This theme collects complaints about how Democrats govern, and it splits the spectrum in two. The study tagged 145 quotes to it, from 30 voices across 41 videos. Among quotes with a known political leaning, 38% came from Far Right voices and 29% from the Left, with much less from anywhere else. MSNBC contributed more quotes than any other channel, followed by the NJ Libertarian Party and Fox News.
The two sides describe different failures. Left voices mostly say Democrats were too timid with the power they had: slow to act, quick to defer to process, and unable to deliver on promises or answer their opponents. Far Right voices mostly describe waste, fraud and mismanagement, especially in places Democrats run. Much of that material comes from a single Fox News special on Elon Musk’s DOGE team, published in March 2025.
A smaller group of quotes makes the argument associated with Ezra Klein’s “abundance” agenda: that Democratic government has buried itself in lawsuits, reviews and veto points until it can no longer build. On MSNBC, Klein admitted to “a little bit of jealousy” watching DOGE move fast. A UChicago Institute of Politics panelist called for “de-proceduralization” instead of deregulation.
Slow government
The complaint that unites these voices is about results. Whether they blame timidity, incompetence or red tape, critics on both sides describe a party that promised more than it delivered while in office. Several of them say voters no longer think of Democrats as the party that gets things done. On The Aaron Renn Show, Ruy Teixeira’s conversation turned to whether anyone would hire a Democrat to finish a project quickly.
The study records where these arguments come from without ranking them. The left’s version asks the party to use its power more boldly. The right’s version asks voters to take power away from it.
The twin instincts I have watching this happen with Trump and DOGE is, A, a little bit of jealousy — like, god, it would be nice to have some fewer lawyers in the Obama administration. God bless the lawyers in the Obama administration, including my wife, who would have asked for forgiveness instead of permission on stuff, and just moved more quickly and not been so process.
MSNBCIt's not about deregulation, it's about de-proceduralization. You are asking people to do the wrong job because you don't have confidence in their intelligence or their care. You do not legislate care or diligence. You trust, and you build more reflective legislative cycles that come back and say, how was this implemented?
UChicago Institute of PoliticsGood Lord, the Democrats… if you want your city governed well, is the first thing you think, I want to hire a Democrat? I don't think so. If you want a project done fast, what's the first thing you do, hire a Democrat? No, I don't think so.
The Aaron Renn Show
