Here are three examples of the perfect opportunities Democrats are regularly missing. Opportunities which, if the Democrats don't grab them, some new progressive party will. Opportunities to rip the leadership of frustrated Americans out of the hands of the GOP, to regain many of those who voted first for Obama but then for Trump (yes, there were many), and to gain voters who could easily put them over the top in 2018.

Easily? Yes. Combine the voters who won the popular vote for Hillary, with some of those who desperately gambled on Trump's lies, and you have a decisive change of leadership in Congress.

Just in recent weeks three policies have been set against workers by the Administration and by Senate GOP -- that big corporations have no responsibility for how employees in franchises are treated, that employees should have to agree to arbitration which forces them to settle disputes one-by-one rather than as a group, and that companies with a history of abusing employees can get federal contracts.

Any one of these should have resulted in an army of representatives and senators on the steps of Congress declaring that this is unacceptable. Declaring it a blatant act undercutting people who work for a living, carried out by the GOP agents of wealthy favoritism. Declaring that if Democrats are returned to the majority they will do exactly the opposite on these policies -- not just obstructing such acts but assertively enacting policies that favor working people.

We know these policies would not have occurred with Democrats in office, and it's fine for some candidates to say so in their town halls or post that to their web page, but that doesn't scratch the surface of the news cycle. A president can get almost anything they say at the top of the news. The only way the opposition party can compete is to have a mass, unified message, and to make such a large, regular display of these issues that they convince the public they are determined to go in the opposite direction.

Congressional races are largely local events, but Democrats are missing that they could create another dimension to this, an almost parliamentary choice, a choice of which party the people want in charge. When they just assume voters know the difference between parties, when they leave Congressional issues almost solely up to individual candidates and local issues, it's entirely reasonable for voters to question whether they are committed to different policies, to question whether they would actively change policies or just fritter away the opportunity, to restlessly look for some other champions to address their needs.

Nancy Pelosi could have corralled her members into such large press events; she, who is expert at the levers of power, but who has forgotten what they're for. If the Democratic leadership won't do it, where is their Progressive Caucus? It claims 75 members. If most of them created such an event, plus a good few "me too" members, you'd have an impressive statement that would crack the news.

People across the spectrum, from progressive workers who favor labor, to frustrated workers who voted for Trump because they want someone to champion them, are knocking on the door, calling for some group to step out, get in front, and they will happily push them into office. That Democrats as a party are almost invisible in this most potent moment of opportunity is baffling obliviousness. It's as if Paul Revere had spent the night idly whistling and whittling a stick while the signal lanterns were swung wildly in the church tower.

Please see my core piece "The Plan for the Win": rsn.org/pm-section/78-78/43807-the-plan-for-the-win

(Democrats in the Senate just tried to make a show of demanding that the GOP health care bill be brought out into the open, but it didn't make much news. Too weak of an action. They are so focused on their Senate games they think this should be dramatic news.)

The three policies:

* The Senate rolled back a policy blocking abusive employers from getting federal contracts:

www.law360.com/articles/897686/senate-tees-up-repeal-of-fair-pay-and-safe-workplaces-rule

* The Administration drops previous efforts to have corporations treated as co-employers of employees who work at franchise stores, which means employees can't sue the core corporation.

www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/06/08/the-latest-sign-trumps-labor-department-will-be-nothing-like-obamas/?utm_term=.7aa6e8eb61a5

* The Justice Department switches from being against forced arbitration of employee grievances to being for it.

www.politico.com/story/2017/06/16/justice-department-supreme-court-labor-relations-board-239653

Tom Cantlon has the interesting challenge of being a left-leaning writer for the paper in a small, right-leaning Western town, in a right-leaning state. He can be reached at comments at TomCantlon dot com.