It wasn’t all that long ago that Democrats and lefties tended to brag that they were the party of the youth. They didn’t need to reach young people, Republicans did.

And now they’re trying to build funds to create influencers.

Six months after the Democratic Party’s crushing 2024 defeat, the party’s megadonors are being inundated with overtures to spend tens of millions of dollars to develop an army of left-leaning online influencers.

There are already plenty of leftist online influencers and for all the “find the next Rogan” stuff, Rogan was a Bernie supporter. The trouble is that the popular lefty influencers, like Piker or Jackson Hinkle, have views horrifying enough to even make Dems do a double take. Like outright and unequivocal support for Islamic terrorists. (I’m sure Rogan will get there too.)

What the Dems really want are influencers who are left-wing, but not so left-wing they belong in Gitmo. That’s a problem because the spectrum of influencer politics tends to favor the most extreme views possible. So on the one hand you have Candace Owens and a guy who thinks the Nazis should have won the war, and on the other hand you have leftist influencers who want Communism now.

In short, good luck with that.

At the headquarters of American Bridge, one of the largest Democratic donor networks, they eventually hatched a plan for a for-profit media company called AND Media, which stands for “Achieve Narrative Dominance.”

The company, incorporated in March, says it is aiming to raise $45 million over the next four years. The group hopes to have a $70 million budget over that time frame based on predictions of $25 million in revenue. It says it has raised $7 million so far. Ms. McBride and Christian Tom, who led digital strategy for the Biden White House, have pitched the company to American Bridge donors as a broad cultural project.

Hoping to move away from “the current didactic, hall monitor style of Democratic politics that turns off younger audiences,” AND Media will focus on directly funding influencers and co-producing their content, opening a creator talent agency and starting by “inking deals with four ‘flagship’ creators,” according to a business plan shared with The Times.

Without the “didactic, hall monitor style of Democratic politics”, what is there really?

Besides none of this is addressing the elephant in the room. Democrats are still doing fine with young people. The problem is that they’re losing young white men, but that’s being made up for in young women. The gender gap in politics has become huge. And it may not be correctable because Dem politics has become about scapegoating men, especially white men. And when your brand is ‘toxic masculinity’, it’s gonna take more than a few influencers to turn things around.

For starters, Dems might consider not insulting men. Or white people.

It’s a big ideological ask, but a bit of common sense. I’m not a communications expert, but it’s generally considered a good idea not to insult the people you want to win over. Unfortunately the Dems are in thrall to the Left and they hate men.

So… good luck with that.