Summary
Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory, influenced by support from podcasters like Joe Rogan, has sparked debate among Democrats about creating a left-leaning equivalent.
Rogan, whose show reaches 14.5 million listeners (80% male, largely independents or Republicans), endorsed Trump and hosted figures like JD Vance and Elon Musk.
Critics argue Democrats lack a comparable media ecosystem due to limited funding from megadonors, who oppose progressive policies.
Others suggest Democrats need to focus on appealing policies for independent-minded voters rather than trying to replicate Rogan’s media influence.
Or they don’t consider the left wing to be potential allies, because the actual left wing doesn’t answer to the same interests as the Democratic Party.
It’s probably more that they don’t consider the left wing to be reliable voters. Right wingers are frequently single-issue voters, they’ll vote for someone who disagrees with them on everything except their one pet issue (abortion, guns, whatever). Left wingers are frequently every issue voters, they’ll abstain out of protest if a candidate agrees with them on everything except one thing.
That makes it much easier to gather right wing voters, all you have to do is have the right answer for a handful of issues, and you’ll gather supporters for each of those issues individually. To gather left wingers, you have to perfectly align with every one of them, which is straight up impossible.
Because they aren’t. Just like the youth vote isn’t.