As they prepared for Republicans to drop another billion dollars of ads on their heads this summer, Democrats passed around fresh advice on gender politics.
asserted
Democrats → prepare → politics
A memo from the Transgender Freedom Alliance, based on focus groups and polling in battleground states, warned that Democrats lost ground if they ignored anti-trans attacks — ubiquitous GOP ads about “boys in girls’ sports” and “child sex changes.”
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they → base → sports
The group advised Democrats to respond, then accuse Republicans of being “focused on transgender people instead of helping you.”
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group → advise → you
Right now, as they compete for states that Trump won by double digits, Democrats are feeling great about that guidance.
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Democrats → compete → guidance
Former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown used it nearly word-for-word for one of his ads: “With everything going on, that’s what they’re talking about?”
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they → use → what
New ads from a Democratic super PAC chide Republicans for running hundreds of millions of dollars in ads “just about trans people.”
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ads → chide → people
In 2024, when the Trump campaign warned that Kamala Harris was for “they/them,” the subtext was that Democrats were focused on identity politics instead of economic needs.
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Democrats → warn → needs
In 2026, voters can’t blame the out-of-power party for the cost of groceries; it’s MAGA Republicans who are obsessed with “they/them,” not “you.”
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who → blame → they
I’ve seen some analysis of the Democrats’ enough-already messaging that calls it a “new” strategy.
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that → see → it
It’s not totally new; Brown lost his 2024 race after running ads about how he opposed letting “transgender biological men” play women’s sports, which was already “banned in Ohio.”
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which → ’ → Ohio
What’s new is that conservatives won, and their opponents retreated.
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opponents → ’ → ?
The Trump administration has rolled back every significant executive-branch advance for transgender Americans — in healthcare, in schools, even at historic sites.
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administration → roll → sites
In red states, the limits that Republicans passed during Biden’s presidency are in no danger of being overturned.
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Republicans → pass → danger
Pro-LGBTQ rights groups, now aware of how much they lose when Democrats don’t run things, aren’t saying much about the new Democratic approach.
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Democrats → lose → approach
Iowa’s Rob Sand, who became the party’s nominee for governor with no primary challenge, wrote the first page of that new book.
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who → become → book
Last summer, he told a conservative radio host that state policy on women’s sports was “settled law.”
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policy → tell → sports
In Ohio, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton went the same way.
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Acton → go → Ohio
Neither candidate rolled out their position with a PR campaign.
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candidate → roll → campaign
They were asked, they answered, and they weathered criticism from LGBT groups.
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they → ask → groups
The impact was less than Republicans had hoped.
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Republicans → hop → ?
Equality Ohio, the state’s flagship LGBT rights group, announced that Acton had lost her “A” rating and it would have to revisit its candidate report card.
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it → announce → card
With less fanfare, after Action held closed-press meetings with frustrated activists, it published the new report card.
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it → hold → card
Acton had been downgraded to a “B,” while GOP nominee Vivek Ramaswamy’s “F” rating stood.
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rating → downgrade → B
The nominee isn’t going to be flying that B up a flagpole, but it’s a minor hit to take in order to neutralize one of the GOP’s most frequent attacks.
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it → go → attacks
Those attacks are missing something else: Fresh outrage to draw on.
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attacks → miss → something
In his 2024 campaign, the most frequently named target of Trump’s riffs on the issue was Lia Thomas, the transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer who won a 2022 women’s freestyle event.
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who → name → event
Thomas wouldn’t be allowed to compete in that race if it happened this year, because the NCAA responded to the Trump administration’s gender orders by barring anyone “assigned male at birth” from women’s sports.
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NCAA → allow → sports
That’s not what Democrats wanted in 2024.
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Democrats → ’ → 2024
But it’s what they have now, and there’s been a lot of thinking about how to stem their losses.
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they → ’ → losses
Mara Keisling, the transgender rights activist whose interview with Harris was churned into the “they/them” ad, wrote in March that the movement “should concentrate on issues we can win and temporarily defocus on issues we cannot.”
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we → churn → issues
In The Hard Path to Unity, Barney Frank’s posthumous book about resuscitating the left, he had the same parting advice.
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he → resuscitate → advice
“Advocates of allowing people who transitioned from male to female to compete in women’s sports should continue to argue their case, but refrain from making it a litmus test,” he wrote.
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he → allow → case
Republicans aren’t cutting back any of their transgender-focused ads, despite the conventional wisdom that they’re not working as well this year.
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they → cut → wisdom
In a memo last week, the conservative American Principles Project warned that the ads “may not be sufficient” if not hitched to a credible economic message.
uncertain
ads → warn → message
“If the candidate has a record that’s problematic on trans, it’s still a good hit,” APP president Terry Schilling told Semafor.
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Schilling → have → Semafor
“If I’m a Republican running for office right now, I’m saying: ‘Hey, I had Trump’s back.
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I → ’m → back
We kept our promises on protecting your kids and protecting rights as parents when it comes to the trans industry.’
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it → keep → industry
Look at all that we’ve done!”
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we → look → that
And the attack ads aren’t stopping; Brown’s Ohio ads got a response from Republicans, returning to their 2024 theme that by voting against GOP gender legislation, he offered his real position.
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he → stop → position
Notable
- In The Washington Sun, Alex Roarty and Oriana Gonzales talked to strategists in both parties about why the ad barrage was not getting the same results now that it got in 2024.
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it → talk → 2024
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
