With 51 days remaining before Election Day 2026, the United States has officially entered the run-up to the midterm elections. Because control of Congress is at stake, the election will determine which party sets the agenda in each chamber.

The good news, according to Robert Reich, is that most Americans now understand how bad Donald Trump is. With the exception of Richard Nixon, Trump is the most unpopular second-term president at this point in his tenure in the history of polling dating back to the 1940s.

On issues where Trump was once considered strong—including the economy, national security and immigration—he is now underwater, with more Americans opposing than supporting his policies.

Reich argues that the major problems facing the United States are entirely self-inflicted by Trump. Before Trump was reelected, the country was not at war with anyone and oil moved freely through the Persian Gulf. Now, the United States is mired in a war in Iran with no apparent end, the gulf is blocked and the Red Sea could also be blocked, sending oil prices soaring. Reich says the developments have also strengthened Iran’s ruling regime and made it more militant.

The U.S. economy was also in good shape before Trump’s reelection, Reich writes. The Economist described it as “the envy of the world.” Now, prices are rising faster than wages, which means most Americans are becoming poorer. The United States is also engaged in a trade war with Canada, previously its closest ally, while Trump posts insulting memes about Canada and its prime minister on social media.

Reich says that before Trump’s reelection, hardworking people in American communities—including many neighbors and friends—felt safe. He argues that Trump’s mass deportations have since created trauma and chaos, including unpredictable arrests, imprisonments, deportations and deaths.

“Finally, Americans are seeing this rot,” Reich writes. “The great sleeping giant of America is awakening.”

However, Reich warns Democrats and progressives against three attitudes he says are emerging ahead of the election: complacency, defeatism and cynicism.

The first is complacency. Some people tell Reich that Democrats are “sure” to take the House and have a “good chance” of taking the Senate. He writes that betting odds may reflect that view, but winning the House is far from certain. To take the Senate, Democrats would need to retain every seat they currently hold and flip five additional seats. Reich says he uses that number because Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman may switch to the Republican Party after the midterms or vote with Republicans.

Reich also notes that polls are notoriously unreliable, as Americans have learned painfully. He urges voters not to assume that Democrats already have enough votes or to take the outcome for granted.

The second concern is defeatism. Some Democrats and progressives tell Reich that they “don’t stand a chance” because Trump will not allow them to win. They argue that he will stop at nothing, that the outcome is fixed, that he is already sowing chaos around mail-in ballots, and that there have been $5,000 bribes and a “bonkers” request for his followers to cheat.

Reich nonetheless says there is a decent chance Democrats could win both chambers if they work hard enough.

The third concern is cynicism. One person recently told Reich that it “doesn’t matter” whether Democrats take the House or Senate because Trump would simply ignore Congress.

Reich acknowledges how harrowing the past year and a half has been, saying many people were shocked by Trump’s reelection and have remained shocked by what he describes as the ignorance and horror of Trump and his administration. But he says there is no excuse for cynicism.

If Democrats control the House, Reich writes, they can make life exceedingly difficult for Trump. If they also control the Senate, they could possibly, with the help of some Senate Republicans, convict him of impeachable offenses and remove him from office.

Reich calls on people to use the next 51 days to register everyone who is qualified to vote and help ensure they cast ballots; protect electoral machinery from all interference; explain why the election is vitally important; and avoid complacency, defeatism and cynicism. Voter information is available at

“We are the only people who will rescue us from this nightmare,” Reich writes. “We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for. The next 51 days are crucial.”

Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and a former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at The original article is available at https://www.alternet.org/trump-nightmare-2677852437/.