Desperately Seeking Democracy

How the Democratic Party can regain voters' trust

I would vote for these characters.

Anyone else remember the survey that anointed George W. Bush as the candidate “you’d like to have a beer with” during the 2000 election? While vibe-voting has probably been a thing since the advent of radio, it’s an even bigger phenomenon in 2025. It’s become clear that the vast majority of voters don’t really bother to understand or research candidates’ policies. An even greater number of people don’t even turn out to vote.

But this isn’t a piece devoted to whining about voting. I think we’ve already seen many of those articles—and voter behavior isn’t going to magically change overnight.

It’s evident that most eligible voters are disillusioned. That’s concerning because we’re in a time of sweeping change on all fronts: social, governmental, and, especially, technological. In the past twenty years, we’ve witnessed the rise of the internet, smartphones, and social media. Today, we’re grappling with AI and how it will affect jobs. (Not to mention that Silicon Valley has returned to its roots and is once again heavily invested in defense tech, which might more accurately be called “warfare tech.”) Recently, when asked to name their biggest challenge, college students said “maintaining their humanity in the face of sweeping technological change.”

We’re experiencing a transition that could potentially be as big as the Industrial Revolution—and if that’s not unsettling enough, it doesn’t feel like we have competent people in charge. Heck, it barely feels like we have grown-ups in charge. People are desperately seeking leadership and authenticity. That’s not anything new or groundbreaking, but the instability of the world means that we’re especially eager to find a leader who can guide us in the right direction.

If you’ve been reading my writing, it’s probably clear that I consider myself a liberal. Frankly, I think conservatives are lost; they won’t be finding their way unless something—hopefully, not our country—breaks. While the GOP is obviously a bigger issue, this piece will focus on how Democrats can salvage the party.

To do this, it’s crucial that Democrats become proactive, instead of reactive. As I mentioned earlier, many people are increasingly disillusioned with politics and believe there’s no one fighting for them. The biggest strike against the Democrats right now is that they are constantly reacting to whatever outlandish thing the GOP is doing, instead of developing their own policies and narrative and sticking to them.

I said earlier that voters are turning out based on vibes—and if that’s the case, why would I bother suggesting Democrats concentrate on policy? I could suggest they just say what sounds good, but that only works in the short term (I hope, anyway).

What matters is directing the conversation and cultivating a sense of authenticity by laying out policies—and sticking to them because politicians really believe in them. That requires serious discipline.

Political Messaging in the Attention Economy

I’ve previously discussed the noise of the attention economy and how challenging it is to break through the constant barrage of information. Fear is undoubtedly the most effective way to capture attention. The GOP has mastered this technique, as they (falsely) claimed that Obama was a secret Muslim, a pizza parlor without a basement is running a pedophile ring out of a basement, and that schools that can’t afford a librarian are giving kids sex changes during fifth period.

The constant cycle of reacting to the latest controversy creates a political environment where long-term vision is sacrificed for immediate response.

Now, most of the time, I don’t think the current administration is playing 6-D chess and generating distractions. I do think that people like Bannon and Rufo excel at media manipulation but much of what’s happening day-to-day is simply because the current president is a chaos agent with no emotional regulation. (He’s also surrounded himself with many people who share his traits. See: the Elon/Trump social media feud.) Forethought—or lack of it—aside, chaos is still an effective weapon. To gain a foothold, Democrats must stop chasing every controversy and distraction.

What Democrats Are Doing Wrong

I know. I’m also sick of constantly reading about what liberals are doing wrong as the military is deployed against U.S. citizens and people are arrested at their citizenship ceremonies. It’s also clear that a lot of people are just—to be blunt—friggin’ clueless. If you’re ranting about “woke scolds” and “blue-haired feminists” as due process disappears—congratulations! You’re a huge part of the problem.

That said, the past decade has shown how gullible and/or apathetic we are as a nation. The GOP is restricting everyone’s rights, yet Democrats are still not mustering enough enthusiasm or leadership.

Here’s what I think is going awry. Democrats lack an overarching strategy and are too focused on tactics. While I’d like to see “bigger” ideas from Democrats, the policies in the last presidential election were actually pretty decent. Now, some of you may groan but I’m betting that you never actually looked at the Harris-Walz platform, which had pretty concrete steps to lower drug prices, expand the Child Tax Credit, expand the trade apprentice program, eliminate the need for college degrees for certain government jobs, and more. Was it perfect? No, but it was a robust platform put together by wonks who know their sectors.

BUT…all of these ideas, while worthy, were tactical. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but, in my opinion, they didn’t feed into an effective overall strategy. Now, there might have been a strategy, but there was no cohesive narrative pulling all these ideas together. That’s not exclusively on Kamala—these are problems for the vast majority of Democratic candidates and elected officials. It was likely also a GOP problem pre-Trump, who has essentially become the Republican strategy.

My feelings on making an almost 79-year-old man your strategy:

This thirst for a narrative is why people have been turning out in droves for Bernie and AOC on the Fighting Oligarchy Tour. (Yeah, I know, Bernie is an independent.) The name of the tour tells you exactly what to expect. There’s no beating around the bush. You understand what ol’ Bernie’s doing—and you’re either in or out. You don’t have to guess what his agenda is. Plus, both Bernie and AOC excel at speaking directly to the people as peers.

