of her 4-H club, the Truax Eagles. She lost narrowly in 2024 to election denier GOP Representative Derrick Van Orden. However, Cooke ran ahead of Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin and presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Cooke has demonstrated wide support among rural Wisconsinites as well as strong appeal to suburban and urban voters. All leading nonpartisan rating groups call this election a toss-up.

Frank’s advice is also spot-on for Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. One candidate, a socialist, inaccurately likened her campaign to those of Wisconsin icons Bob La Follette, Gaylord Nelson and Vel Phillips. Meanwhile, 2 candidates exited the race and immediately endorsed Lieutenant Governor and gubernatorial candidate Sara Rodriguez. Rodriguez’s signature issue is healthcare affordability and coverage. The so-called Big Beautiful Bill, supported and celebrated by GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany, has already ended healthcare coverage for thousands of Wisconsinites and dramatically increased healthcare premiums and out-of-pocket costs impacting many more Wisconsinites.

Republicans have become a party of election deniers (2020 election), embraced racism, repudiated government’s role helping regular folks and have abandoned the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights. GOP statesman and former state Senator Robert Cowles said: “I believe this guy Trump is a totalitarian and very much a fascist.” A reminder of a once great political party, now unrecognizable.

Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.