Rahm Emanuel says Democrats can do a better job linking 2 key issues

( NewsNation ) — Affordability and fighting corruption are central to the Democrats’ midterm message , but former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel sees the two issues as “heads and tails of the same coin.”

“The president of the United States gets a $450 million gift from Qatar — Air Force One — and you’re getting $4.50 a gallon of gas,” Emanuel said during a recent NewsNation town hall .

Emanuel, who served under the Obama administration, gave Democrats a “B+” for their messaging but thinks they could do a better job connecting affordability and corruption .

“The president is giving them, and Republicans are giving them, an endless amount of material,” he said.

Government corruption topped the list of voter concerns in a recent Fox News survey , with 60 percent saying they were “extremely concerned” about it. Inflation ranked second at 58 percent.

Midterm elections are traditionally a referendum on the party in power, and with Republicans controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, the GOP is on the defensive .

What are Democrats’ chances of taking the House and Senate?

Decision Desk HQ, a partner of The Hill and NewsNation, gives Democrats a 77 percent chance of winning a House majority and a 56 percent chance of taking control of the Senate.

Still, Emanuel doesn’t think a midterm victory would make Democrats a lock to win the White House in 2028.

“The Republicans are going to lose. Democrats aren’t going to win,” he noted, adding that 2027 and “how we comport ourselves will determine whether we have won that year.”

Emanuel urges Democrats to push for ethics reform

The two-term Chicago mayor and former U.S. representative said Democrats have to decide whether the midterms are “transactional” or “transformational” and called for an ethics reform bill that would deliver on the party’s anti-corruption promises.

He urged Democrats to push for legislation that would ban lawmakers from trading stocks and betting on prediction markets and set a mandatory retirement age of 75.

“If all you do is a Democratic version of food fighting, or all you do is investigations with no action … you won’t have delivered change,” Emanuel said.

About half of voters in a recent poll from The Associated Press and NORC Research Center say they want “substantial change,” while roughly 3 in 10 want “complete and total upheaval” in the way the country is run.

The same survey found widespread dissatisfaction with President Trump, but that discontent hasn’t translated into overwhelming enthusiasm for Democrats. About 4 in 10 voters have a “very” or “somewhat” favorable view of Democrats, while about half view the party unfavorably.

Emanuel is currently favored on Kalshi to be the first Democrat to announce a 2028 presidential run.