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Hi, y’all. Welcome back to The Opposition. Today’s edition is about the attention economy and how Democrats are finally learning to get out of their “play it safe” mindset and go everywhere, all the time.
Given that all of our social media algorithms are different, I’m curious whether you’ve noticed Democrats popping up more frequently in your feeds over the past few weeks, particularly around the Jeffrey Epstein case. Have you found that content to be effective? Drop me your thoughts in the comments.
And if you like what you’re seeing, join Bulwark+. We’ve got a 30-day FREE trial cooking, so there’s no better time to sign up:
–Lauren
Do They Have Your Attention Now?
Democrats are finally beginning to appreciate the significance of the attention economy.
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THERE IS AN OLD SAYING, likely apocryphal, that’s attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte: “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
This past week, the Democratic party has ignored this sage advice. They’re not avoiding interrupting Donald Trump as his presidency becomes subsumed by the Jeffrey Epstein saga. Instead, they’re interrupting routinely, gleefully, and in remarkable unison.
The Democratic National Committee has launched a new X account dedicated solely to reminding its followers that Trump has not released the Epstein files. Party leaders have wadded into the “manosphere,” going on Trump-curious shows like Andrew Schulz’s Flagrant and talking with MAGA-aligned internet personalities such as Tim Pool. They’ve forced Republicans into uncomfortable votes aimed at releasing the Epstein documents and have relentlessly posted on social media about the convicted sex offender.
It’s a remarkable change of posture for Democrats, many of whom, just a few years ago, bristled at the idea of engaging on Epstein-related questions—deeming them trollish conspiracies beneath the dignity of their office. And while much of the party’s sudden eagerness to now talk about Epstein is driven by a desire to make Trump and the GOP squirm—and, frankly, by the legitimate questions that Trump’s erratic response to the saga have raised—there is also a larger shift taking place that’s worth noting.
Democrats are beginning to understand the dimensions and demands of the attention economy, in which the real currency in politics is not message discipline but message dominance. It’s a noticeable shift from just a year ago, when there were real, internal debates in the party over whether leaders should engage on certain issues or put themselves in uncomfortable, heterodox media environments.
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The aggressive, opportunistic reaction to the Epstein fallout suggests that that debate is moving squarely in one direction: The party now believes that effective politics demands Democrats engage without reservation in the online content wars.
“Donald Trump won twice. The norms of not engaging in culture is short-sighted,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), perhaps the most overtly pro-engagement Democrat in Congress, said in an interview with The Bulwark.
Khanna’s comments came a day after he had gone on the podcast Flagrant to talk about Epstein. He wasn’t the only one to make that trek. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has also gone on Flagrant (pre-current Epstein saga), as did former Obama advisers-turned podcast hosts Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor, who did talk Epstein during their appearance in the same episode as Khanna.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), meanwhile, appeared on Joe Rogan’s show earlier this summer and Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who has received national attention for his viral TikTok videos, also recently tapped an interview with the uber-popular podcast host. Khanna has also gone on Stephen A. Smith’s podcast, as has Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. California Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled over 2,000 miles to Nashville last week, where he sat down with Shawn Ryan for a four-hour-long podcast interview. And just about every member of Congress seems to have purchased pocket-sized microphones in the past few months that they can whip out on a whim to tape direct-to-camera TikTok videos and Instagram reels as they’re running around the Hill (though Sen. Chris Murphy seems the most committed to it).
“You cannot deny the fact that Donald Trump has changed the playbook, and if Democrats can’t figure out how to get on board and learn from him and understand that tactics have changed dramatically over the last decade, then we’re going to continue to lose,” said Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod. “I think [the Epstein case] is an example of how our tactics are changing.”