Amid all the fallout from the Trump administration’s rollout of tariffs, government reduction and executive orders, Democrats have faced criticism for being missing in action or, worse, engaging in meaningless and performative behavior. Whether it be color coordinating for Trump's address to Congress or making cringey TikTok videos, Democrats have their voters wondering if their elected representation is actually playing dead, as James Carville suggested they do.

One Democrat, however, decided to do something radical and controversial, at least to his fellow Democrats. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) sat down to engage with and even agreed with a right-wing personality. In doing so, he is carving out a path for 2028 for Democrats (well really himself) to take the White House back.

Newsom’s statement that transgender athletes participation in women’s sports was “deeply unfair” enraged the Democratic establishment. But it also revealed Newsom’s strategy to beat the Republicans. There is no doubt that Republicans have created, campaigned on, and won elections off of the so-called “culture wars,” which includes everything from transgender athletes to the “War on Christmas” to the belief that diverse casting in Hollywood movies somehow equates to the American version of the fall........

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