Democrats are getting comfortable clowning on Republicans online

Rob Flaherty, White House director of digital strategy

There is only a few weeks to go before the elections, and President Joe Biden is starting to argue with people on social media.

Up to $20,000 worth of federal student loans will be canceled by the federal government, according to Biden. The White House did not respond to the news in the usual way.

The White House called out Republican lawmakers who criticized the student loan forgiveness plan. The White House dropped the names of Republicans who took out business loans during the Pandemic that were later forgiven by the government.

The merits of that comparison are up for debate, but it is still an unusual strategy for the Democratic Party. Democrats have avoided face-to-face confrontations with Republicans over the last few years, instead focusing on policy victories.

Biden's approval rating has fallen even as he has won political victories. There isn't much time left for Biden to let his administration's policies speak for themselves. The White House has gotten louder as Republicans drown out Biden's online successes.

This seems to be working so far. In states like Pennsylvania and Ohio, Democrats have chosen to make fun of their Republican opponents in social media, and they are raking in millions of dollars in donations because of it.

John Fetterman's Senate campaign in Pennsylvania raised more than $500,000 in a few days after he made fun of his opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz for using the word "crudités" to describe a vegetable tray. Fetterman's communications director made light of the candidate's online attacks against Oz, saying, "We will continue to meet voters wherever they are at and have a whole lot of fun doing it."

Fetterman's team has criticized Oz for being out of touch with what Pennsylvania voters want, pointing out his multiple homes and ties to New Jersey. The campaign enlisted Nicole Polizzi, better known as "Snooki", to scold Oz over his Jersey residency.

This troll-adjacent strategy has been used by J.D. Vance in his Senate campaign against Tim Ryan. A Ryan campaign staffer wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses paraded through the Ohio State Fair with a surfboard in his hand, drawing attention to his years living in California.

Hope this will help you feel more at home here in Ohio,JD!

The meme never cast Biden as the champion of his own political story, even though he has often been the subject of meme related to his "bromance" with former president Barack Obama. At best, Biden was an average Joe and at worst, Obama's sidekick.

Biden co-opts the GOP's "Let's go Brandon" slogan with his new "Dark Brandon" The meme of Biden was created by lefty posters. Instead of licking an ice cream cone, he's shooting lasers from his eyes, eliminating "malarkey" as he pushes through administration priorities.

The meme is cringeworthy. All politics is cringe. The last six years of irony-poisoned political history have been rejuvenated by the meme. Biden's team has embraced the spirit of Brandon as part of their online messaging.

It is not known how the new strategy will translate into actual votes. Biden is more likely to have his agenda passed in order to have his approval rating go up. We may have to wait until the results of the elections roll in to find out what effect the online bluster will have on the Democrats.