As the Democrats continue their soul-searching for the party’s future, it’s inevitable that they will have to address the voting block that saw the largest shift to Trump and Republicans in the 2024 election: Young men.
Former Obama speechwriter David Litt thinks he knows how Democrats can appeal to the young male vote, which has largely become swept up in the “Manosphere.” And he didn’t learn how from party insiders — he learned it from picking up surfing with his Joe Rogan-loving brother-in-law, Matt.
Litt is the author of the new book, It’s Only Drowning: A True Story of Learning to Surf and the Search for Common Ground. He joins Mehdi to discuss how Democrats can pave a path forward to win back young male voters and how, in some ways, Zohran Mamdani can be a prototype to do just that.
“Charisma counts,” Litt tells Mehdi. “Democrats have become so data-driven. It’s hard to quantify the magic of a charismatic candidate, so we sometimes ignore it. But we have to forget about data sometimes and say, ‘Yeah, charisma really matters.’”
And while there are some Joe Rogan fans who aren’t going to become Democratic voters overnight, Litt sees another concern for Trump and the MAGA movement in Elon Musk’s proposed third-party.
He tells Mehdi that if Musk can convince just 3% to 5% of MAGA voters to stay home or vote for a third party, “That’s the difference between Democrats winning and losing the Senate.” Litt believes Musk is that powerful among young male voters (“Elon is God in that group”), including his brother-in-law, who said Musk’s endorsement of Trump in 2024 “moved the needle” for him much more than Rogan.
If you are a paid subscriber, you can watch the full interview above to hear what Litt thinks about the cracks forming in the MAGA coalition in the fallout of the closure of the Jeffrey Epstein file, the type of messaging Democrats should use in the wake of the catastrophic Texas floods, and when is the right time for Obama to publicly call out Trump.
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You can click here to buy a copy of Litt’s book, It’s Only Drowning: A True Story of Learning to Surf and the Search for Common Ground. And do share your own review of it with us in the comments below!
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