The New York Times takes a very bizarre trip down memory lane:
There was a time last summer when the Democratic Party was cool.
Kamala Harris had just stepped in as the Democratic Party’s nominee for president in the waning days of Brat summer.
I never figured out what “Brat summer” was supposed to be about. But then, I didn’t try very hard.
She went on the popular podcast “Call Her Daddy.”
This was generally regarded as one of the low points of her campaign. Donald Trump went on the Joe Rogan podcast at around the same time, with a vastly greater audience.
Tim Walz’s outdoorsy drip led to a Chappell Roan-inspired camo trucker hat.
I have no idea what “outdoorsy drip” means, but there was never a single day when Walz was an asset to the Democrats’ ticket. And camo trucker hats didn’t fool anyone.
The memes were flowing, and the party’s mood was high.
Memes? What memes? Everyone knows the Left can’t meme.
The Times goes on to say that the halcyon days of Brat summer are long gone. Now, the vibe is Donald Trump’s “so-called masculine energy.” Which means, for the Democrats: no more Mr. Nice Guy! This is a recurrent theme whenever Democrats are losing–they are just too darned nice. Sure, the firebombs and assassination attempts are a little crude, but nothing compared with the Republicans’ “masculine energy.”
So what should Democrats do?
It’s an attempt to step outside the bounds of the political correctness that Republicans have accused Democrats of establishing. And it requires being crass but discerning, rude but only to a point.
Online, it has a name: “Dark woke.”
Lots of us think woke has been pretty dark all along. And now, here it comes:
“Dark woke,” for now, is a meme that lives mostly online. But its roots have been sown throughout the party for years. In the waning days of the Biden administration, memes about “Dark Brandon” often referred to the version of the former president that conservatives most feared.
Ha ha ha ha ha! We feared Dark Brandon? Please. But seriously: these Democrats want to bring it back.
Of course, it won’t be easy. Biden’s “Brandon” came from the episode where auto racing fans were chanting “F*** Joe Biden” on live TV, and an announcer cleverly pretended that they were saying “Let’s go Brandon,” as she interviewed the winner of the race whose first name was Brandon. So I am not sure that name can quite be recycled.
The message, though, is clear: the Democrats just haven’t gotten crazy enough, mean enough, violent enough. So it could be a long three years.
