overthinking with nick.

by Nick DiCicco

For nearly the past eight years, Democrats in power have been playing a long strategic game of chess against Republicans. They have been planning out every move, making sure it follows the rules, all while trying to keep everyone’s feelings in mind. Republicans, on the other hand, have been hard at work burning the instruction manual, throwing their pieces away, only leaving the king, and making fun of the game and its players along the way.

But you know what else their doing?

Winning elections.

Following the rules is respectable, it is ethical, and it is quite honestly how a successful government needs to run. But right now, we are not living under a successful government even by Republicans’ own terms. What was supposed to be $2 trillion in savings from DOGE devolved shamelessly into $205 billion of savings and a bill that will add $4 trillion to the national debt. The Russian invasion of Ukraine coming to an end on day one of Trump’s term turned into an attack on Zelensky in the Oval Office and a red carpet welcome for a war criminal. The release of the Epstein files has turned into gaslighting the public into believing that they never existed. Defending freedom of speech has turned into prosecuting people for burning the American flag and a multitude of lawsuits against law firms and television networks. 90 trade deals in 90 days have turned into stock market crashes, constant delays of tariffs, and zero trade deals.

The list could go on, but the point is clear: Democrats and Republicans no longer play the same game. Not simply because of the lies, but more importantly because many of these actions are being done either unconstitutionally or in the name of a national emergency that does not exist.

It is abundantly clear that the average American does not care about policy, constitutional procedures, or even the lies politicians tell.

So what do they care about?

Well, in 2025, it seems that to be a successful politician, you must basically become an online influencer. President Trump has been playing this new game for years, constantly tweeting, making fun of political opponents, exaggerating every action he takes, and making memes. However, it has taken Democrats nearly a decade to put down their game of chess and enter this new arena. But it seems to be working.

After Texas lawmakers proposed their redrawn map in early August, which would add five Republican congressional seats in 2026, California Governor Gavin Newsom knew he needed to take action, and he did so by announcing his plan to redistrict California in a post on X that mocked President Trump’s iconic caps lock, name-calling, and exaggerated way of posting. This post gained nearly one million views, but more importantly, drew attention to the Republican Party’s new plan of trying to secure wins in the midterm election, which they would otherwise lose.

Governor Newsom’s posts didn’t stop there. Daily, the governor continues his momentum by continually mocking Trump’s way of posting, not only text but also AI-generated images, and now even an official merch store with hats that read, “NEWSOM WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING.” He even goes as far as to practically disregard what Republicans have called the Democrats’ “woke agenda,” by making jokes about people’s gender appearance and disabilities.

Newsom’s tactics should be clear. Mock the president, and free the Democrat Party from the public perception of “wokeness.” But do you know who doesn’t understand this?

Republicans.

Their response to Governor Newsom’s social media has been as expected. White House spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson, responded by claiming that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Fox News host Dana Perino clearly doesn’t understand his approach and said, “You have to stop it with the Twitter thing. I don’t know where his wife is; if I were his wife, I would say, ‘You are making a fool of yourself, stop it.’” Another Fox News host, Raymond Arroyo, was told by Newsom’s office that he was being “too woke,” after asking a question regarding a comment Newsom made about a congressman in a wheelchair. It is clear that Governor Newsom’s actions are angering the right people.

Well.. mostly.

Unfortunately, as most things are amongst Democrats, Newsom’s style is controversial. While many Democrats have been encouraged by his efforts, there is a small portion of Democrats who are not as excited. In her opinion article titled, “Gavin Newsom is taking the fight to Trump – but for whom is he fighting?”, Arwa Mahdawi criticizes Newsom by saying,

Ultimately, though, being willing to fight isn’t enough. To win, Democrats need to show normal people that they will fight for them. People don’t want silly tweets and underhand tactics; they want politicians who will lower the cost of living and direct taxes towards healthcare and infrastructure rather than bombing starving children in Gaza. Running on popular policies and seemingly authentic empathy is what has made Mamdani – who is still being shunned by Democratic leadership – such an effective candidate.

Unlike Arwa claims, people do want silly tweets and underhanded tactics. And while they do want lower costs of living, they do not know why these costs have gone up; they just care about who was in charge when they did. President Trump won in 2016 because of unhinged tweets and promises of lower costs. He lost in 2020 because of his handling of COVID, which closed the economy, and won again in 2024 because of his unhinged tweets and people reminiscing about the pre-COVID economy, even despite him literally trying to overturn an election.

It may seem unfair to pick out one article and use it as a way to represent a large group of people; however, there is a group of people that thinks like this, and it undermines the Democratic Party. This is clear in the voter turnout of Democrats in 2024, where 15% of Democrats who voted for Biden in 2020 didn’t vote. Issues mentioned by Arwa, like the Israel-Palestine conflict and universal health care, are great things to be passionate about and fight for; however, we can no longer lose elections for them.

There will never be a perfect candidate, and we can no longer allow virtue signaling to lead to not voting or voting third party. Unlike everyone’s favorite leftist, Hasan Piker, says, a Trump and Kamala presidency would not be the same, even when it comes to Gaza. At the end of the day, even if these issues are your deciding factor for voting, it is abundantly clear that a Democratic candidate would handle these issues better than Trump, who quite literally wants to kick the Palestinian people out of Gaza and turn it into a resort.

It is important to be passionate about issues, and it is important to hold our leaders accountable; however, we can no longer pretend that Democrats and Republicans are the same. It is infinitely better to have a candidate who respects our country, our Constitution, and our rule of law. Democrats are not perfect, but we hold ourselves to a standard no one can stay true to, while Republicans have no standards for their party or their leader.

Governor Newsom is the perfect balance. He is fighting Trump, making jokes, freeing us from the perceived “woke agenda,” all while actually acting against the administration and their schemes. And even though he is matching Republican tactics, he is doing so with the people in mind. Texas lawmakers redistricted their map themselves, while Governor Newsom is allowing the citizens to vote on his proposed map in November.

Rather than criticizing him, Democrats need to follow Newsom’s lead. They need to lighten up, take action, be bold, and be realistic. Newsom is breaking the barrier between the average American and the unrealistic and overbearing social standards that some Democrats have held. And while I don’t support Democrats going as far as Republicans when it comes to the treatment of others, this impossible standard is not winning elections, and we can no longer sit and criticize each other while Trump and the Republicans run rampant over our democracy.