Democrats have a long four years ahead of them.
Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential election loss finds the party in a wake of theories, finger-pointing, and hopeful ideas for how to reignite a fire in voters’ bellies.
Part of this quest starts with the Democratic National Committee, which oversees the effort to elect Democrats to positions at the federal, state, and local levels. In other words, the DNC amplifies the message of the Democratic Party as a whole.
Following the resignation of DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, Democrats are seeking to find a new leader who excels in areas where the party fell short. A main area in need of improvement: engaging disinterested or already exhausted voters.
On Tuesday night, the DNC chair candidates met with CHORUS, a team of progressive online creators, for a first-of-its-kind forum in an attempt to do just that—and according to the statistics, they succeeded. A real-time poll during the event showed that 85% of the people tuning into the livestream were watching a DNC forum for the first time
The candidates vying for the chair position include: Wisconsin Democratic chair Ben Wikler; Minnesota party chair Ken Martin; former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley; 2022 Arkansas congressional candidate Quintessa Hathaway; self-help guru Marianne Williamson; New York state Sen. James Skoufis; and attorney Jason Paul.
While most of these candidates might be unfamiliar to most Americans, the online creators who moderated the forum gave their collective millions of followers an opportunity to get to know them.
As the chart above shows, a Civiqs poll of Democrats showed that 64% of respondents feel “scared, depressed, or angry” about “the way things are going in the United States today.” Grappling with a growing number of weary and burnt-out voters following this last election cycle, the Democratic Party is looking toward creators as a way to inform, educate, and reengage the party base.
Creator and political commentator Zack Kirk, known as the Zacktivist on social media, told Daily Kos that he was shocked by how misinformed many people online are.
“I’ve been baffled and was blindsided by the lack of understanding [people have] around how government works,” he told us.
And as conservative online creators and podcasters rallied and enraged the right over the past four years, left-leaning creators such as Kirk realize more than ever the importance of educating and motivating their side’s online community.
This is where his own content comes in. Kirk—whose full-time job doesn’t include politics and content creation—spends his free time thinking about how and where to best relate to his community. Identifying as someone who puts the “well-being of people” before politics, Kirk’s style of delivering political news and commentary offers something that traditional media such as MSNBC typically does not: a solution.
Instead of reporting on the doom and gloom of MAGA wins, Kirk intends to flip the narrative.
“[I will] continue to deliver information to my network, to my communities, that will give them ways of coping and surviving,” he said, adding that he plans to “uplift the stories that are being missed” in the sea of Trump news. For those looking for reprieve and connection when scrolling on their phone, stories that aren’t screaming of negative breaking news might serve as an avenue back into political engagement.
Another benefit of these creator-led political discussions for the Democratic Party is the ability to highlight communities in America that may not always get air time in mainstream media.
“Raise your hand if you know who the 92% are,” creator Elizabeth Booker-Houston asked the DNC chair candidates Tuesday night.
The lawyer, professor, comedian, and content creator was referring to the percentage of Black women who voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Notably, only one candidate raised their hand when asked the question.
Telling the panel of candidates that “Black women are exhausted” and quipping that Baltimore is “too Black and too scary for Republicans,” Booker-Houston is but one example of a left-leaning creator who authentically appeals and relates to a base of Democratic voters sometimes viewed as forgotten.
But as the countdown inches closer to Donald Trump’s second inauguration, Democrats—and the DNC chair nominees—unanimously agree on one thing: The Democratic Party’s approach isn’t working anymore, and it’s time to embrace new left-friendly media sources.
If you ask Kirk, Democrats have their work cut out for them.
“We’re at ground zero,” he said. “No one has emerged as a definitive voice of the Democratic Party or the resistance to what Trump is going to do. No one’s giving a counter.”
A vote for the new DNC chair is scheduled for Feb. 1, and while a front-runner hasn’t emerged just yet, one thing is for sure—Democrats can’t afford to ignore the power of influencers.
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