Chastened by the resurgence, the difficult Afghanistan withdrawal and declining public confidence in Biden’s handling of the pandemic and other issues, Democrats have gone on offense against the GOP, following private summer polling that showed broad and growing anger at the Republican resistance to vaccination, according to Democrats familiar with the discussions who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss strategy.

Now, Democrats are openly touting vaccine mandates they once shied away from — and chastising Republicans who oppose them. They are delivering sharper criticisms of the motives of the unvaccinated, a group that is largely Republican, and spending much more time talking about Trump. A year after Biden won the presidency on a promise of uniting the country, Democrats have embraced a far more divisive set of talking points that casts their opponents as threats to the country.

“The contrast is going to be clear as we move into 2022,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison told reporters Wednesday. “The contrast between folks who are card-carrying members of Trumpism and folks who are Americans through and through and are fighting for this country.”