February 9, 2026—We got a flyer in the mail from a Democratic primary candidate for Congress in our district. They might be a great candidate. But the slogan that caught my eye was this: “I never backed down from a fight!”

Really?

Two things come to mind when I see something like this. The first thing is that it is a lie. No one “never” does anything. I do get what this candidate is trying to say. The White House and Congress are filled with spineless pols who rarely stand strong for anything.

The slogan that’s been firmly affixed to the President is “Trump Always Chickens Out” (TACO). And his party in Congress is no better. When Trump makes a truly disgusting move, they pose as resisters or even as unaware, but, with very rare exceptions, they always return to vote the way Trump wants them to.

So, I guess this would-be pol is telling us they are not spineless. I think that’s good. But, I suppose, “I’m not spineless” wouldn’t be a good campaign slogan.

The second thing that came to mind when I saw this slogan was strategic. A person can’t fight every battle. As they say, “pick your battles.” A person who never backs down from a fight is giving their opponents control of their time and energy.

A better slogan might be: “I know what’s worth fighting for.”

That still leaves me with a question, but at least I would know that the candidate knows that they have human limitations, but that they are pledging to devote their full energy to something.

I still don’t know what that something is.

One thing that I’ve noticed in the last few years is that the Trump-MAGA-GOP is infected by this very problem—at least in public. They proclaim fights over tariffs and immigration, but they also proclaim fights over Super Bowl halftimes and late-night comedians. They might ultimately chicken out, but it’s always a fight to begin with.

I’m not sure that I want to see this all-fight-all-the-time attitude in the Democratic party.

When I was young, there was a fighter named Muhammad Ali who had a technique he used to wear out his opponents called “rope-a-dope,” in which he drew non-damaging punches from his opponents in order to wear them out. In other word, even within a fight, he picked his battles. Muhammad Ali was the greatest fighter whoever lived (according to him).

I wish someone on my side could figure out a similar strategy to wear out the Trump-MAGA-GOP. Without it, I’m afraid that I’m the one who is getting worn out. Maybe Trump has been rope-a-doping us.

(And, by “maybe,” I mean “certainly.”)

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