If Salon Is Any Indication, 2026 Is Going To Be Lit

President Trump’s poll numbers creep up regardless of the relentless negative coverage in Pravda media. Democrat approval ratings are still around auto-warranty-telemarketer levels. But advice from the portside Salon to Dems is DOUBLE-DOWN YA WIMPS!

We really are going to need a bigger tub of popcorn.

What Democrats have here is a failure to communicate — and that failure may prove fatal, not just for the party, but for American democracy itself.

RHEEEE! If Democrats don’t control everything it AIN’T “REAL” DEMOCRACY!!!

disillusioned Democrats have been searching for someone or something — anyone or anything — to solve their entrenched messaging and branding failures.

Branding? Democrats who did nothing but relentless sprint left since Jesus Obama called for the fundamental changing of America feel their drubbing was do to marketing?

Not enough Brat?

A recent poll by the Wall Street Journal found only 33% of voters hold a favorable view of Democrats, with 63% expressing an unfavorable view of the party — the most unpopular Democrats have been in 35 years of WSJ polling.

But but but, branding, amirite?

Ok, this is just Salon’s resident auntie, Chauncey DeVega, seething beta-dude of pallor who always finds new ways of bringing the cringe to the written page. But he certainly isn’t wrong in pointing out that Democrats have been soundly rejected by rational American adults. So much so that some Democrat candidates are trying to hide their blue-donkey identity with the fig-leaf of “Independent”.

Politico’s Andrew Howard reports that former Democrats Brian Bengs in South Dakota (Trump +29 in 2024) and Todd Achilles in Idaho (Trump +36) are joining former Democrat Dan Osborn of Nebraska (Trump +20) to run for senator as self-declared independents, with no credible Democrat in the race. (snip)

Why are these Democrats, some in states such as South Dakota and Nebraska that have reelected Democratic senators in recent years, shunning the Democratic label? Most likely because, in a country of increased straight-ticket voting, they believe the Democratic label is political poison.

OH NOES! Anyway, Chauncey jumps back on the marketing excuse.

Since 2008, Democratic support among working-class white men has dropped by 30 percent. And in the 2024 election, Trump was able to make inroads with working-class Black and Latino men.

Part of the issue, according to Reece Peck, a communications scholar and author of “Fox Populism: Branding Conservatism as Working Class,” comes down to divergent social identities and language. He described Democrats as being centered on upper middle-class “hyper-educationed Americans” who “place immense value on language.”

Yet as Chauncey further explains, and the whole of Salon proves every day, this so-called valuing of language isn’t about communication but manipulation. It’s the use of words and images to convey a narrative to support the Left’s ideology, regardless of facts. If the foundational values of ‘Conservatism’ are being embraced by the working class, it has little to do with branding.

“The fatal flaw is that Democrats often assume this class-specific cultural fixation is widely shared across the broader electorate,” Peck said. “In contrast, working-class Americans tend to approach language more contextually. They often interpret statements in good faith and prioritize the intention behind a message more than the exact wording — unlike many in the professional class, who insist that intention is irrelevant.”

Again … if intention in the message is irrelevant, then communication is nothing more than a game of Who is The Biggest Manipulator?

Of course, as Chauncey continues to whine, he cannot see his own adherence to using language untethered to reality

But while the Democrats keep conducting autopsies and churning out plans to be authentic, curse more and find the next Joe Rogan, Trump and his MAGA supporters are rapidly destroying the country’s democratic life. In the face of these threats and autocratic actions, Democrats need to return to fundamentals in their messaging.

A brand is a form of emotional identification between a person and a product. In modern marketing and advertising, it is also an extension of a person’s identity. At its core, a brand can provide a type of “team” that stands to make people feel less isolated and lonely.

In politics, this means distilling a complex message into something emotional that has a direct connection to a person or group. This is especially critical given how political scientists and other experts have consistently shown that the average American is imagistic, easily distracted and manipulated, lacks an in-depth understanding of public policy and history, and has a hard time distinguishing between facts and mistruths.

And there you have it. Leftism’s hierarchal template on naked display. The MAD Man stars of 20th Century corporate advertising were not this bigoted about their audience. But here you have Chauncey off-handedly dismissing the majority of American citizens as drooling morons who can’t help but vote against the Cool Kids who deserve to be in charge.

Middle-school mean girls will run your life and you will like it!

Far be it from me to discourage Chauncey or the other scribblers at Salon (or WaPo or NYSlimes or even the Left-captured WSJ) from continuing down the path of prioritizing branding over substance. We know every squeal about racism, sexism, Islamophobia, transphobia, yadda yadda yadda is never actually about issues.

“The issue is never the issue, the issue is always about the Revolution.”

Indeed.

featured image, cropped and modified, Adobe Stock standard license

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