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The Futile Quest to Build a “Liberal Joe Rogan” (theintercept.com)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml to c/progressivepolitics@lemmy.world

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For months, pundits have decried the absence of a “Joe Rogan of the left” — an online media figure who can galvanize young men to support Democrats in the way that popular right-wing creators like Rogan, Adin Ross, and the NELK Boys have done for President Donald Trump. Now, it appears that Democratic operatives have a $20 million plan to build such a figure.

Nina Smith, a Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to Stacey Abrams, said instead of propping up a creator who checks the perfect ideological boxes, Democrats should embrace the online spaces for young men that already exist.

For example, creators like Hasan Piker, a left-leaning creator with over 5.5 million subscribers on Twitch and broad popularity among young men, has largely been ignored by the Democratic establishment. Piker’s political content leans farther left, sharing a populist economic message paired with strong criticism of U.S. foreign policy in Israel.

“There is a tendency to shy away from those spaces because our favorite thing to do in the Democratic Party is to, pardon my language, shit on the left,” said Smith.

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[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Right now the biggest difference between the left and right is structural.

The right is rushing towards the middle of their group. They insist that everyone toe the line on MAGA orthodoxy. Anyone outside of that (even more traditional conservatives) is driven out into the cold.

The left is casting as wide a net as possible. They’re trying to include as many groups as they can and basically grabbing up anyone who feels alienated by the right. There is no orthodoxy besides “stop the right at all costs.”

This is a problem for the left if they’re hoping to replicate Joe Rogan. There’s no orthodoxy to appeal to, no centre of gravity to rally around.

[–] turtlesareneat@discuss.online 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The GOP grew itself as the "big tent party" because it masterfully understood how to get many divergent interest groups in line. I think a lot of this just has to do with the authoritarian might that's always been central to the Republican party, and how the liberal culture is more "your refined, college educated uncle who'd rather go get high in the garage than get involved in the fight."

I don't think we need one central orthodoxy, rather we need a drum being beat loudly, and no one on our side has strong arms.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

That’s my uncle. PhD in theology. Former Catholic priest (and missionary in Bolivia). Former teacher. Now spends a lot of time meditating, doing yoga, taking pilgrimages to India, reading, fighting climate change. Has a lot of left wing friends in South America who have suffered horrendous atrocities by far right governments.

He’s really the old school left though. Young leftists come in a million different varieties.