The news that the Democratic Party is in trouble shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

The fact that the party not only lost against a supremely unqualified, twice-impeached, convicted felon but also surrendered control of both chambers of Congress was more or less the lowest the Democrats have been in quite some time — even more so than the party’s shock loss in 2016.

Despite the devastation of failing to beat now-President Donald Trump in November, the Democrats’ woes still felt rather far off from the borders of Colorado. Our state, after all, was one of the few places in the country where Democrats didn’t lose substantial ground. Sure the party lost its supermajority in the state Legislature, but losses were marginal, maybe even somewhat negligible.

The feeling seems to have been that things might look bleak at the national level, but Colorado would, by comparison, remain a sane and functioning respite from the political dysfunction that Trump and his disciples practice.

But it is time for state and local Democrats to sound the alarm.

The first and most glaringly obvious reason for panic is the party’s inept reaction to the first weeks of Trump’s presidency.

True to form, Trump has done a good job of “flooding the zone,” simply creating so much chaos and enacting so many outrage-worthy executive orders that those across the aisle can’t keep their attention focused on one issue or another — because the norm-shattering policies and proposals just keep coming.

To be sure, putting up a coherent opposition to such scattershot leadership is no easy task, especially when you don’t control either chamber of Congress. But unlike in 2017, when Democrats successfully created the “resistance” and new stars of the left helped give the party focus and direction in their opposition, this time around Democrats seem to have been caught flat-footed.

This has primarily proved true in the party’s messaging, which feels anything but coherent, and has been the subject of many journalist inquiries, including a recent one from the New York Times aptly titled, “‘We Have No Coherent Message’.”

Worse still, instead of gaining ground in polls based on Trump’s chaotic first weeks, Democrats only seem to be further losing ground. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 57% of voters have an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party — the highest rate since Quinnipiac began asking the question in 2008. On the other side of the coin, Republicans’ favorability rating hit 45% — the highest Quinnipiac has recorded. Democrats’ favorability rating? Just 31%.

The party even appears on the precipice of losing ground in key areas in Colorado.

Democrats remain less unlikable than Republicans in the state (51% to 56%), according to another recently released poll. But the troubling figure is that a majority of unaffiliated voters — and a majority of voters overall — said Republicans better represented the working class and were better at addressing the economy and inflation than Democrats.

The fact that voters can look at our billionaire president and the billionaires who have lined up behind him and the billionaire to whom he gave the keys to the Capitol and think of them as the party of the working class is a glaring failing on the part of Democrats.

Colorado — and our nation as a whole — needs a healthy opposition party. This is true even in normal times. But we are no longer in normal times. Donald Trump is not a normal president. We knew that before he was reelected. But even after just a few days of his second term, he has shown that his disregard for our laws, our Constitution and the humanity of the most marginalized among us has grown even more blatant and reckless.

During his first term, some of Trump’s worst instincts were suppressed by his own party. This time around, the GOP appears to have been purged of any voices of dissent; only loyalists remain.

The courts also served as a check on his egregious abuses of power. But as we’ve lamented many times, the U.S. Supreme Court, which is likely to be the final arbiter of many of Trump’s most unsettling actions, has become a deeply political body packed with activist judges seemingly more than willing to rule in favor of Trump in controversial cases.

In the face of such a reality, our Democratic leaders must step up.

Those who represent us in Washington must do what they can to help the party coalesce around a meaningful message of opposition. This messaging should serve the purpose of reminding Americans what our values are. It should also galvanize those Americans who stand to be harmed by Trump’s policies — to bring them into the opposition tent and create the foundation for a Blue wave in the midterms.

What exactly this message is, we don’t know. But we know we haven’t seen it yet.

One place to start is at our state Capitol, where Democrats still have the power to show what good governance looks like. There, the party’s message can be acted out and can stand as a counter to the chaos at the federal level. The same is true here in Boulder County.

That sort of leadership means prioritizing common sense legislation and keeping the door open to bipartisan collaboration. It means meeting voters where they are. It means putting in the hard work of figuring out how to best represent the needs and wishes of Coloradans and Boulderites — not merely following a failing party line.

To be clear, this desire to see the Democratic Party regain its footing is not one meant to disparage Republicans. The Republican tent is vast and home to many of our nation’s most distinguished current and former leaders — not to mention the millions of registered Republicans who make up our citizenry.

But the fact of the matter is, the current iteration of the GOP is one that appears set on creating a Constitutional crisis for our country, shattering norms and barreling belligerently toward autocracy. It is, at this moment, a party of one, for one and by one.

That is not a democracy.

We can point fingers in many different directions in seeking to figure out why we are here (Democrats themselves certainly must shoulder much of the blame). But what’s important is that we are here and in need of good leadership and a strong opposition party — a party with a robust base and a clear message and leaders worthy of our support.

We hope to see the Democrats step up.

— Gary Garrison for the Editorial Board