When Charlie Kirk Died, So Did the Democratic Party. What’s Coming Next Is Even Worse.

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them.”
—Maya Angelou

Up until the early 2010s, the emotional appeal of being a good, loyal Democrat was twofold: It signaled to your peers how much you cared about the poor, the environment, and the disadvantaged; and — if you were white — it was “proof” you weren’t a racist.

Meanwhile, the GOP was the party of old white dudes, business tycoons, and religious weirdos. As Bill Maher put it in 2011, “[Republicans are] the squares. I’m not putting them down. You need squares to run s**t.”

And more or less, that’s how the media portrayed the two parties: Republicans were the stodgy old farts in “Footloose,” and the Democrats were the cool kids who simply wanted to dance, dance, dance.

That’s how it was for a very long time.

Those were the long-established brand identities, pushed and promoted by Hollywood propaganda. In the 1972 rom-com Butterflies Are Free, Goldie Hawn quipped, “I joined the Young Republicans. Another mistake. There’s no such thing as a young Republican.”

It was a funny line with more than a kernel of truth.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party branded itself as the one-stop shop for young people with big hearts — the party of people with compassion and empathy. The Donkeys were the dreamers, thinkers, lovers, and optimists. Whereas Republicans were bitter, unimaginative, stuck-in-the-past realists, the Democrats led with love.

It was showcased in their sloganeering: Make love, not war! Love conquers hate! Keep hope alive! Give peace a chance! Putting people first! The man from Hope! Yes we can!

That all began to unravel during the Obama years. Before, the Democrats were a left-leaning coalition party, comprised of union workers, Catholics, minorities, feminists, tradesmen, Jews, gays, and others. But by the beginning of President Obama’s second term, the Democratic Party had handed the keys to the far left — and the far left alone.

This was the first shoe to drop.

A union dockworker in New Jersey never had much in common with, say, a committed socialist from Portland, but they still voted Democratic because they believed the Democratic Party better protected their political interests. But when the far left ascended, union workers — and other essential parts of the Donkey’s coalition — began looking elsewhere for representation.

Enter Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.

“Give a man a mask, and he will show you his true face.”
—Oscar Wilde

When the Democratic Party swung to the far left, it created an opening for an outsider like Trump to champion the plight of all the Americans left behind. This became the backbone of the MAGA movement, and if the Democrats had half a brain, they would’ve realized this a helluva lot sooner.

But they didn’t.

They figured that Donald Trump was a bizarre, historic anomaly — a master propagandist with an inexplicable, Svengali-like hold over a gullible audience — and if they got rid of Trump, they’d get rid of the movement.

They didn’t understand that MAGA was as much about the left as it was about the right.

So they tried character assassination. Criminal charges. A nonstop #Resistance campaign. They even called him Hitler, a fascist, a dictator, a Nazi, and an existential threat to democracy.

The American people listened to them, listened to Trump, and then voted MAGA in an electoral landslide.

“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster. For when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”
—Fredrich Nietzsche

The Democrats failed to change Donald Trump’s brand identity: Trump is still Trump.

But they spectacularly succeeded in changing how we perceive them.

Between 2016 and 2018 (Trump’s first term), Republicans gained 100,000 more registered voters than Democrats. But just between 2024 and today, the Republican edge has exploded tenfold: They’ve now gained over a million.

Something big is happening in the heartland.

It’s no secret that the Democratic Party’s brand is in the toilet. As NBC News reported in March of 2025:

The Democratic Party has reached an all-time low in popularity in the latest national NBC News poll, as it searches for a path forward after a painful loss to President Donald Trump — and as the party’s voters spoil for a fight between their leaders in Washington and Trump.
Just over a quarter of registered voters (27%) say they have positive views of the party, which is the party’s lowest positive rating in NBC News polling dating back to 1990. Just 7% say those views are “very” positive.

And that was all BEFORE the murder of 31-year-old Charlie Kirk shocked and appalled the nation.

Question for the audience: If the Democrats’ brand was in the toilet before, where do you think it is today?

“The tiger can’t change his spots. No, wait, he did! Good for him!”
—Jack Handey

Changing a long-established brand identity is very difficult. There’s a reason why rebranding campaigns are so frickin’ expensive: Changing minds and hearts isn’t easy.

Usually, it happens one of two ways: “Gradually, then suddenly.”

After the gruesome murder of Charlie Kirk, we’re now in the “suddenly” part.

For decades, the Democratic Party was shielded by the halo effect: They were the party of love, compassion, and virtue signaling. It gave their brand Teflon.

That Teflon is now gone.

After a decade of unhinged rhetoric, violence, hate, lawfare, and anger, the American people have realized the ugly truth about today’s Democratic Party:

In 2022, 82% of Democrats said that political violence in the U.S. was a problem. Today, it’s just 58% — a 24-point drop in just three years! (Guess for Democrats, it all depends on who’s in office.)
Liberals are four times more likely than conservatives to celebrate the deaths of their political opponents. (Which, if you’ve been online lately, you’ve almost certainly witnessed.)
A jaw-dropping one in four “very liberal” Americans believe political violence is justified. (Just 6% of conservatives agreed.) That’s an astonishing 25% of American liberals!

They’ve gone from “Make love not war” to “Make war not love.” They went from “Do your own thing” and “Give peace a chance” to murdering Charlie Kirk because, in the killer’s own words, “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

On this, the killer is exactly right: Some hate can’t be negotiated out. Instead, it needs to be excised completely.

Not just Charlie Kirk died on Sept. 10, 2025. So did the old Democratic Party.

Unfortunately, what’s coming in its place is even worse.

Today’s Democratic Party is in the process of transitioning to the Democratic Socialist Party. A new national poll from Jacobin makes it crystal clear:

Democrats prefer democratic socialism to capitalism by a 58 point margin. Socialism wins overall with likely voters under forty-five years old.
[…]
Candidates who identify as democratic socialists are viewed just as favorably (+69) among registered Democrats as candidates who identify only as Democrats (+67).

Prediction: The Democratic Party will rebrand itself as the Democratic Socialist Party, because that’s what their liberal base demands.

Each year, as older Democrats die off, the Democratic Socialist advantage will steadily grow within the party. This divide will spread like wildfire during the 2026 midterms — and by 2028, it will devour the remnants of whatever’s left.

The future is theirs.

The Democratic Party is dead. Long live the Democratic Socialists.

One Last Thing: The Democrats are on the ropes, but make no mistake: The donkeys are still dangerous. 2025 will either go down in history as the year we finally Made America Great Again — or the year it all slipped through our fingers. We need your help to succeed! As a PJ Media VIP, you’ll receive exclusive access to our behind-the-paywall content, commenting privileges, and an ad-free experience. VIP Gold gets you this same level of access across our entire family of sites (PJ Media, Townhall, RedState, twitchy, Hot Air, and Bearing Arms). More stories, more videos, more content, more fun, more conservatism, more EVERYTHING! And if you CLICK HERE and use the promo code FIGHT you’ll receive a Trumpian 60% discount!

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