Dems Have a Plan—Let’s Make It Count

The first viable solution to surface

Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse urged DNC delegates to rethink the Democratic Party's infrastructure, advocating for a "war machine" to launch coordinated attacks against Republicans. He criticized the lack of a centralized system to counter GOP messaging, noting that Republicans "rapidly and effectively deploy false narratives, while we struggle to advance the truth."

“We in Congress customarily say we’re ‘fighting’ for things when we really mean working or toiling. A fight means a defined adversary, a battle strategy, and actual punches thrown. Done well, it involves exposing and degrading your adversary’s machinery of warfare.” —Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse criticized the White House for failing to act as a hub for coordinating offensive strategies against Republicans. To address this gap, he proposed creating a new role within the party: an "offensive coordinator."

I completely agree with him.

This inability to focus became glaringly obvious during this election cycle.

1. Why didn’t Democrats tell voters that if Donald Trump wins in 2024, the GOP will target Medicare and Social Security to fund the extension of the 2017 Trump Tax Cuts?

2. Why didn’t they call out Trump and the GOP for playing politics with COVID, which devastated millions of families across the United States?

3. And why didn’t they expose who is funding GOP campaigns and what their backers stand to gain if Trump wins?

While presidential campaigns can craft their own strategies, the party needs a relentless loudspeaker—one that never goes silent. Without a counter-operational strategy running 24/7, the opposition risks losing relevance. The GOP’s nativist propaganda machine is like a breeder reactor, that creates more energy than it consumes.

In April 2023, The Economist published something that truly woke me up. I bookmarked it, knowing I’d keep referring back to it because the visual they painted was so accurate. It broke down exactly how the MAGA-GOP propaganda machine operates:

THE MAYOR of your city has announced a strange new public project: a lavish park especially for cats. It seems like a waste of money so, with the help of some activists you have met online, you campaign against it on social media. You start with rousing posts—“Breaking News: Outrageous! City prioritises elitist pets over our kids!”—and funny memes. You soon move on to doctoring images to make it look like the mayor is part of “an ultra-secret cat-worshipping cult”. You galvanise your followers to take violent action.

Over time, as reactions from the public and MAGA-GOP senators to the supposed "ultra-secret cat-worshipping cult" are gauged, Fox News will step in. They’ll craft tailored programming, turning their firehose of misinformation on millions of homes across the country. Suddenly, an absurd, nonsensical idea becomes mainstream. If Fox News succeeds, the narrative seeps into other parts of the mainstream media. A media cycle emerges, further polarizing Americans into opposing camps.

The MAGA-GOP is poised to win campaigns like these because there’s no real opposition. Where is the organized resistance to this gamification of governance? It’s absent. Every governance initiative is at risk of being twisted into a grotesque caricature, weaponized against the state itself.

The GOP’s dominance didn’t happen by chance—it’s the result of years of meticulous planning and systemic cultivation. Their ecosystem, feeding and empowering key players, grows stronger each year. How did figures like Ben Shapiro, once center-left, shift so radically to the right? How did a Canadian professor become a champion of far-right nativist causes? The list of converts keeps growing, as does the ecosystem that sustains them.

At its core, this is the consequence of Democrats failing to mobilize effectively. A weak opposition often paves the way for nativist movements that install dictators. Russia offers a stark warning: when journalist Anna Politkovskaya was murdered in October 2006, early in Putin’s presidency, Russians failed to mobilize against the regime. Had they done so, Putin might never have cemented his role as a dictator. They missed their chance, and now, with no opposition left, the Russian state is paying the price.

Nativists work relentlessly, chipping away at the margins, and they never stop. Each chip strengthens their position. Without a mobilized counterforce, this erosion of democracy will continue until it collapses entirely—replaced by an oligarch-backed dictatorship.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is absolutely right. His proposal must be implemented with full commitment and resources. The opposition needs to consolidate its power, focus on single issues, and respond nimbly and forcefully. Democrats must develop a system that not only “floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee,” but also grows stronger with every strike against the opposition.

This process will take time—but unless they start now, the pillars of democracy will continue to crumble. Lose the messaging war, and you lose political power. Lose political power, and you lose the ability to govern.

Senator Whitehouse’s proposal is the first meaningful solution I’ve seen to address this dire situation. Write to him, support him, and let him know that good people are behind his vision. This fight is too important to ignore.