📣 Stop Trying to Make a Liberal Joe Rogan Happen
This one’s for the Democratic donors about to light their money on fire—again.
I’m begging Democrats: stop trying to make a liberal Joe Rogan happen.
There’s a New York Times piece going around about how Democratic funders are entertaining pitches to create a mythical, left-wing version of Rogan. And honestly, it perfectly captures how badly large parts of the party are missing the moment.
There isn’t a liberal Joe Rogan. There isn’t a conservative Joe Rogan. There isn’t going to be any clone—because there’s only one Joe Rogan.
He’s an entertainer. Sure, a lot of what he says leans right—but plenty of it leans left, too. He talks about universal health care, the drug war, and government corruption. He’s even called out Trump for illegal deportations. He’s not pushing a party line—he’s just talking to people and having interesting conversations. That’s why the show works. That’s why people trust him (whether or not they should is a whole other question).
And the wildest part? Most of the people trying to “counter” him haven’t even watched a single episode.
That’s the real problem. Democrats sat out huge parts of the media ecosystem in the last election. We avoided Fox News. We ignored podcasts. We ghosted YouTube. We played it safe. No risk, no edge. We were too afraid of our own shadow.
I’ve said it before: Kamala Harris should’ve gone on Joe Rogan. That audience mattered—it still does—and could’ve made a meaningful difference. Instead, Donald Trump went on Joe Rogan. He went on Theo Von. And we had no answer for it. The Harris campaign missed the mark. So did most top Democrats. Sure, Pete Buttigieg and Mark Cuban stepped up—but for every one of them, Republicans had twenty.
By the way, Trump messed up by not going on shows like Call Her Daddy. He left votes on the table with people who are pissed off at us, because he insulated himself with friendlier media—the only difference is he didn’t need the votes as badly as we did.
That all said, if you’re a Democratic donor reading this, here’s how I’d spend your money instead:
1. Stop Looking for a Liberal Joe Rogan
Invest in hundreds of personalities. Think like a VC.
Back 100+ people—political and non-political—from all kinds of backgrounds. Most will fail or say something that makes you uncomfortable, and eventually a few will break through.
We don’t need a mirror image of Rogan. We need authentic voices who move culture, not just politics.
2. Build Permanent Organizing Infrastructure
Stop launching last-minute organizing efforts two weeks before an election. Build real, long-term power in Black, Hispanic, Asian—and yes, White and rural—communities.
That means hiring people from those communities. People who live there, know the ground, and can build trust and influence that moves votes.
Drop the parachute approach. It doesn’t work.
3. Register the Hell Out of Some Voters
Let’s just say it: we need to spend a shit ton of money registering voters in these communities.
Republicans beat us in key races last year because they invested in voter reg and tapped into the rage people were feeling toward Joe Biden.
Let’s find the people who are pissed off about what Trump and J.D. Vance are doing to this country—and get them to the damn polls.
We’re not losing because we don’t have our own Joe Rogan. We’re losing because we keep thinking that’s the answer. It’s not.
The answer is long-term investment, real community organizing, backing voices who actually reflect the country we’re trying to win, and, yes, engaging with personalities like Joe Rogan so we can reach their audiences about how we’re going to help them.
That’s the play. Everything else is just expensive, feel-good nonsense.
Truth Bomb! The Dems are flailing b/c they do not know who they are anymore. Are they just a collection of disparate special interests all jockeying for dominance the far left the Bernie Sanders/ AOC wing or are they the Centrist Dems usually represented by Midwest Dems like Illinois Governor and Kentucky Governor? You can’t have a winning philosophy and message until you know who you are? Who are the Dems these days? I dare someone to nail THAT down! When I served in the Marine Corps, we had a running song which basically ended in I know just who I am because I’m a marine and we all had bought into a common set of purposes and values that we would live and die for. That kind of unity of purpose is completely absence in the Democratic Party. I think until they have that unity of purpose and everybody knows who the Democrats are again and what they stand for they’re not gonna become a winning political party maybe not even viable political party anymore. It was clear to me as a lifelong Democratic voter that’s the Democrats had lost that unity of identity, that unity of purpose. I think many people have recognized the issue. They’ve talked about how the Democrats left Work the working class people, the blue-collar people the people that built thing with their hands, not just with their minds. They focus too much on the college educated professional, so-called knowledge workers and the blue-collar folks felt abandoned even the union folks felt abandoned. They have always been a traditional base of the Democratic Party. You start with them and you build your way up when your policies and your messaging or not directly addressed to the majority of working class Americans you’ve lost your voting base. Both President Clinton and President Obama in their own way, and perhaps Joe Biden at one time understood this to his core. I think that’s partly why he got elected in 2020 not just to get rid of Trump because he stood for the working class America with his blue-collar roots.
This reminds me of the old days of Air America, when a bunch of liberals tried to organize a counter to right-wing talk radio…there wasn’t a station broadcasting it in my area, so I went and got a satellite radio, and ended up finding it so boring/stupid I used my satellite radio to listen to the BBC World Service instead. Trying to imitate Republican outlets is a dead end. Also, as you note, Rogan is more of an anti-establishment horseshoe-theory guy in terms of ideology, who was big on Bernie Sanders not that long ago. He’s MMA+comedy+alt med. If Democrats want to expand the tent they just need to find a way to not instantly right off everything that isn’t “left-coded.”