Make Trust the Issue of 2026

 

Pat Dennis

"The disgraced financier [Jeffrey Epstein], who died in federal jail in 2019 after being charged with sex trafficking, traveled in powerful circles for many years. The public understandably wants to know why Trump is backtracking on his administration’s promises to release material that might shed more light on his crimes."

--Pat Dennis 

So of course I'm going out of my way to read an article titled "Democrats Finally Found an Anti-Trump Argument That Works" in the WashPost, by Pat Dennis, who is the president of American Bridge 21st Century:

American Bridge PAC is a liberal American Super PAC and opposition research group that supports Democratic candidates and opposes Republican candidates. Founded by David Brock in 2010 and associated with Media Matters for America, the organization is one of the largest networks of liberal donors in the U.S. (Wikipedia)

Dennis's Twitter profile is much more revealing and much more hilarious: "Used to do campaigns. Oppo guy. Scrappy coder. College dropout. I like building and winning." So he's someone I want to hear political practicalities from. He starts where any campaign operative would start: What's the current (and highly specific) polling RE Epstein?

An Economist-YouGov survey conducted July 11 to 14 found that 81 percent of Harris voters and 59 percent of Trump voters believe the government is covering up Epstein evidence.... A CNN-SSRS poll collected July 10 to 13 shows 56 percent of Democrats, 52 percent of independents and even 40 percent of Republicans are dissatisfied with how little information Washington [Trump] has released.

Dennis notices those cracks in MAGA, and he sees the obvious path (by thinking out of the box): Democrats need to take MAGA's side, demand the truth no matter who it hurts and stand on that principle. Dennis can imagine the Democratic candidate who might riff on trust and draw supporters. Dennis can almost hear the voice, rising in volume and certitude: "If Trump will break our trust to protect whatever is in the Epstein files, don't you start to wonder whether he's been lying about other things, and why? To protect his powerful and wealthy friends. Who benefits from massive tax cuts? Who is really paying the cost of Trump’s tariffs? Who will face the pain of Medicaid cuts? Who is responsible for rising inflation?" The litany on trust.

Dennis sez to Democrats:

We need to say, loudly: “You gave him a shot as an outsider, but he cut your community’s health care, took his eye off the ball on prices and focused on tax cuts for billionaires — while he tried to shut up everyone, including his own supporters, who wanted to talk about elite billionaire sexual predators.”