where does Democratic opposition go next?

This weekend “No to Kings” demonstrations. It attracted a crowd estimated at millions across the United States to protest President Donald Trump’s policies and willingness to overstep the limits of presidential power.

It was a moment for Democrats, liberals and some anti-Trump Republicans to band together at a time when the American left has little formal power in national politics.

But where do they go from here?

By most reports, turnout for Saturday’s events – in major US cities such as Chicago, New York, Washington and Los Angeles, as well as hundreds of small towns – was higher than expected and exceeded the first “No Kings” rally in June.

Republicans in Congress have warned that the demonstrations will be “anti-American,” and some conservative governors have put law enforcement and the National Guard on alert in case of violence.

The massive marches turned out to be peaceful – a carnival, not a massacre. In New York City, there were no arrests related to the protest, and the gathering in Washington, D.C., included families and young children.

“Today across America in numbers that may outnumber any day of protest in our nation’s history, Americans are saying loudly and proudly that we are a free people, not a governable people, and our government is not for sale,” Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said in his address to a crowd in Washington, D.C.

On the street where the “No Kings” rally was located in the nation’s capital, the White House responded to the protests with sarcasm.

“Who cares,” Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson wrote in response to multiple media inquiries about the marches.

Trump has shared several AI-generated videos on his Truth Social website of himself wearing the crown, including One where he was flying a plane Who threw what appeared to be human waste at the demonstrators.

While Republicans may downplay the importance of the rallies, the size of the turnout – combined with Trump’s negative net approval ratings in major polls – suggests Democrats have an opportunity to rebound from last year’s electoral defeats.

However, the party still has a long way to go.

Polls show only a third of Americans view him favorably — the lowest level in decades — and Democrats are divided over how to mount an effective opposition to Trump when they no longer control either chamber of Congress.

Liberals took to the streets Saturday for several reasons. Trump’s aggressive immigration actions, tariff policies, government cuts, his foreign policy, the deployment of the National Guard to American cities, and his substandard use of presidential power have all been recurring themes of concern and outrage.

Some frustration has also been directed at Democratic leaders.

“We’re taking it very seriously, and we’re not speaking out,” one marcher in Washington, D.C., told NBC News on Saturday. “You know, I think we need to do more. Unfortunately, the highway isn’t working.”

Democrats were more combative about Ongoing government shutdownWhich is about to enter its fourth week. They were not willing to agree to a short-term extension of current federal spending without a bipartisan agreement to address health insurance subsidies for low-income Americans that are set to expire at the end of the year.

Because of the Senate’s parliamentary rules, Democrats have some power despite being in the minority – and the public, so far at least, appears to attribute at least as much, if not more, blame to Trump and the Republican majority for the impasse.

But this strategy comes with risks as well. The pain of the lockdown – especially for those in the Democratic coalition – will only increase as the weeks go by.

Many federal workers have missed their paychecks and are… Facing financial difficulties. Funding for food support for low-income people is expected to run out. The American judicial system is scaling back its operations. The Trump administration is using the shutdown to order new products Federal workforce reductions Suspending local spending, targeting Democratic states and cities.

The reality is that Senate Democratic leaders will eventually have to find a way out of the crisis. But they may face intense pressure to reach terms that the demonstrators who took to the streets on Saturday find acceptable.

“If we shake hands with President Trump on a deal, we don’t want him next week to fire thousands more people, cancel economic development projects, cancel public health funds,” Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said Sunday in an interview on NBC’s Meet The Press. “So we’re trying to come to an agreement that a deal is a deal.”

There is a possibility that the government shutdown will continue into early November when voters in some states go to the polls for the first time since last year’s presidential election.

Elections for governors and state legislatures could provide a measure of whether the anti-Trump sentiment demonstrated in the “No Kings” protests translates into electoral success for Democrats.

Four years ago, a Republican won the governor’s race in Virginia, an electoral battleground that shifted left in the last presidential election, providing an early sign of voter dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden. This time, the Democrat – former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger – is ahead of her Republican opponent in the polls.

While Trump lost New Jersey in last year’s presidential election, the margin of defeat — less than 6% — fell significantly from Biden’s 16% win in 2020 and Hillary Clinton’s 14% margin in 2017. November’s gubernatorial election shows a similarly close race.

At the No Kings rally in Montclair, New Jersey, Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin urged attendees to vote in the upcoming election.

“It’s one thing to show up at these protests,” he said. “Another thing is to move the needle and get some energy back.”

Next November’s election will be a test of whether antipathy toward Trump is enough to push left-wing voters to support Democratic candidates.

However, it is just a prelude to next year’s midterm elections, which will decide which party controls both chambers of the US Congress and could provide Democrats with a real check on Trump’s power during the final two years of his presidential term.

The priority of Saturday’s protests was to unite around the Stop Trump message. What is less concerning, at least for now, is what Democrats might do once they are back in power.

However, there were some indications that cracks persisted within the party coalition.

For example, former Vice President Kamala Harris’s book tour was regularly interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters who object to the Biden administration’s Middle East policies. Centrist proposals to focus on economic issues more than social policies – including transgender rights – have drawn condemnation from many on the left.

Maine, Massachusetts, California and Michigan are likely to see contentious primary battles to determine Democratic candidates in next year’s elections – pitting older establishment politicians against younger candidates, and liberals against centrists.

These battles can quickly open old political wounds that are difficult to heal. In this case, marches alone may not be sufficient to solve the problem facing the party.