In the days following the November general election that made President Donald Trump the 47th President of the U.S., the messaging was clear: the Democratic Party was not in tune with the American people.
In an Instagram post shared by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on Nov. 6, the left-leaning Senator affirmed, “It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them.”
This post accompanied weeks of inquiries questioning why Democratic nominee Kamala Harris lost the election, why a large portion of registered democrats did not show up to the polls, and what the future of the party would look like.
Following a series of online posts boasting influential figures, it appears that the democratic redemption tour starts at the very same location where the largest amount of criticism has come from: social media.
In the hours leading up to Trump’s Congressional Address last month on March 4, Senate Democrats met with a dozen progressive online personalities, leveraging their collective millions of followers to promote the legislator’s opposition to the night’s events and the Second Trump Administration. Moreover, House Democrats were introduced to 40 content creators with hopes that the influencers would help them grow their online platforms and reach new audiences.
At the forefront of these efforts is New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.
As quoted by AP News, “We’ve seen tremendous growth of Democratic senators now. They’re engaging in the tools and strategies necessary to elevate their voice in a new, changing media market, where legacy media is not the place that people get their news now,” Booker said. “We’re just weeks into this, but just by making key changes … we’re seeing a massive growth in engagement with the content that our senators are creating, and we’ve only just begun.”
This movement has been criticized for a variety of reasons, including potential insensitivities in the light of harsh executive orders and federal actions to dismantle legal protections, including attacks on transgender rights and women.
However, social media can also be a productive outlet, allowing legislators and other representatives to have direct access to their constituents and even be held more accountable through an increased public image and engagement with digital advances.
While the Democratic Party has work to do in generating a clear and concise path forward, social media will allow for a path forward where the people have more insight and engagement with the journey.
sglisson@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of Political Pew Research Center
