Democrats channel Trump, but can they win the House?

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ll-caps social media declarations. Cartoons full of bravado, including superimposing his face on Mount Rushmore with a crown on his head. Now, a meme coin?

This isn’t Donald Trump. It’s California governor Gavin Newsom, who has embraced a strategy of mimicking and mocking the president.

Newsom’s new look has gained him a massive social media following, positioning him as the leader of the Democratic opposition to Donald Trump. Other Democrats being mentioned as potential 2028 presidential candidates have picked up the cue. Maryland governor Wes Moore mocked Trump as “President Bone Spurs.” Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker responded to Trump’s criticism of his policies by claiming that he lives in the president’s head “rent-free.”

Is this new strategy working? Have the Democrats gotten their groove back? Is it enough for them to win back power? What do they still need to do?

Is this new strategy working?

If the goal of this strategy is to gain media attention and entertain Democratic die-hards, then the strategy is working brilliantly .

It’s frankly surprising that it took so long for Democrats to effectively crib Trump’s strategies. Politicians have long mocked each other in private, but Trump took it public starting in 2015, calling his Republican primary opponent Marco Rubio “Little Marco,” and referring to Joe Biden as “Sleepy Joe.”

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump mastered not just the mockery but use of images and memes on social media to quickly spread narratives. Somehow, all the Democrats’ efforts to craft an effective response just fell flat. Until Gavin Newsom came along.

Newsom and his team weighed the risk and reward for being the first Democratic politician to play Trump’s game. The risk was that the Democratic establishment would be embarrassed by Newsom’s tactics, but the reward would be a new following in the Democratic base and increased attention from the president.

Newsom quickly got under the president’s skin and garnered the following he coveted. Newsom’s tactics have paid off so much that other potential 2028 candidates are trying their hand.

Will this catapult the Democrats back to power?

Here’s the problem. Memes and mockery don’t vote. The New York Times recently reported that Democrats are falling behind Republicans in voter registration. The report stated that over the past four years, the Democrats lost 2.1 million registered voters and the Republicans gained 2.4 million — a swing of 4.5 million voters. Many of these lost registrations come in critical swing states that Democrats will need to win in 2026 and 2028.

The Democrats’ major issue with registration stems from their unpopular policies on crime, immigration, and numerous social justice issues. For a voter to register affiliation with a party means one must be excited about its policies.

Trump has effectively stoked his own base with his memes and mockery, but his policies are what drove his voters to the polls. Like him or not, he has pushed through his policies at lightning speed in this first year of his administration. For Democrats to win back power, they need to do more than just excite their existing base; they have to develop policies that will attract new voters who will help them regain power.

What do the Democrats still need to do?

Policy. Policy. Policy.

Many of these Democratic potential 2028 presidential candidates have tussled with Trump on the issue of crime and his threats to send the National Guard into their cities. But mockery of Trump won’t counter the effect of his policies; the only way they can do that is by demonstrating that their policies will make their cities safer than the federal government can.

While memes and mockery may gain attention, there is no substitute for policies that improve people’s lives. Democrats need to demonstrate that if they held more power, it would lead to more positive change.

My prediction:

This messaging strategy is going to fizzle out for Newsom and others in Democrats — even if they deliver on the policy.

Radio was mastered by Franklin Delano Roosevelt; television was mastered by John F. Kennedy; email marketing was mastered by Barack Obama; and social media was mastered by Donald Trump.

Each political era has produced a figure who was able to leverage the dominant popular medium to attack his opponents, entertain his supporters, and gain new followers while rolling out his agenda. Simply copying Trump’s strategy may bring short-term success, but it’s hardly sustainable for three years.

Also, realize that Trump has adjusted his strategies as social media has evolved. By 2028, social media and artificial intelligence will look very different and will be utilized in very different ways. A smart candidate will figured out how to exploit it, not by imitating what Trump is doing now but by carving a new path.  —

“This thing is a clown car she’s got going on.”

—Conservative radio host John Fredericks, referring to the Virginia gubernatorial campaign of Republican lieutenant governor Winsome Earle-Sears, who badly trails the Democratic candidate, Rep. Abigail Spanberger. Fredericks was also the chair of Trump’s presidential campaign in Virginia, so his quote is unwelcome news to the Earle-Sears campaign.

Both parties will be watching the off-year gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, viewed as bellwethers of voter moods on the incumbent president. Republican governor Glenn Youngkin is term limited in Virginia.

80 million

The amount Politico reports that the Republican National Committee has raised. That dwarfs the Democratic National Committee’s $15 million. This is a massive fundraising discrepancy. As of now, Polymarket puts Democratic chances of retaking the House in 2026 at 70%, but factors like fundraising are worth keeping an eye on.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1077)