On a related note, I voted for AOC in the primary and election back in 2018. I’d literally never seen the incumbent, Joe Crowley, in my district, although I’m sure he was there at least sometimes. He seemed like a fine enough person, but he had been elected in 1998 and probably didn’t feel the need to make a significant effort to be re-elected. AOC, on the other hand, had eye-catching posters and was out pounding the pavement. Fewer than 30,000 votes were cast in the primary, and she won by 4,000 votes. She has said that she won because unlikely voters came out; polls of likely voters showed Crowley winning. AOC’s conversations with people generated turnout; they felt like she got them. In fact, her campaign was puzzled by the number of people who voted for her and for Trump in 2024, but (as someone who worked on her campaign told me) the conclusion seemed to be that some voters really wanted change.

You see glimmers of AOC’s talent for straightforward narratives elsewhere in the Democratic party. Right now, voters desperately want leaders to just do something, ANYTHING. That’s why Cory Booker’s filibuster got so much attention—although, unfortunately, he gained that momentum and then turned around and voted for some GOP bill that, honestly, I’m too lazy to look up.

And while I have no idea if these candidates will be elected, NY mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and Illinois candidate Kat Abuzelah have successfully constructed progressive narratives that seem to be resonating with people.

Mamdani, like AOC, excels at engaging with people on social media. The fact that he’s polling neck-and-neck with someone with as much name recognition as Cuomo is astonishing, even if he loses.

Abuzelah seems even more skilled at tying everything—messaging, campaign tactics, policies—into her overall campaign strategy. Her first campaign event involved bringing period products to donate to the Period Collective, an organization that “provides period products to local shelters, transitional housing facilities, schools, and food banks to help provide dignity to all Chicagoans.” Her campaign office has supplies—food, clothing, period products, etc—for anyone who needs them.

This is the kind of energy that Democrats need to tap into. I certainly do not think that Democrats should abandon cultural issues, especially since people are desperate for ethical stances. However, I do believe these issues should tie into a larger strategic narrative.

How to Fix Democrats’ Messaging Issues

This isn’t an all-encompassing list, but these are the highlights.

Build a proactive narrative

Democrats must understand and map out what a proactive party strategy might look like. I think it makes sense to build narratives around economic security, democratic participation, and/or climate resilience that tie individual tactics together.

AOC’s Green New Deal is an excellent example. It has a snappy name that communicates what it is, and it’s easy to understand as an overall concept. It’s a sweeping program that forces voters to think “bigger,” which is important as the center has been pushed right over the last two decades.

Republicans are great at memorable messaging, but history shows they’re terrible at actually executing those policies. However, it doesn’t matter because they have Democrats scrambling reactively every time they trot out some outlandish program or accusation.

This reactiveness simply hurts Democrats. Here’s an example: Democrats almost never mention identity politics. If you look at interviews, it’s almost always Republicans talking about a candidate’s race, religion, gender, etc. Yet, the constant reactions to a conservative narrative reinforce the idea that Democrats are obsessed with identity.

Of course, pitting groups against each other is an extremely potent way to capitalize on fear and motivate people. (You can see this with the media coverage of Los Angeles: the violent protests are limited to a few blocks, but on TV, it looks like LA is burning down.)

Focus on the People You Can Win

Democrats also need to stop focusing on MAGAs. You’ll never win those people over, but undecided or independent voters? You have a decent shot if you develop a proactive campaign narrative. It also wouldn’t hurt for elected officials to point out how fear is being weaponized to pit us against each other. For example, the narrative around boys seems to blame girls for their failings—despite the fact that the way classes are taught was literally built for boys. I think a more effective and positive message would point out that boys and girls are not in competition with each other, and anyone saying that is using it as a distraction to avoid truly exploring any real issues with education (like the United States’ extremely low literacy rate).

Side note: If you want to talk about an economic boost, raising our literacy rate would be an amazing and effective tactic. Approximately 54% of adults have a literacy rate at or below a 6th-grade level, which is estimated to cost the United States up to $2.2 trillion per year. According to stats, a 1% increase in average literacy scores raises a country’s GDP by 1.5%.

Concentrate on Community

I also think Democrats would be wise to concentrate on community. We certainly need to nurture more local candidates—especially since Democrats don’t even run candidates in some red areas. Not only that, people really want connection in a (sort of) post-COVID world. Voters also want to see tangible results, which can be more easily demonstrated on a local level. AOC and candidates Mamdani and Abuzelah have done a really great job making people feel like they’re authentically connected to their communities.

Get Money Out of Politics

To be honest, at this point, much of this is out of Democrats’ control, given SCOTUS’s passage of Citizens United. That said, Democrats should push through a bill that requires elected officials (and their families) to park their investments in an S&P 500 fund while in office.

Perhaps I’m naive, but I doubt the claims of insider trading are true. That said, the fact that there’s doubt is problematic. Perception matters a lot—and the constant accusations that, say, Pelosi is making a fortune (although she already had a fortune) are not helping build trust. And honestly, this may work better than term limits to keep people from being in office for 50 years.

The path forward isn't complicated. Democrats need to stop chasing Republican talking points and set their own agenda. It's time to build something people can believe in—and then fight like hell for leadership.