Democrats should accept an advantage in the polls without immediately trying to convert it into a standing ovation. Sometimes people are choosing you because the other available option has spent the afternoon making everything worse. That is an opportunity. It is not a personality test you have passed.

The new AP-NORC/AAPI Data survey is particularly useful on this point. Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults now trust Democrats more than Republicans on major issues, including the economy. Yet 48% view the Democratic Party unfavorably, compared with 44% favorably.

Congratulations, Democrats. You have become the preferred dentist in a town where nobody enjoys dentistry. Please concentrate on the tooth.

I want the party to win power and use it to make ordinary life less punishing. I do not want another prolonged celebration of the historic opportunity to begin considering a conversation about affordability. People already have conversations about affordability. Usually while putting something back.

The survey finds that about nine in ten AAPI adults consider the economy one of the election’s most important issues. About seven in ten say the same about healthcare. These are not obscure demands requiring a consultant to spend six months discovering that people would prefer to remain solvent while alive.

Trump’s economic approval in this survey is down to roughly two in ten. That should embarrass Republicans. It should also remind Democrats that a reputation for economic competence can deteriorate when people encounter an economy. The campaign slogan eventually has to leave the studio and buy something.

Being trusted more is not the same as being trusted enough.

AP interviewed a Chicago Democrat who thinks her party needs substantial change despite preferring it across the issues. That is not an ideological puzzle. You can want the bus to arrive and still have opinions about the company that keeps apologizing from somewhere other than the bus stop.

Nor does this survey establish how everyone in these communities will vote. It measures adults, not a guaranteed electorate, and it contains Republicans, Democrats and people with different priorities. The party should resist its recurring urge to turn millions of distinct people into a demographic possession it occasionally remembers to water.

My preference is for Democrats to explain what they intend to do about healthcare costs and household insecurity, then make those commitments specific enough that voters can recognize a broken one. Yes, that creates an accountability problem. For the politicians. I can live with that.

Organize, listen, fight for useful changes, and stop treating disappointment from your own side as a clerical error. A voter can dislike Trump and still expect you to do your damn job. The two positions fit comfortably inside one head. Congress should commission a study if this seems implausible.

Republicans have helped open a door. Democrats still have to walk through it carrying something useful.

Winning the comparison is nice. Try being worth the choice.