For many voters, opposition to Trump seems to have become their entire political identity. Is their candidate flirting with socialism? Communism? No problem. Trump is worse.

Democrats pushing policies allowing minors access to gender-transition procedures? That’s still preferable to the Orange Menace.

Illegal immigrants committing crimes after being released back onto American streets? Well, at least nobody involved sent a mean Truth Social post.

Taxpayer dollars going toward illegal aliens and criminals? Break out the checkbook. Anything to keep Republicans from winning.

And the list goes on and on and on…

For nearly a decade, Democrats and their allies have portrayed Trump as such an existential threat to democracy that practically anything on their own side can be rationalized as the lesser evil. Inflation, immigration, crime, gender politics, government spending – whatever the issue, the conversation eventually circles back to Trump. And with Election Day approaching – and many voters already casting ballots – Trump remains a central part of the campaign message aimed at winning those votes.

At this point, Democrats could probably nominate Karl Marx himself, promise free gender-transition surgery at the DMV and hand every illegal immigrant a taxpayer-funded debit card, and somebody would still shrug and say, “Yeah, but have you heard what Trump said yesterday?”

After all these years, Trump is still living rent-free in millions of heads – even though he’s not actually on the ballot this time around.

However, Republicans certainly aren’t making a great case for themselves. Too many are spineless, allergic to fighting and seemingly determined to make passing Trump’s agenda as difficult as possible. They also suck at messaging. Sometimes it feels like Dems don’t even need an opposition party – Republicans are perfectly capable of getting in their own way.

That’s why Trump is having to rally people to vote Republican:

🚨 EPIC! PRESIDENT TRUMP NOW: “MY RALLIES ARE SAVING THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, AGAIN!!!”

47’s weapon has ALWAYS been his work ethic and massive rallies

Because NOBODY fills a venue like Trump.

He’s not even technically running, but he’s campaigning like it’s a presidential election! The LEAST we can do is VOTE 🔥

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 6, 2026

But Democrats have something Republicans often lack: voters who will show up regardless – as the anti-vote. The anti-Trump, anti-MAGA and ultimately the anti-Republican vote.

Their candidates could be terrible (and they are), their policies could be unpopular and voters might not even agree with half of what’s being offered. No problem. Because if the alternative has an “R” next to the name and Trump is anywhere in the vicinity, that is enough to vote against them. So when polls show Republicans behind, don’t automatically assume the numbers are wrong. Never underestimate the motivational power of voting against Trump.