Not even two weeks ago, J.D. Vance promised to boost the campaign’s funding and deliver a hokey, small-town family man who could speak to voters in rural America.
Instead, the entire Democratic Party apparatus has taken to calling him weird. Digital strategists, and the entire internet, are saying it's about damn time.
Let’s talk about it.
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The Power of Cringe
Two years ago, I wrote about how Democrats were suddenly more comfortable clowning on Republicans online. It was August 2022 and the midterm elections were quickly approaching. When you scrolled through what was then still called Twitter, Democratic Senate candidates like John Fetterman were volleying attacks at their opponents over veggie trays and crudités.
Around the same time Fetterman and his young digital staff were cyberbullying Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Biden campaign pulled an Uno reverse card on the GOP’s “Let’s go Brandon” cry, co-opting it into what we all know as Dark Brandon today. We could spend hours discussing Brandon’s merits, but it showed Democrats that accepting or dismissing these attacks outright could be a successful digital strategy of its own.
It’s felt like a while since Democrats have gotten back into the posting game. In some ways, it’s because they didn’t really have to. Moments like Oz’s crudité gaffe were primed to go viral. And in 2022, social media was a different place. Democrats held themselves to a higher standard on platforms that were optimized for virality. That same year, Elon Musk bought Twitter—and it wouldn’t be much longer until Meta’s platforms deprioritized political content.
To me, it now feels like Democrats took a crash course in shitposting and have nearly mastered it. They’re acknowledging the grassroots support, and interacting with it in a way that shows they truly, and perhaps finally, understand the social media landscape in 2024.
Pinning the Republicans as odd and weird has become the Democratic Party’s primary weapon this week. And they unsheathed it because the internet and the base was ready for it. Did I think that last week a joke about the possible VP having sex with a couch would land so hard? No, no I didn’t. But here we are, in a new era where Democrats are the ones doing the dunking.
“It is deeply important to Republican policy and ideology that they are not the weird ones, so they will never be able to let it go. It [sic] shows that Democrats are done playing nice with people who do not play nice with us,” said Emma Mont, Democratic creator and an admin for the @Organizermemes X account. “There are groups of people online who for years have been begging Democrats to lose the niceties, and now that they have, those online folks are excited to participate.”
The marked change in tone first appeared in a press release on July 25. Recounting an interview Trump gave to Fox News, the Harris campaign invoked one of its favorite hobby horses, Project 2025, but also said, “Trump is old and quite weird?”
While the “weird” strategy might be new for Democrats, Republicans have been using it for years under a different name: cringe.
Since Gamergate, right-wing provocateurs have painted Democrats and liberals as cringe. Go to YouTube and you’ll find countless videos titled something like “SJWS OWNED COMPILATION #2” or “SJW Cringe & Feminist Fails Compilation” with millions upon millions of views. Some creators have built entire digital careers off roasting “cringey” leftists. It’s how the blue-haired liberal stereotype originated and colored conservative views of liberals for years.
For the first time, the Republicans are on the receiving end of a cringe crusade. It doesn’t help that the former president’s party is now made up of political influencers and partners like LibsofTikTok, random Roman statue avatars, and even “party elder Catturd.” It’s made it nearly impossible for them to escape the weirdo accusations, and it also doesn’t help that in response to the attacks, they’ve just acted even stranger.
Vance’s personal history isn’t doing him any favors either. Kyle Tharp, who writes the FWIW newsletter (it’s great, go sub!), says. “As an elder millennial, [Vance has] clearly spent a ton of time on these male-dominated right-wing corners of the internet, and so that's, unfortunately or fortunately, informed a lot of the talking points that he's gonna deploy.”
On TikTok and X, the right’s reaction to the switch-up has mostly supplied Democrats with more ammo. And the Harris campaign is taking advantage of it: Since Harris took over the BidenHQ TikTok, the account’s following has quintupled in size, and she’s been able to ride the wave of favorable content without becoming cringe herself. As of right now, the winds are in her favor, but like we’ve seen with Trump and Vance, it may not last forever.
The Chatroom
This week, I’ve written a lot on how everyone from Swifties to politicians are using social media to organize and communicate with voters. I like to think I have my finger on the pulse of everything interesting going on in the space, but I have my blind spots. What kind of interesting political organizing have you seen on social media that I should know about?
Something I haven’t mentioned about Harris’ digital strategy is how they’re organizing community Zoom calls. At this point in the cycle, supporters are at their most enthusiastic, and the campaign wants to capitalize on that energy beyond inspiring TikTok edits. In many of these Zoom calls, Harris campaign staff walk attendees through their phone and text banking systems and point them toward volunteering. It looks like the campaign understands that this excitement won’t last forever, and they’re showing voters how to support them offline as well.
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WIRED Reads
- Donald Trump’s Plan to Hoard Billions in Bitcoin Has Economists Stumped: At the 2024 Bitcoin conference, Trump called for the US to build a strategic stockpile of cryptocurrency. Many economists think the plan is a flop.
- TikTok Has a Nazi Problem: The TikTok algorithm is pushing neo-Nazi and white supremacist propaganda, including content boosting Holocaust denialism.
- Meet the Swifties Campaigning for Kamala Harris: Dozens of Taylor Swift fans are organizing in support of Harris’ presidential campaign. They say being in the fandom trained them for it.
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What Else We’re Reading
🔗 Kamala Harris campaign seeks ‘reset’ with crypto companies: The Biden administration hasn’t had the best relationship with the crypto industry, and the Harris campaign is trying to smooth things over. (Financial Times)
🔗 More Than 100 Silicon Valley Investors Pledge to Support Kamala Harris: Over a hundred Democratic venture capitalists pledged their support to Harris as Silicon Valley faces a political identity crisis. (New York Times)
🔗 Senate lawmakers turn to online content creators to push legislation: Senate lawmakers are using online influencers to rally support for legislation spanning everything from noncompete agreements to student loan debt. (Washington Post)
The Download
Leah and David are on the podcast this week interviewing Jesselyn Cook, reporter and author of the new book The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family. They talk about how QAnon has impacted the families and loved ones of those who have fallen into the conspiracy, and how conspiracy adherents are already impacting this election.
By the time you hear from me next, Harris is expected to have announced her VP pick. Personally, I’m still holding out for Addison Rae.
That’s it for now—thanks again for subscribing. You can send tips and feedback to me via email, Instagram, X and Signal at makenakelly.32.
