Behind the Curtain: Rising Democratic MAGA movement
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Democrats are tortured by what they should stand for now and heading into the 2028 elections. But a number of current trends suggest a likely answer: their own version of a populist, anti-establishment, MAGA-like makeover.
Why it matters: The debate is usually framed as liberal vs. centrist, Rahm versus AOC. But big, fast changes in AI, media habits and general public angst point to a more sweeping shift in ideas and attitude.
Four megatrends that are already shaping Democrats' efforts to remake their image and rewrite their agenda:
- Media: MSM is fading in its mesmerizing hold over liberals. At the same time, the emerging media of podcasts, YouTube and TikTok favor the new and edgy.
- Mood: You see it every day, from California Gov. Gavin Newsom's foul-mouthed declarations of redistricting wars to Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) mocking her state's Republican governor, Greg Abbott, for using a wheelchair. Dems are tired of looking and feeling like chumps. They want to brawl, politically and verbally.
- AI: Some level of job devastation is coming. Championing the worker will be too appealing for Dems to resist — a chance to win back the base, at a time when Rs are all-in with Big Tech, like Dems were during the rise of the internet.
- Attention: The attention economy favors the bold — see New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, or the democratic socialist candidate for Minneapolis mayor, State Sen. Omar Fateh.
Between the lines: Democrats say the grassroots energy is with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) — not necessarily because they agree with her on everything, but because she's so adept at communicating in this era.
- AOC, drawing huge crowds along with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on the Fighting Oligarchy Tour, raked in more grassroots donations in the first half of the year than the DCCC (Democrats' House fundraising committee) or any other Democrat in Congress, progressive strategist Tim Tagaris noted on X.
- Mamdani, Axios' Marc Caputo noticed, is in many ways a leftist version of Trump when he started running a decade ago: a product of New York ... a social media sensation ... the media can't stop talking about him ... opponents loathe him as an extremist.
How it works: Democrats look at the GOP's 2024 gains and realize they'll be left behind if they don't abruptly change how they communicate. Suddenly, everyone's a brawler:
- In the New York mayoral race, Andrew Cuomo was outhustled by Mamdani in the Democratic primary. Cuomo has revamped his strategy for November's general election to try to be more relatable and ubiquitous — and is picking fights on social media.
- Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker gave refuge this month to Texas Democratic legislators who were fleeing the statehouse to avoid voting on redistricting. The two-week walkout ended Monday.
- Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) told The New York Times that her party needs "alpha energy ... speaking about your gut and your emotion. I think Democrats have lost that. We respond to people's pain with a long list of wonky policies."
Potential Democratic candidates are more likely to sit down with explicitly partisan spaces like Pod Save America or Ezra Klein's podcast than they are with the longtime national political reporters who long dominated presidential-campaign coverage during the hot-stove season.
- Alex Bruesewitz — a top Trump digital adviser, and architect of the 2024 campaign's bro-heavy podcast strategy — told us he's not worried about Democrats trying to replicate his recipe. He says it only works with a charismatic candidate, not ones who are "boring, stiff and scripted."
Case in point: Democrats' rising MAGA energy is being showcased in their ferocious response to Trump's effort to make the Texas congressional map even redder. Democrats are trying to replicate his audacious move coast to coast — even though Republicans have a clear advantage over Democrats in states that could redraw their lines before next year's midterms.
- James Carville told us: "I'm afraid map-drawing is [a] most valuable political skill. There is no way off this hamster wheel."
Reality check: Matt Bennett, co-founder of the center-left think tank Third Way, told us Democrats need "combative centrists," and said it would be a huge mistake for the party to overread the attention the left is currently getting.
- "The very online left are the only ones who actually believe that kind of politics can flip seats and win the White House," Bennett said. "We've got to appeal to the gigantic group of voters who've left Democrats in the last 10 years. Those people are not looking for socialism. They're looking for fighters — but only ones who share their values."
The bottom line: Trump's suit fits Trump uniquely. Others who try to don it can wind up looking like clowns.
- Axios' Alex Thompson and Marc Caputo contributed.
Go deeper: "Abundance" movement sparks Dem identity fight.
